By Karen Hungate on September 14, 2021
It is commonly understood that yoga and massage are great for the body, mind, and soul. And according to Google, 56% of US yogis are beginners and 300,000 million people practice yoga across the globe.
Such statistics make Luiz Mota, the owner of Mota Thai Yoga in Ann Arbor Michigan smile since his primary focus is to help his students learn to love the benefits of sweat and preventing injury along the way while keeping people healthy-body, mind, and spirit. By combining yoga and Thai massage together, Luiz is able to offer his students a deeper understanding of the connection between anatomy and yoga as a whole while offering a place to quiet their minds and heal their bodies. With Thai massage, there is a heavy emphasis on the anatomy while being under the umbrella of massage. Thai massage is primarily body work-focused.
Luiz and team are what we like to call, Local Biz Heroes, self-made entrepreneurs who bring true value to their community. High standards of professionalism and the strong work ethics of small business owners like Luiz and the team are the infrastructures of the local community.
We sat down with Luis for a quick interview –
According to Luiz, there are two different types of students who come to him for assistance. “The first type is the consummate student that has been training in the yoga discipline for years and wants to sharpen their training. The second type is someone who wants to turn their yoga passion into a career such physical rehab or emotional abuse”.
Q: How is your studio different?
A: “For those who wish to pursue a career as a yoga practitioner or anyone interested in enhancing their yoga practice, Mota Thai Yoga offers a 6-month RYT 200-hour program which is Yoga Alliance certified. The training leans heavily on anatomy. The program goes over different yoga philosophies and yoga styles including Hatha, vinyasa, Yin/Restorative, Ashtanga, Kundalini, and Iyengar. Of course, the classes wouldn’t be complete without meditation practices, nutrition and lifestyle along with alignment principles and physiology of the body”.
When asked how he attracts most of his business, Luiz said “it is primarily word of mouth”. After his students and clients work with him, they “feel” different. Luiz estimates that upwards of 85% of the people come to Luiz with some sort of injury. Luiz helps his students improve their lives by training them to effectively diminish pain from injury through modified movement. In fact, Luiz is referred often by other physicians, surgeons, and nurses for his work with people after injury. There are many testimonials praising Luiz for his innovative approach.
Take a look at some of his reviews!
“As a nurse, I have a critical eye on how an instructor, trainer, mentor approaches their work. Mr. Mota has an original, positive, caring, knowledgeable approach to assist you in reaching your goals. He has been my trainer, coach, and support for the last five years, and the results cannot be questioned. My cholesterol is within normal limits. as well as my HDLs, no prescription medications for me! I no longer have hip pain, after long hours on the job. I have improved my sleeping habits, which has improved my overall well-being. I would highly recommend his yoga instruction and training to anyone!”
“I would recommend Luiz Mota to anyone who has the determination to work hard, you will see results! I have been in Lu’s class for about 5 years and my torso has undergone some major reformation. His hot yoga class is the best. The yoga poses are challenging but doable. There is a lot of variety in the way Luiz presents his classes so it is seldom repetitive. The music is cool to me and it changes style too. Some days there is no music at all. The atmosphere changes and I find that inspiring.”
“Yoga is very intimidating to me because I have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was a child. It is amazing to me how much better yoga is with the heat and “ropes”. The teacher really makes it a great workout and I can feel myself get better at it even by the end of class. I recommend you try a class!!”
When we discussed some of Luiz’s hobby’s, he lit up and quickly said that music is a passion of his. He spends countless hours preparing tracks for his classes to ensure his students are properly inspired to learn and perform. Luiz takes great pride in creating original soundtracks for his classes along with meditation tracks. Another passion for Luiz is watching his son go off to Michigan State College this year as a freshman. He is so proud of his son and you can almost see him glowing with pride through the phone!
For anyone in the Ann Arbor or Birmingham MI area interested in enhancing their yoga technique or in need of effective methods of reducing pain from injury, reach out to Luiz Mota at Mota Thai Yoga on the web at www.motathaiyoga.com or call him at 734.757.7213 or find them at 416 W Huron St #22 Ann Arbor MI 48103. They offer various styles of yoga, Thai yoga, massage, individual and group sessions for all levels. Come to a class and start your journey with them. You’ll be glad you did. Your first class is FREE! A seriously awesome Yoga instructor.
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