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Om Grown's Story

Welcome to Om Grown Yoga and Wellness Collective! We are so thrilled you are here.  Come on in.  Take off your shoes, relax your shoulders and take an easy breath.  Can we get you a cup of locally grown and blended herbal tea?   We are Lora Rimmer and Sandy Chapman, Our vision is for OmGrown to feel like home...your home to recharge, renew and settle into yourself.  Your space to explore, move, relax and connect with yourself and others.  We are committed to honoring our roots of Bhakti yoga and keeping yoga accessible to all.  There are no pre-requisites  ...simply come as you are.  Let the practices and our offerings greet you and support you as you are. 

We started the collective in 2018 with the simple desire to make our community a better place with movement, mindfulness and breath.   We choose the name “OmGrown” as a play on words to indicate that our teachers are “home grown” - from the Baldwin area and trained by local renowned Bhakti yogi, Gopi Sandal.  

In 2021, we embarked on 

The Om Grown studio was brought to life by Sandy Chapman and Lora Rimmer. Sandy and Lora are both certified yoga instructors and offer yoga classes weekly. 

Sandy sought yoga as a way to counterbalance the stress of a corporate job and quickly discovered what felt like the missing pieces of life's puzzle. After many years of studying under Gopi Sandal, Sandy completed the Yoga with Heart 500 hour teacher training. She enjoys exploring the many different paths of yoga and has pursued studies in Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga, with Maya Tiwari, BalaRam Chandra Das, and Cate Stillman; is a certified EnergyMedicine Yoga Instructor with Lauren Walker; and a Reiki Level 2 Healer. The practices of Yoga and Ayurveda have provided a framework to mediate the polarities of modern day and be a collaborator with life.

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Lora is a registered teacher with Yoga Alliance who has been living and teaching health and wellness for over 30 years. She began practicing yoga regularly in 2011 as a way to find physical, mental and emotional balance in her life as a mother, wife and career soldier. She completed her first 200-hr yoga teacher training in 2015 and began teaching classes in Baldwin City, Kansas in 2016. Lora completed an additional 500 hours of teacher training in September 2018 with Gopi Sandal and her Yoga with Heart program (rooted in the Bhakti Yoga tradition) in Lawrence, Kansas. Lora's yoga education and training includes a wide variety of asana practices (Astanga, Hatha, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Yoga for Athletes and Yin) as well as practices in mindfulness techniques and breathing practices. Lora retired from the US Army in January 2016 and, through yoga, continues to serve others. “So many of us struggle to find balance in our lives. Between work, family and the never-ending stimulus of technology, we find it increasingly difficult to unplug and recharge ourselves. The process of yoga, which includes asana (poses), philosophy and pranayama (breath) gives us a way to find that balance we so desperately need.” 

 

Our Building's Story

Nestled at the west end of the downtown historic district of Baldwin City, KS, the Carter Building has been a consistent but understated historical gem for over 113 years. The Carter Building, located at 816 High Street, started from humble beginnings as the corral and entry for the Star and Bailey Livery located at 812-814 High Street. From 1904-1908, the livery served the Stewart Funeral Home, resulting in 816 High being known as the undertaker quarters on early insurance maps. In 1908, Stewart Funeral Home erected a wood framed buggy shed on 816 High next to the livery stable thereby starting what would be a lifelong relationship between the two properties. As automobiles replaced horses, the livery stable and the buggy shed found new life as the local Ford car agency from 1918 - 1952. It was during this period that 816 High became known as the Carter building due to the expansion of the original "buggy shed" into a full masonry structure complete with 3 covered bays and a rolling wooden garage door entrance off High Street (1927). After surviving the Great Depression and years with no cars to sell, the last Ford car agency in Baldwin closed in 1952. At this time, the Carter Building became home to Baldwin Ledger and Baldwin Publications until 1976. Since 1976, the Carter Building at 816 High has receded into the shadows with revolving tenancy and was largely unoccupied for the last 20 years serving largely as storage.

We didn't see years of neglect, we saw a beautiful building standing ready to be renewed and reinvent herself...to peel back her layers and  become a sanctuary for wellness.  We saw the 13" thick concrete walls and beautiful old growth wood rafters which have been retained and restored.  We saw the hand hewed sandstone wall from the area's first school in 1862.  The three car bays at the rear of the building have now become a secondary studio space as well as facilities for a wellness spa which includes two massage therapy rooms, an infrared sauna and cedar soaking tub. Throughout the space, enjoy the new views of the sandstone wall and the original rafters overhead while walking across a level, heated floor. The back third of the building we have removed the roof to make a private outdoor yoga garden which will host a cedar soaking tub. Glass garage doors give nod to the transportation history of the space through to connect the outdoor yoga space to second yoga studio. This soulful mix of old world stone and old growth wood provides grounding and welcoming space for visitors to unwind, destress, and form connection with self and community. This combination is a haven to local residents and out of town guests looking for a wellness day trip that is normally only found in larger cities. Multiple studio spaces allow for the hosting of guest teachers and speakers to Baldwin City for yoga and wellness related trainings, workshops and guest appearances. OmGrown Yoga and Wellness Collective is a wellness destination to all through the unique historic building as well as through a unique combination of yoga and spa services. Come see for yourself and plan a trip to Baldwins destination for wellness. We hope to see you soon!

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