Promise them hot rocks and they will stand on their noggins. You’d be surprised what Gemma Hobbs ’92 has her students accomplish. Unless you knew her as head of Frog-Fit at the Rickel Building (today’s University Rec Center), when she led aerobics classes with an energy bordering on whiplash, that is. Back then, the RTVF major who “failed miserably” at accounting and statistics had no idea how handy that minor in business would turn out to be. Now owner of Breathe Studios on Camp Bowie, she knows how to partner profit and pleasure. Why else would she offer yoga classes that end in massages?

Upcoming events at Breathe sound way too fun for your run-of-the-mill yoga shop. Hobbs, who had “In My Happy Place” T-shirts printed last year for members, has 10 instructors on staff teaching a range of yoga and Pilates classes. But she also brings in out-of-town masters like David Romanelli, founder of At One Yoga in Arizona, who brought a little decadence to a recent class by sharing the space — with Vosges chocolates. The fact that other trainers sign up for courses with Breathe supports Hobbs’ claim that she employs “the best instructors in Tarrant County.”  Hobbs has taught about 10,000 classes in the 16 years she has been a fitness, personal and yoga trainer.

Pregnant with her daughter Zoë eight years ago, Hobbs began to practice yoga. She trained in New York, California and Florida before deciding to open Breathe Studios in 2003. Her goal is to offer courses that are unavailable at gyms or church groups. So if you’re looking to firm up your bottom, go elsewhere. But if you want to participate in a spiritual, fully present community, just Breathe.