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<\/p>\nASHLAND \u2014 Nothing about Shane Hutcheson and his nondescript yoga studio off U.S. 42 in Milton Township fits the mold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hutcheson, 40, drinks from a bright C4 Energy can sitting conspicuously next to his yoga mat during a midweek evening session.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The retired Marine\u2019s pronounced, inked muscles distracts the eyes from his average height, and his booming voice usurps the unusual tunes pumping through the speaker.<\/p>\n
The Offspring\u2019s 1994 hit \u201cSelf Esteem\u201d ironically taunts \u201cThat\u2019s OK man \u2019cause I like the abuse\u201d as Hutcheson leads his all-female class into a series of advanced lunges.<\/p>\n
Hutcheson likes to turn up the heat, literally. This particular studio, one of two in the place, has five heaters that can get the room to a sizzling 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is known as hot yoga, a form of the exercise that seeks to replicate the heat and humidity of India, where the practice originated.<\/p>\n
Sweat beads off the women\u2019s faces. Several of them take unguided breaks to sop up the salty liquid dripping into their eyes and mouths.<\/p>\n
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The atmosphere is intense, yet at times playful, as he leads the class in various poses. Chaturanga. Down Dog. Up Dog. Extended Mountain. Chair pose.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour other right, Britni,\u201d he pokes, prompting laughter from others.<\/p>\n
Even the smell of incense hits you with an ferocity bordering on indulgence. One can detect sandalwood and patchouli essences from the parking lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yoga literally means \u201cyoke\u201d or \u201cto unite,\u201d in Sanskrit. And that\u2019s Hutcheson\u2019s aim \u2014 to bring together the commotion of life and crush it with the calming effect that follows an intense session of what he calls \u201cgood yoga.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hutcheson\u2019s military-grade outer shell at first glance seems asymmetrical with the woo-woo spiritual stereotypes associated with yoga. But he adopts it all.<\/p>\n
Take, for instance, Hutcheson\u2019s meditative, rhythmic language at the opening of a session.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet the oxygen from your breath find the aches, to find the pains. Bring all of your awareness into the breath,\u201d he says, then, he encourages his underlings to perform a \u201cfull body scan\u201d with deep inhalation, followed by prolonged exhalation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s exactly Hutcheson\u2019s unorthodox approach to yoga that keeps Christine Thompson, 46, coming back five days a week.<\/p>\n
Before, Thompson would treat yoga as an obligation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d go once a week and be done,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
At Peace in Power, the \u201chard\u201d music, Hutcheson\u2019s booming voice, the jokes, and his push to challenge oneself all played into Thompson\u2019s paradigm shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cI carry yoga with me all the time now. I feel what my body needs and I\u2019ll just do a quick stretch. It\u2019s a lifestyle change for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Thompson\u2019s been attending Peace in Power\u2019s yoga classes for six months. She started coming following a recovery from ovarian cancer. In May, surgeons removed a \u201cvery large tumor\u201d from her abdomen and she spent the summer recovering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On June 30, she decided to give Hutcheson\u2019s yoga a try, as a way to ease back into her active lifestyle of lifting weights and running.<\/p>\n
But the juxtaposition of the welcoming vibes and Hutcheson\u2019s push for excellence in his students totally replaced all her other gym-related activities. Yoga at Peace in Power is her way to achieve what she calls \u201cinner quietness\u201d and a challenging, full-body workout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that there\u2019s always somewhere else you can go with the poses. I was never taught advanced poses in other classes. It\u2019s exciting for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u2018A group of misfit toys\u2019<\/p>\n
Hutcheson fully adopts his yoga studio\u2019s misfit aura.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a little bit different from your stereotypical yoga studio \u2026 we\u2019re just a group of misfit toys,\u201d he said, chuckling.<\/p>\n
He said this likely stems from his past as a mortarman in the U.S. Marine Corps. He chose the Marines \u201cbecause they\u2019re the best,\u201d but it was done on a whim one day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few months after graduating from Madison High School in 2004, Hutcheson decided to talk to an Air Force recruiter. One day, though, Hutcheson\u2019s dad ran into Cody Mager, who had just signed up to be a Marine. Mager was Hutcheson\u2019s best friend through high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCody called me and we went out there that day and I signed up,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Hutcheson served for 7.5 years and deployed to Afghanistan once. While there, he saw combat through small arms fire and improvised explosive devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he got out, he struggled with readjusting to civilian life. He battled alcoholism and received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n
At 32, he got sober and soon got back into physical fitness through the gentle nudging of his AA sponsor. He had always been a fit guy, and now it served as a way to cope with issues \u2014 both mental and physical (he was injured while serving.)<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I would run and lift, I\u2019d have to take a week or two off when my shoulder would hurt or whatever,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019d see some gains, take some time off, see some gains, take time off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then a friend suggested yoga. Hutcheson\u2019s knee-jerk reaction was to scoff and laugh him off.<\/p>\n
But yoga kept creeping into his life, through interactions with people and through listening to podcasts. So he took them as signs and went to his first class.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she kicked the crap out of me,\u201d Hutcheson said, adding that he was fit at the time. Running upwards to 20 miles a week and lifting regularly. \u201cYoga exposed where I had a lot of holes in my fitness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He liked it, but only used it for the first couple years as a way to fix short-term fitness hurdles. His shoulder would hurt, so he\u2019d go through the motions. His back would be sore, so he\u2019d go through the motions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, something clicked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI kinda, you know, finally said \u2018this is kinda stupid.\u2019 I keep using it to heal myself but wouldn\u2019t give it full credit,\u201d Hutcheson said. <\/p>\n
So he went full tilt with yoga, joining Flex Yoga<\/a>\u2018s teacher training course in Wooster.<\/p>\n Opening up his own studio was always a distant thought, but he never saw it as an obtainable goal to pursue.<\/p>\n But then the stars started aligning, he said. Similar to what got him to his first yoga class, he began seeing the signs. His neighbor asking him if he\u2019d sell his house, for example. Or driving by the small, nondescript space along U.S. Route 42 open up for lease. Also, another friend encouraged him to consider it.<\/p>\n So he did. He sold his house in Richland County to his neighbor. He rented a space and cleaned it up. His goal soon became to open up Peace in Power by mid-November in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_1437-450x300.jpg\")
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