Columbus Studio Rewild Yoga Teaches Students to Embrace Imperfection

Grace Puhalj
Wed, 03 Dec 2025 05:03:48 +0000
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Rewild Yoga, a Yoga studio located in Columbus, focuses on creating an immersive Yoga experience. Credit: Courtesy of Sydney Green

Rewild Yoga doesn’t feel like a typical yoga studio.?

Walking in, participants are greeted by raw wood beams and lush plants, while mirrors reflect light throughout the space. These details were carefully curated to reflect Rewild’s mission of creating a sanctuary where students can embrace who they are without judgement, according to the studio’s website.

Studio founder Steve Kocsis, said the studio, located at 995 W. Fifth Ave., offers its own perspective on yoga — one that blends personal connection, raw design and authenticity. The studio invites students to “rewild,” or return to their natural state, through interactive classes, a supportive community and a philosophy that embraces imperfection.

Rewild had a distinct beginning.

Kocsis said he began his yoga journey in 2009 in Cleveland, when his sister-in-law invited him to try a yoga class while he was watching a Cavaliers game.

“I was watching LeBron James and some basketball players do headstands and doing yoga … and she said, ‘Hey, [do] you want to come try this?’” Kocsis said. “It just kind of shocked me … it wasn’t what I was used to. It was very humiliating — there was nothing you could hide from. It was just you versus you, and I like that.”

After moving to Columbus in 2014 for a medical sales job, Kocsis searched for a studio with the same sense of community he had experienced in Cleveland. He said he was disappointed with the options he came across.

“I started to notice [the teachers] were very rehearsed and scripted, and they weren’t really interactive,” Kocsis said. “They weren’t really grounded in giving feedback to the room … so I felt it lacked connectivity. It was sort of superficial.”

Frustrated, Kocsis said he took those experiences as an opportunity to start his own yoga studio that prioritized community, connection and freedom.

According to Kocsis, Rewild Yoga is a studio where every element is strategically designed to help its students get out of their own way. He said classes are intentionally interactive, with instructors offering personalized guidance rather than sticking to a script.

“We’re actually teaching, where I think a lot of studios just go through the script because they want to keep it safe,” Kocsis said.

Kocsis said authenticity is an integral part of Rewild and its commitment to fostering connections both externally and internally.

“We’re able to create such a great community because of our teaching style,” Kocsis said. “That’s the reason I opened the studio. That’s the reason there’s a skull as our logo. It’s like this rawness, this realness — like what’s underneath the skin.”

That authenticity has resonated deeply with students and teachers alike. Sydney Green, a participant-turned-instructor and political science advisor at Ohio State, discovered Rewild after moving to Columbus in 2022. Green first came across the studio while searching for hot yoga studios online.

“There was a quote on the website and it said something like, ‘A pose that feels like sex,’’’ Green said. “I’m a nosy person and had to understand what that meant.”

Her curiosity led her to take a Slow Burn class in December 2022, and she’s been part of the Rewild community ever since.

“I started helping clean the studio and then got my foot in the door,” Green said. “I started fully teaching in April or May 2024 … it was kind of like the first thing I did for myself.”

For Green, she said teaching is about being adaptable and fully engaged with the moment.

“I think what’s good about Rewild is that we look at the room,” Green said. “I’m seeing what you have now in this moment, and how can we elevate it? And where do we need to de-escalate that?”

Green and Kocsis said that awareness allows students to make the most of their own practice, tapping into what feels best for their bodies rather than chasing perfection, reflecting Rewild’s core values of self-acceptance.

“It’s like establishing grace with yourself,” Kocsis said. “If you have that certain level of grace, then … it’s going to give you so much more. It’s going to make the challenges so much more fun, playful [and] exciting.”

Kocsis said letting go of fear and embracing freedom is also central to Rewild’s philosophy.

“Many people are paralyzed by the idea of failure or messing up, looking bad or being bad,” Kocsis said. “But if that no longer deters you … you’re free to love the thing that you do. You’re not paralyzed by the fear or the failure.”