Yoga mats are becoming a common sight in downtown Scranton as two yoga studios expand in the community of city shops and businesses.

Mission Yoga, in the Scranton Life Building on Spruce Street for more than a year, plans to double its size by expanding to the ground-level unit next door.

In May, Steamtown Hot Yoga will relocate from its current home on Moosic Street to larger, customized space in the Connell Building on North Washington Avenue.

Principals of both studios say they looked to the downtown to capture the commercial energy and tap the growing ranks of downtown dwellers and students.

After more than five years in operation, Steamtown Hot Yoga outgrew its Moosic Street space, said owner Laura Alexiou. She looked everywhere, but settled on the space in the Connell Building. Not only would the unfinished space allow her to customize the studio, it would be easier to install the heat and humidity infrastructure required for the Bikram yoga, which is practiced in humid, sauna-like conditions at 105 degrees. Also, it will shorten Ms. Alexiou's commute. She lives just five flights above the new location in the Connell Building.

She shares the vision of Charles Jefferson, Connell Building developer, to make downtown not just a place to live, but a place for life, with yoga among the other within-walking-distance amenities the city offers.

"He doesn't just want to fill a building with apartments, but also with places and shops that people want and need," she said.

The new studio will nearly double Steamtown's space from 850 square feet to 1,500. Steamtown Yoga offers unlimited classes for $99 per month, and student rates of $165 per semester.

Steamtown is a veteran of the local yoga movement, while Mission Yoga is a newcomer offering a more conventional Vinyasa yoga.

At first, owners Alex Dubois and Kelly O'Brien had a feeling Mission would be either wildly successful or a complete failure. The pay-per-class option, it turned out, resonated with students and yoga explorers with the end result positive enough to expand.

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Yoga businesses expand to downtown Scranton

The bendy brilliance attained by practicing yoga regularly has become a treasure sought after by many Americans. Hindu monks brought the 5,000-year-old practice to the West in the late 19th century, and by the mid-1980s, yoga was heralded as a way to cultivate strength, mindfulness and calm. And as yoga has gained popularity, newfangled ways of practicing have emerged.

Love the ocean? Had a few too many Appletinis last night? Want to be surrounded by "bro" energy? There's a yoga class for you.

It seems only natural that people who practice yoga will combine it with other interests.

"Yoga is constantly evolving," said Kaitlin Quistgaard, editor in chief of Yoga Journal. "Variety gives people an opportunity to approach yoga from different perspectives."

Here's a look at a few bends and twists from traditional yoga.

Hip-hop yoga

Want to hold side crow to some classic Notorious B.I.G.? At YogaHop, with studios in Santa Monica and Pasadena, you can do just that.

Blaring hip-hop, rock and pop music combine with a high-energy vinyasa flow practice. With a lightning bolt as its logo and brightly colored walls and TV screens, the studio is not what one might imagine as the neighborhood yoga class.

Nevertheless, co-owner Matthew Reyes, 44, has practiced yoga for 15 years, but he has taught spinning to booming pump-it-up music. He began to wonder, "How can I make a class so efficient that it has an element of all of these things?"

Six years ago, Reyes founded YogaHop, a practice that combines traditional poses, mainstream music and an intense workout.

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Yoga has more to offer than traditional classes

As you stretch into warrior pose and inhale and exhale, you're not just stretching those hamstrings and lungs; you're also doing good for your brain with a practice that can stave off or relieve problems such as stress, depression and anxiety.

Yoga "gives some sense of sanity," says Sat Bir Khalsa, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "You're no longer washed away by the avalanche of your emotions. You are more in control."

Yoga practice can also lower heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure, and may make people less sensitive to pain.

In some cases particularly for anxiety, depression and stress yoga might be more effective than medication, though this hasn't been proved, says Dr. Murali Doraiswamy of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. While it won't get rid of whatever is causing you distress, it could make it easier for you to deal with the issues. Doraiswamy compares learning yoga to learning to surf: Once you've got the skills, you can ride the wave instead of drowning underneath it.

To find the right sort of yoga practice to calm your mind, it's best to shop around, says Khalsa, a certified yoga instructor and author of the recent ebook "Your Brain on Yoga." Studios and teachers have different styles. Although there's no rule for which practice best addresses the mind, Khalsa suggests seeking out traditional routines that include meditation. Yoga schools with a more physical focus, such as Bikram or power yoga, may provide less mental benefit.

Managing your breath is an important element of the practice, says yogi Cameron Alborzian of Los Angeles, author of the recent book "The One Plan" and host of the reality TV series "A Model Guru." Regulated breathing is where control of the mind begins, he says. In fact, the word "yoga" refers not to the postures alone but to the union of mind and body. Without the breathing and meditative elements, you're just having a nice stretch.

Some people may benefit from visiting a yoga therapist, who typically combines an understanding of yoga with medical knowledge. The therapist can create a custom practice for physical and mental needs. Therapists typically work with one patient or a small group at a time. Make sure your therapist has the right training to address your concerns.

While yoga is an ancient practice, science is starting to take notice of its mental health benefits. Doraiswamy balanced the evidence for yoga and mental disorders in a January review in the journal Frontiers in Affective Disorders and Psychosomatic Research. He and his coauthors found more than 100 scientific studies on yoga and mental health but focused on 16 they identified as high quality.

"Overall, most studies seemed to indicate a benefit," Doraiswamy says. "If this were a drug in the early stages of development, every company would be drooling over it."

However, since yoga is not a medicine that drug makers stand to make millions selling, no company has funded large, extensive trials. Therefore, science cannot offer many firm recommendations on yoga. Doraiswamy is not ready to suggest replacing medications with yoga, though it could make a good addition to treatment. And he cautions that even people with mild depression or anxiety should still visit a medical doctor. The symptoms could be due to an underlying condition that no number of sun salutations will relieve.

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Yoga might help boost mental health

During the first week that Sara Ishaq began offering free yoga classes in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, only four women showed up. By the end of the week the room overflowed with more than 25 women.

Yoga's popularity has increased in the United States in recent years. Indeed, a 2012 study from the magazine Yoga Journal showed that the number of Americans practicing yoga has soared from 15.8 million in 2008 to 30.4 million in 2012. This means that more than 8 percent of U.S. adults practice yoga and the largest two motivations are flexibility and general conditioning, the study showed.

But, it is clear that new interest in yoga is not just confined to the U.S.

Ishaq notes that she had never seen a yoga studio anywhere in Yemen. Furthermore, few gyms allow women and exercising outdoors is not socially accepted, she added.

"Women can't exactly put on their running shoes and go outside so yoga appeals to them because it is a full package, they just need a mat and comfortable clothing," Ishaq explained to CBS News.

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The Yemeni women in Ishaq's class range from 20 to 50 years old, and many of them came to yoga with weight loss aspirations. Yet, after class many said they felt calm and possessed a new sense of ownership over their bodies. Yoga provided an outlet for physical and mental restoration that these women could not find anywhere else.

Ishaq was 13 years old when she began suffering from severe migraines that left her bedridden for up to three days every week. She was living in Yemen and after high school, moved to Scotland where the migraines persisted with agonizing intensity.

"Doctors came to the house and gave me morphine and explained that the problem was genetic," Ishaq says. But the morphine and other medicines did not help.

She first discovered yoga after finding videos in her aunt's Washington D.C. home and began following their instruction. She also began running, and suddenly her physical and mental health turned a corner for the better. Her migraines largely subsided the more she did yoga.

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Yoga being used for social change in Yemen, Kenya

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - April 12, 2013) - CorePower Yoga, a yoga brand with a commitment to making yoga accessible to all, opened itsWest Loop studio in Chicago on Friday, April 12th. This marks the 74th studio opening nationwide for CorePower Yoga and 15th studio in the Chicago market.

Whether you're new to yoga or an experienced practitioner, the West Loop studio offers a variety of yoga class styles for all levels.This includes CorePower Yoga's dynamic heated Power Yoga in beginner to advanced formats, Yoga Sculpt, and Hot Power Fusion. In addition to classes, the West Loop studio will offer Yoga Teacher Training Programs, as well as Lifestyle Programs, such as boot camps and wellness programs to complement yoga and provide students with cross-training opportunities.

The West Loop studio is home to three large yoga rooms and features a range of amenities including changing rooms, showers, and private lockers. A full retail boutique will showcase men's and women's activewear, as well as yoga and lifestyle accessories.

"We have been anxiously awaiting this day and are so excited that it's finally here," says Sarah Wallace-Callahan, Studio Manager of the West Loop studio. "The West Loop community has been incredibly welcoming and we can't wait to share our love for yoga with them!"

Students who are new to CorePower Yoga will receive one week of unlimited free yoga classes. A variety of membership package options are also available.

West Loop, located at 1313 West Randolph Street near the popular Restaurant Row, is one of several CorePower Yoga studios to open in 2013. In addition to the West Loop studio, CorePower Yoga opened its Streeterville studio in Chicago on March 22nd, and both the Encino studio in Los Angeles and the Georgetown studio in Washington, D.C. on March 29th. CorePower Yoga has several more studios in the works for 2013 in cities that include Boston, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and more. Click here for further information regarding CorePower Yoga studio openings.

About CorePower Yoga

CorePower Yoga strives to increase awareness and widespread adoption of yoga by making yoga accessible to everyone through a variety of yoga styles for beginners and more advanced yoga students. The company's unique and physically challenging style of heated power yoga combines energy, music, breath, movement, and community to create a one-of-a-kind yoga experience. CorePower Yoga classes encompass a wide variety of poses, and are taught by certified yoga instructors. In addition to yoga classes, CorePower Yoga offers transformative integrated Wellness Programs and Yoga Teacher Training Programs to empower students to live a health-focused and extraordinary life. CorePower Yoga is committed to sustainable practices, and uses recyclable and reusable products, selects sustainable fixtures and materials for studios, and maintains recycling and waste management programs. CorePower Yoga's climate-controlled environments utilize the latest technology to efficiently heat its yoga rooms. CorePower Yoga was founded in 2002 and has over 70 studios in 10 states. For more information, visit http://www.corepoweryoga.com or download a press kit here.

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CorePower Yoga Opens 74th Studio