Hatha Yoga & Fitness plans expansion to ease waitlists and add classes

Owner Dr. Suzanne Trupin says Hatha Yoga & Fitness’s added space in Champaign should take four to six months to complete, with a fall finish if the schedule holds. The expansion is built to relieve the squeeze on busy classes, open room for private yoga, and make it easier to host larger groups, including University of Illinois sports teams that already train there.

Why the waitlists matter

At Hatha, the demand problem is not abstract. Popular classes fill fast and produce long waitlists, turning the expansion into a capacity fix rather than a cosmetic upgrade. More square footage should mean more sessions can run without forcing students, regulars, and athletic groups to compete for the same small pool of spots.

The studio already juggles private yoga, group bookings, and athletic use. The new space is meant to create enough room to absorb the demand that is already there.

What Hatha is now

Hatha Yoga & Fitness sits in the Shoppes of Knollwood at 2109 S. Neil St., and it is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The studio offers yoga, hot yoga, barre, sculpt, personal training, meditation, Pilates, and functional fitness, which puts it closer to a full wellness hub than a single-discipline room.

The staffing reflects that mix. Hatha has instructors for hot yoga and sculpt flow, barre and Pilates, yoga, and hot yoga and sculpt, a schedule built around multiple formats instead of one core class. The expansion would give a multi-service business more ways to run its calendar without bottlenecks.

A wellness campus, not a standalone studio

The studio’s role in Champaign is intertwined with the businesses around it. Women’s Health Practice works closely with Hada Cosmetic Medicine and Hatha Yoga & Fitness to promote yoga, mindfulness, vitamin and supplement counseling, and coaching for improved wellness habits. Women’s Health Practice has served patients since 1945, which gives the shared space a long local lineage rather than a newly stitched-together feel.

Trupin’s medical background helps explain why the setup looks the way it does. Hada Cosmetic Medicine lists her as its medical director, and her focus includes hormonal management, sexual health medicine, and female wellness. Hatha sits alongside medical and lifestyle services instead of being treated as a standalone add-on.

Why University of Illinois keeps showing up in the story

Hatha’s connection to the University of Illinois community has been visible for years. In a 2019 Daily Illini story, then-Illini football strength and conditioning coach Dewey Reese said he used Hatha for team yoga sessions, and the opportunity was treated as a privilege that players had to earn.

In a 2025 Daily Illini profile, Hatha was an off-campus yoga studio and personal training gym in Champaign offering six different yoga classes, reinforcing that student demand has been part of the studio’s market for some time. Extra space could widen access for athletes, students, and local practitioners who already know the studio and want in more often than the current schedule allows.

What the expansion could change on the mat

The clearest payoff is scheduling relief. More room should make it easier to spread out private yoga appointments, accommodate bigger group bookings, and reduce the number of people stuck on the edge of a class roster. It also gives Hatha a better chance to keep serving the athletes and regulars who already treat the studio as part of their weekly routine.

There is also a business side to the move. Private-client work usually depends on flexible space, and a studio that already blends yoga, Pilates, barre, meditation, sculpt, personal training, and functional fitness can use expansion to keep those streams from crowding one another out. If the four-to-six-month timeline holds, the fall will bring added capacity to a studio that is already packed.