Meet Maria Murphy of Yoga Patch and Floating KC inside the Arbor Vitae Yoga and Wellness Center

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Murphy

Hi Maria, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Almost 15 years ago, I (Maria) was walking down the street and noticed that they were opening a new yoga studio. I had just finished my training once my 5th child started school and walked in to see if the previous owner needed teachers. She (previous owner) hired me on the spot. I taught there for 2 years before the owner decided to move back to her hometown and asked me if I would like to buy the Yoga Patch. I bought it and we quickly outgrew the space. I soon found the old warehouse building in the heart of Waldo/Brookside that we are in today and purchased it to create a wellness center. I had a vision of a local wellness center where all are welcome. A wellness center where yoga is accessible and spa services that promote holistic health is affordable. All this, in a community of kind people who love working together was the dream. I can say that dream has absolutely come true.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Over a decade ago we had to make many sacrifices to build the dream. Raising five kids and starting a business while still in my thirties took a lot of work and love. But, by far, the biggest hurdle we have had is being able to give quality education and changing people’s minds.

To make yoga accessible we had to include options that range from restorative to chair yoga to hot and aerial yoga. It requires a very qualified range of fantastic teachers who can educate students with passion. That took us time to build. Yoga has become such a popular word for exercise, often the greatest value of a yoga practice is lost. Overcoming assumptions that you have to be strong, limber, and stress free to be a yogi has been one of our greatest successes. I believe we have a beautifully diverse community of yogis that practice yoga both inside the studio and they take home that yoga practice in their daily lives.

Once we started to include spa services like sauna, floating, cold plunge, massage, chiropractic and acupuncture to heal the body and mind, educating customers that those practices can be become a part of daily living for everyone from middle aged dads to children and grandmothers. We have to convince folks how a wellness lifestyle can make such a tremendous difference not just physically but mentally. Joy is available for anyone. That education hurdle has been hard to overcome.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
There are so many gyms and clubs available to help us “get fit” and “get beautiful” but what is often lost is that being fit and beautiful has more to do with how healthy your mind is than the size of your bicep or the number on a scale. Don’t get me wrong, many clients get very strong and very fit using our services, but the emphasis is holistic.

Yoga Patch is well known in Kansas City for offering fantastically diverse yoga classes every day of the week at all times of the day. There is a class for EVERYONE.

Floating KC is also well known for being a cutting-edge Kansas City original in providing a float spa service that offers one of the most unique relaxation, healing, and even euphoric experiences through massage and weightless sensory freedom. People worry they can’t be still, or they may feel stuck but our huge float rooms and flexible options make floating accessible to anyone. Even couple’s experiences.

Regardless, we customize your wellness for you! Wellness at the spa is more than just floating and yoga. Wellness for us includes private infrared sauna time, red light therapy, touchless chair massage, contrast therapy, and cold plunge healing. We offer regular workshops that vary from breathwork/meditation to CPR training. You pick and choose what fits for you without judgement or expectation. You can use one or all of our services.

We are blessed to have some of Kansas City’s best massage therapy, acupuncture, chiropractor, counseling, coaching, and spiritual experts with us for years as we have grown together through thick and thin for over a decade. When you come to Arbor Vitae Wellness, you will know that the service you are being provided will be top notch because our community has some of the best in Kansas City.

Community is often underestimated when we talk about health and happiness. We are kind and welcoming. We are not salesy or preachy. Your life, your practice, your wellness is the priority, and we hope you will find that warm welcome the minute you step through our doors.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
About Me: I was diagnosed with Epilepsy as a child, I still have migraines, but my seizures have subsided. I was born and raised Catholic and still feel very connected to the church and that community in my yoga practice. I studied criminal justice and psychology in college and after college I worked with abused and neglected kids who found themselves in a system that didn’t quite work for them. I also became a potter both creating and teaching pottery for nearly a decade. I have 5 children, first born naturally, second via emergency C section, third naturally again, and last two adopted from a mother who lives in Guatemala.

About Work; Yoga can be done never leaving the floor (restorative yoga, Yoga Nidra). Yoga can be done never touching the floor (aerial yoga). Yoga is done never getting off a chair (chair yoga). Yoga can be a fantastic workout that will make you strong (hot, hatha, vinyasa yoga). Stiff and stressed people practice yoga all the time (and should). Anxious and nervous people float all the time (and should). Some of the most important elements of wellness is in the mind, breath, posture and attitude and we teach that here.

Pricing:

• $33 3 week new yoga student special
• $55 happy hour floats
• $35 infrared sauna/cold plunge combo
• $150 massage/float combo
• All Access Membership (unlimited yoga, floats, cold plunge and sauna) $150 for single, $290 for couple

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yogapatch.com
• Instagram: @Yoga_Patch
• Facebook: YogaPatchKC