Word has quickly spread about the Miami Life Center, which opened in November on South Beach. Founded by Kino MacGregor, one of the youngest women to complete the third series of Ashtanga (she recently started on the fourth with Guruji and Sharath). The studio has both led Ashtanga classes, traditional Mysore classes (where each student goes at his or her own pace), and a few Vinyasa classes.

The Center has two practice rooms with bamboo floors, showers, changing rooms, and a large marble-floored lobby where students linger after class on oversize couches.

Living the Florida good life is all about relaxing, rebalancing and reflection and a yoga class offers all three. Whether you're a newbie or a yogi, the new Miami Life Center in South Beach is a peaceful place to practice and recenter yourself. While there, sign up for lessons on nutrition or have your tarot cards read.

Tim, Kino and Miami Life Center featured in Finnish Travel Magazine Jade as the best place for yoga in Miami.

Miami loves the skinny and the beautiful, even when they are chain-smoking and sucking down martinis. But does this city want beauty that is more than skin deep?

Kino Macgregor, founder of the new Miami Life Center, believes it does. “There is an openness, an interest in Miami. There just hasn’t been the right place,” Macgregor says. “We welcome anyone ready for personal growth and transformation.”

What's the latest trend at yoga centers around the country? Some studio owners, such as Kino MacGregor, the founder of Miami Life Center (MLC), are going beyond asana, pranayama, and even meditation instruction. "We are aiming to be a total life center," says MacGregor (pictured at left). That's why this yoga center has created the Life Studies Forum group, which meets monthly to discuss inspirational books, movies and audio talks such as the film Living Luminaries and Pema Chodron's Cd Getting Unstuck. "We want to guide practitioners to materials that can help make their journey into the yoga world more well rounded. Hopefully the Life Studies Forum is a tool that people can use when they start asking deeper questions," says Macgregor. As part of their holistic curriculum, MLC also offer regular vegetarian cooking classes.

What’s offered: Ashtanga yoga classes are taught in the Mysore style, which allows for one-on-one instruction within a group setting so that individuals can stretch and breathe at their own pace. The center also hosts lectures with speakers such as Lama Kunga Tenzin, an ordained monk and spiritual leader from Bhutan, and workshops that are open to the public. In addition, occasional reiki (energy healing) training sessions and tarot card readings are available.

Why it’s unique: This center focuses on one style of yoga practice for the true enthusiast. “We felt that in order to bring people deeper into themselves, we needed to take them deeper into one tradition rather than spreading our cards over the many that are available,” says the center’s director, Kino MacGregor.

This center is right for you if: You want in-depth yoga or meditation courses and access to a variety of seminars in South Beach.

The Miami Life Center is an urban retreat, located in the heart of Miami Beach, offering visitors Ashtanga yoga classes, holistic health and nutritional counseling and a quiet place to work on their inner spirit. In a world where Blackberrys are the norm, time is a luxury and a vacation seems like a pipe dream, we could all use a little relaxation and rejuvenation. More than just a yoga center, Miami Life Center offers "the possibility of real transformation and inspiration for your daily life."

There are Reiki treatments available for individual healing sessions or Group Reiki Training and there is even a Transformative Tarot class where guests will gain deeper insight and clarity in their lives through the guidance of Tarot master rev. Tracy Ahumada. the center also offer Nutritional Counseling for those interested in losing weight, increasing their energy levels of even becoming a vegetarian. They also provide visitors with the opportunity to participate in private or group sessions in the Alexander technique, a system of body awareness that promotes well-being. So whether you want to increase your flexibility, decrease your waistline or if you just need a moment to clear your head and meditate, Miami Life Center welcomes you with open arms.

Rec center: building where teens go to play foosball and make out.
Senior center: building where old folks go to eat pudding and watch General Hospital.
Life center: building where you’ll want to go to perfect your Warrior I and spiff up your inner self.

The stress from schlepping all over town for your various holistic needs has people wanting to namaste away from you, so take a deep, cleansing breath and head to Miami Life Center.

The all-in-one space is the brainchild of Miami native Kino MacGregor and her partner, Tim, who wanted a place that would function more like a community center than just a room with wood floors and burning incense.

Sure, there are plenty of yoga classes by super-skilled instructors, but the center also offers reiki and Alexander Technique workshops, tarot card classes, and nutrition counseling.

It’s enough to keep you busy for hours, which should help keep you away from your former hangout.

The shopping center.