Soul Shine Yoga

Soul Shine Yoga has anchored downtown Fairhope’s wellness scene since 2014, tucked into a storefront at 103B N. Bancroft Street just blocks from the bay. Founder Emily Sommerville, an E-RYT 500 through Yoga Alliance, built the studio around a simple idea: yoga should feel like both a sweat and a sanctuary. Her tagline for the space, “Sweat, Shine, Flow,” still shows up on class schedules and studio merchandise today.

The studio runs more than 30 classes a week across a heated and unheated schedule. Infrared panels warm the main room for Hot Power Hour, a faster-paced vinyasa flow built to build strength and increase flexibility, and for two restorative-leaning heated classes: Hot Restore: Hips & Hamstrings, aimed at runners, cyclists and golfers working through tight hip flexors, and Hot Restore: Flow, a gentler heated option recommended for newcomers to hot yoga.

For students who prefer to skip the heat, Soul Shine offers Core Yoga, which pairs traditional postures with functional strength work to support spinal health, Yin Yoga, which holds poses for several minutes to build resiliency in the joints and connective tissue, and Gentle Yoga, a slower unheated class designed for beginners or anyone wanting a lighter session. Minimum age for standard classes is 12, and students must be 16 or older to take the heated classes.

Beyond the group schedule, Soul Shine books private 60-minute one-on-one sessions, small group classes for events, and corporate yoga programs that run anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes for workplaces looking to build stress relief into the workday. The studio also stocks a small retail boutique of yoga gear and sells gift cards for students shopping for a fellow yogi.

Soul Shine is a Registered Yoga School with Yoga Alliance and runs its own 200-hour teacher training program, with Sommerville serving as lead trainer since 2015. Trainees choose between a Spring Group Training, delivered across five immersive weekends, or a 1:1 mentorship track that starts whenever a student is ready and moves at a custom pace. Graduates leave eligible to register with Yoga Alliance as a 200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher, with the option to specialize in either a vinyasa or restorative teaching path.

Membership at the studio starts at $72 a month, with per-class drop-in rates beginning at $11 and package options scaling up to 20 classes a month for frequent practitioners. Custom packages can be arranged by phone or email for students with specific needs. Because class sizes are capped, advance sign-up is required, and a waitlist with text notifications helps students grab a spot that opens up.

New and returning students register and book classes through the studio’s online scheduling system, which manages class sign-ups, membership billing and the waitlist in one place. Anyone wanting a preview of the week’s offerings or news about upcoming workshops can also join Soul Shine’s email newsletter list before ever stepping onto a mat.

Cancellation policy asks for at least two hours’ notice; unlimited members who cancel late or no-show are charged a $10 fee, while members on limited packages simply forfeit the class from their pass. The studio’s guiding phrases, “Live With Intention. Shine From Within” and “We Are Here To Shine Brightly,” reflect a community-first approach that extends past the mat, with health and safety guidance asking anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, a recent fever, or exposure to a confirmed case to sit out a class.

For visitors new to Fairhope or longtime residents rounding out a fitness routine, Soul Shine’s mix of heated and unheated formats, private instruction, and teacher training gives the studio range beyond a typical drop-in class schedule. Its downtown Bancroft Street location keeps it an easy walk from the rest of Fairhope’s shopping district, making a class simple to fold into a morning or afternoon downtown.