Dhyana Yoga Opening a Charity-Focused Studio at 20th and Spring Garden

Proceeds from yoga classes will go to good causes.

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With four wildly successful yoga studios already under her belt, Dhyana Vitarelli is expanding her Dhyana Yoga empire with a new studio at 2000 Spring Garden Street, set to open on May 1st. But this isn’t just any studio—it’s one with a mission.

“I realized it’s my life’s work to run yoga studios,” Dhyana says. “But the question became: Is that enough?”

Apparently, not. Her newest project, the Seva Center, named for the sanskrit word meaning “selfless service,” is a yoga-studio-cum-charitable-foundation concept, in which the profits from all classes will be donated to charity. When the studio officially opens next week, CHOP will be its first beneficiary, with others—including ones selected by students—to come as the studio grows.

Dhyana says she had just come up with the idea for the Seva Center when the right space for it literally fell into her lap: “I got an email out of the blue from a guy that was like, ‘Hey, I don’t do yoga, but I have this space for rent and I think it might be good for a yoga studio. Do you want to come look at it?’ So I went and looked at the space, and it was great and the location is great, so we’re doing it.”

She says the studio will be about the same size as the Rittenhouse location, accommodating between 40 and 45 mats. And she already has a roster of instructors signed up to teach; some are even opting to donate the money they would make teaching classes there to the studio’s charity of choice.

The Seva Center will be open for a soft opening on May 1st but will celebrate its grand opening on May 15th. A full schedule of classes will be posted here once its available. Dhyana says the class offerings will reflect those at her other studios.