Marit Sathrum — Inner Fire Yoga

Marit Sathrum

Founder & Owner, West Side Studio
Director of Teacher Training
E-RYT 500 Yoga Teacher

Take a class with Marit →

I have two things that I am very proud of in my life: first are my two children and second is my small business Inner Fire Yoga. What fuels the fire at Inner Fire Yoga is partly the reality of my children in my life.

I love yoga. I love to study and learn yoga. I love to practice yoga. I love to teach yoga. Being a mother is my hardest yoga. Taking a yoga class is my easiest yoga. Both of these I intensely cherish.

I was introduced to yoga in 1993 when my roommate came home extremely sweaty from a yoga class. I couldn't believe it! I had to experience it myself since I loved a challenging workout. I was hooked 2 minutes into my first hot (Bikram) yoga class.

"I love yoga. I love to study and learn yoga. I love to practice yoga. I love to teach yoga."

The first exercise was deep breathing which required a 6 second inhale. I could only make it to 3. I was mortified! I thought "I have to fix my lungs!" A half hour into class I was enthralled by the yogis in the front row: their concentration, discipline and physical beauty in the poses was extraordinary.

Marit with family

In the first 3 months of daily practice I lost 17 pounds, quit social-smoking and dramatically reduced my work-related anxiety. Not only did I fix my lungs, I also quit that very stressful job and became a yoga teacher.

Actually, I didn't want to be a yoga teacher when I went to yoga teacher training in 1997 — not to mention did I ever even THINK of yoga studio ownership! I just wanted the intense immersive experience. Alas, half way through training it was clear that I wanted to teach, and by the end of training I was dreaming about studio ownership because I was very passionate and wanted to share yoga with as many people as possible.

In 2002 I moved to Madison, WI from San Francisco, CA with my 18-month old son. While shopping I came across a "for lease" sign in a window of an empty storefront. My mother and I peered through the window and I said, "this would be the perfect space for a yoga studio." But I thought I just couldn't do it since I was a single mom and I really just needed a good job with benefits. My mom encouraged me to at least make the call.

It was serendipitous from there. I borrowed $75,000 on credit cards and spent all the savings I had to open my first studio. Fast forward a couple of decades later and my yoga studio business has reached tens of thousands of people, transformed countless lives for the better, and has tempered a wonderful, strong community.

Teacher training and my yoga practice gave me the faith, determination, persistence, discipline and patience I needed to make a dream come true: sharing the many gifts of yoga practice with as many people as possible.

Education

  • Yoga Teaching Certificate, 500 hours, Bikram's Yoga College of India, Los Angeles, September 1997
  • First ever yoga class: Bikram Yoga at Bikram's Yoga College of India, Columbus Ave., San Francisco, March 1994
  • MBA, Thunderbird School of Global Management, 1993
  • BSE, Arizona State University, 1985

Continuing education & non-certificate trainings:

  • E-RYT 500 certification, 2014
  • Rolf Gates, Inner Fire Yoga, 2008
  • Jonny Kest Teacher Training Intensive, Midwest Yoga Conference, 2006
  • Desiree Rumbaugh Teacher Training Intensive, Yoga Journal Conference 2005
  • Anna Forrest, Rodney Yee, Sean Korn and Shiva Rea, Yoga Journal Conference 2007
  • Bikram Choudhury, Continuing Education, Boulder, CO 2004
  • Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti Yoga, and Sara Powers, Yoga Journal Conference 1998

Teachers to whom I'm grateful for their inspiration:

Theresa Murphy · Steve Emmerman · Talya Ring · Rajashree Choudhury · Emmy Cleaves · Mary Jarvis · Stephanie Shriver · Robin Duffy

Press

What Students Say

Thanks — as always — for class last night. I came in with a bunch of anxiety and left as a sort of peaceful jell-o. Your encouragement and compassion are important to so many people.

There's a saying in marathon running: "God gave us legs to run 20 miles, then gave us a 26.2-mile race!" I give credit to your guidance and my practice at Inner Fire for being the single most critical and essential part of all my training for running, triathlon — even the Ironman. I couldn't have done it without you.

— Dan Tyler

Just a quick note to compliment you on the quality of the yoga studio you have built and seem to still be building. I love what you have built. Thank you as well for the 'assist' you gave me during a recent class — it felt great to be able to twist just that little bit further.

— Bob

I did a class there for the first time in a long time and man, was I blown away. Everything looks so nice. It's cool to know someone who is using her skills to create what she wanted to create and is succeeding at it. You go!

— Tiffany

In the past I have attended yoga classes at other places but never really felt that pull to keep practicing in the way that I do when I attend classes at Inner Fire. The heated classes, the quality of instructors and the quality of the facility contribute to me coming back. Thank you for what you have done to create Inner Fire.

— August