GRAND RAPIDS, MI At a time when just about every health club offers a yoga class, it may be hard to imagine the puzzled reactions Carolyn Heines received 35 years ago when she started teaching yoga.

Some people thought you were saying yogurt, she said. It was not very well known at all.

But The Yoga Studio, opened in 1978, attracted a share of students many of them old hippies and spiritual seekers.

Most people wore Birkenstocks, Heines said with a small laugh. It was that kind of crowd, if you will.

The studio moved around quite a bit, as Heines looked for places she could rent cheap. But it stayed in business, weathering the changes in culture through the 80s, 90s and the 00s.

Now, as she prepares for the 35th anniversary celebration of The Yoga Studio on April 13, Heines marvels at the growing popularity of yoga.

Related: Video shows Carolyn Heines practicing, teaching yoga Yoga studio celebrates 35th anniversary

The expansion of it has been phenomenal, she said. I keep thinking it will have its day and then go quiet, but it keeps expanding. I think it is so transformative and effective on so many different levels.

The word is spreading, and people are finding so much benefit from it whether they are seeking self-knowledge or trying to cure a back problem or whatever. It works.

Plans to retire at 80

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Yoga - not 'yogurt' - studio owner twists through 35 years of evolving attitudes toward yoga