× Expand Photography by Lucien Frick

Island Life (2330 Menard) has been operating since around Thanksgiving, but co-owners Megan Arnotti and Mariella Funk are officially celebrating with a grand opening party from 5 to 9 p.m. on January 5 at their Soulard yoga studio/café.

After attending art school together, Arnotti and Funk reconnected years later and Arnotti told Funk she wanted to build a yoga studio in Soulard, saying: "I think we really have a need for it. It's such a great community. But there's nothing really accessible in the area." A few days later Funk said they should spearhead the project together, taking both of their backgrounds—Funk working in the food industry and Arnotti a personal training director—to make a health-centric business, allowing customers to both do yoga and move more while eating well.

Photography courtesy of Megan Arnotti The Island Life space features pale seafoam green and teal walls, hardwood floors, and both a kitchen and yoga studio.

Their creation now houses a 140-year-old building with both a café/kitchen and a yoga studio with 12-foot white barn doors separating the two spaces. This way, if Arnotti is teaching a class, her participants won't be distracted by Funk in the kitchen.

What's cooking in that kitchen changes weekly, but it is often vegan or vegetarian to-go dishes with an option to add protein. For convenience, Funk makes the meals in the morning, so patrons can pick them up for work. Arnotti also offers short classes in the morning so attendees can work out ahead of a busy day, as well as offering a traditional schedule for the rest of the day.

With the new year and opening celebration, the first-time entrepreneurs are ready to embrace a crowd—especially yoga beginners or those who might be thinking "new year, new me" in regard to their health.

"I want people to set a wellness resolution challenge, instead of a challenge to try to lose weight or get thin," Arnotti says. "This challenge doesn't have anything to do with weight loss, it just has to do with activity levels and eating a health meal every day."

Photography by Lucien Frick Megan Arnotti (left) and Mariella Funk, co-founders of Island Life in Soulard

When Arnotti was a personal training director, she hated that the gym was a negative experience for a lot of people, especially women. "I really want [Island Life] to be about becoming more empowered and becoming happier and being grateful for your body—that it even got you here this morning."

For those who might be seeking big changes in the new year, Arnotti offers this advice: "I think it's really important to find something you enjoy. If you hate going to the gym, that's never going to be a solution for you. Then it becomes punishment and thats not what this is about. So I tell people to try everything, try a yoga class, join a walking group, do whatever is it until you find something that you enjoy."