The first class is free (until March 15) at Island Inferno, a new all-in-one fitness studio at Marina Village shopping center. The studio is run by instructor and owner Kay Fisher, who hopes the studio will be a place where movement provides a healthier, more grounded way to find joy and connection.
Photo by Vicky Nguyen.
The inside of Island Inferno is bright and airy, its minimalist layout inspired by the peaceful feel of her grandmother’s bathhouse and the smell of Japanese cedar. Fisher has plans to put an ohm sign on the currently empty wall opposite the studio mirrors. “So, when you’re looking in the mirror, you see the ohm sign behind you,” Fisher explained.
The studio advertises itself mainly as a hot yoga and hot Pilates studio, but it also offers strength training, HIIT, and cardio group classes.
“I wanted to create a space that was everything,” Fisher said. “You’d be surprised how many people pay for a membership (at one place), and they buy a class (at another). Wouldn’t it be great to have a place just right down the street that had a parking lot, that was hot Pilates, hot yoga, strength training, and everything that you could possibly want in one place?”
Fisher is especially excited to promote hot Pilates, which she says is akin to circuit training. According to Fisher, high temperatures can also make workouts more therapeutic.
“The heat really helps lubricate your joints, warm up your muscles. And not only that, but you sweat out your toxins. So, when you leave, you feel just absolutely amazing. You leave the room, a cold blast of the air hits you, and you’re suddenly like, ‘oh, everything makes sense now.’”
Photo by Vicky Nguyen.
Yoga changed Fisher’s life. She was an aimless college student and a heavy drug user when she was first introduced to Bikram Yoga, she said. “I was like floating around on autopilot and just kind of waiting for things to happen. I went to school and did everything that I was supposed to do, but on the side, I’d have these really bad habits.”
Eventually, even drugs became boring to Fisher. “Everything I did was just kind of flat line… I just wasn’t really connecting with myself,” Fisher said. When a friend first recommended Bikram yoga to her, Fisher said she was searching for something to give her any excitement in life. A version of hot yoga popularized by Bikram Choudhury, Bikram yoga consists of a specific series of 26 postures, practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees. After her first class, Fisher felt more connected to her body.
“It was suddenly like everything cleared,” Fisher said. “[Bikram yoga] is really good for meditation, mental clarity and anxiety.” She began practicing every day—and eventually she dropped drug use in favor of yoga.
About 10 years ago, Fisher came to Alameda and worked for Café Jolie for five years. She enjoyed the work, but like many other people, the pandemic forced Fisher to reassess her life. She was in the bathroom at Funky Door Yoga soon after businesses had begun to start opening back up, where she saw a notice of Bikram yoga teacher training.
Even before she started training at Funky Door, Fisher had been dreaming and planning her own hot yoga studio. When she did begin her training, she purchased the islandinferno.com web domain, but it lay dormant for multiple years.
“I had this idea many years ago. I just thought it would be really great to have a hot yoga studio, where we could create more love. Right now, what I believe people are missing is joy and connection. We need a place where we could celebrate ourselves and forget about everything,” Fisher said. After a moment, she added, “…without it having to be alcohol-based. When you’re drinking, you’re basically borrowing happiness from tomorrow.”
Photo by Vicky Nguyen.
She became a popular instructor at both Yoga Amansala on Park Street and Svastha Yoga off Webster Street. Fisher also taught in Pleasant Hill and Concord. She began to recognize how important yoga was to so many people, but all the while she knew she was continuously putting off her dream to open Island Inferno. She was discouraged by her family’s lack of support and continuous warnings of how risky it would be to open her own business.
Fisher said it was a fortune cookie message that pushed her to make the final leap. “It said something like, ‘If you wait too long for the right moment, the right moment will pass you by.’”
She realized her parents meant well, but that they had a fear-based decision process motivated by wanting their daughter to be safe and financially stable. She didn’t want to let go of her dreams to appease her mother’s concerns.
“Finally, I was like, why am I waiting for this crazy lady’s approval? I’m just going to do this,” Fisher said.
Island Inferno is now open and Fisher is developing a signature workout. “It’s going to be a low-impact, high-intensity workout that’s going to create a sustainable way for you to work out, build muscle and, you know, basically be hot until you die,” Fisher said. “Because why not, right? You gotta look good.”
Vicky Nguyen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Vicky-Nguyen.
