Yoga Trek Gets New Owner, Slight Makeover

By Cathleen Flahardy 

When Nicole Sopko walked into the Philadelphia gym she belonged to nearly a decade ago and decided to take a yoga class, she had no idea she would one day become an accomplished yogi with 800 hours of study and her own studio. But that’s exactly what happened.

Sopko, who was born a Midwesterner and eventually made her way back, setting up roots in North Berwyn five years ago, took over ownership of Yoga Trek, 911 S. Lombard Ave. in Oak Park in June. For the past nine years, she has been dedicated to yoga and veganism, and now she’s sharing her healthy wisdom and lifestyle through her studio. 

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“I didn’t originally set out to buy a yoga studio,” Sopko said. “It just sort of happened naturally.”

While Yoga Trek has been around for years now, Sopko is bringing some exciting new changes to the studio. 

She has introduced Yoga Trek’s first-ever post-natal class. Designed with new parents in mind, the Sunday evening class is open to everyone and designed to help beginners or seasoned yoga students ease back into practice after some time off. 

Also new to the schedule is the studio’s first-ever yoga teacher training course. The program, which is set to begin in the fall and will run throughout weekends from October to March, allows students an opportunity to deepen their understanding of yoga and, if interested, set themselves on the course to become a yoga instructor. Another new addition to the schedule includes a yoga class taught entirely in Japanese.

In addition to tweaking the schedule and slightly redecorating the studio, Sopko has also started offering some high-end yoga merchandise. Books about yoga and vegan eating are for sale in the studio, as well as yoga mats, clothing and jewelry. “I’m not selling just anything,” she says. “I only sell things I personally feel are worth buying and would recommend.”

When Sopko’s not keeping busy with Yoga Trek, she’s working with her boyfriend, Daniel Staackmann, owner of Upton Naturals, a manufacturer of vegan packaged and prepared foods.  

“We stay pretty busy working on that business,” she says of the organization that supplies vegan foods to Whole Foods and is opening a cafe in Chicago later this month. “But when the opportunity came up to buy Yoga Trek, we thought ‘What’s one more thing?’ I care about Yoga Trek, and I wanted it to stay around and remain close to its incarnation.“