M3 Offers All-Inclusive Yoga & Pilates

Have you ever felt like working out just isn’t for you? Like you’re not “fit enough” to go to the gym? Or maybe there’s an old injury keeping you home?

Then you need M3 Yoga and Hot Pilates.

Started by Nick Combs and Matt Chambers in Athens, Ga., what began as a six-person class has now grown into two different studios, with their Atlanta location having opened in January of last year.

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Combs spent 17 years as a nurse and used his passion for yoga to help patients with multiple sclerosis, scoliosis, and Parkinson’s.

M3 Yoga and Pilates stresses inclusivity and even offers discounts to “community warriors,” including teachers, social workers, and other public servants.

“I wanted everyone to be able to walk into a yoga studio and feel like they were a part of, you know, and that it wasn’t about necessarily what you’re able to do but more about how you’re able to adapt the practice to yourself rather than the other way around.”

Co-founder Chambers added, “We used to tell people M3 is a yoga studio for people who think they can’t do yoga. We wanted people to feel like no matter where they are that you can show up however you show up on any given day.”

This sentiment is echoed by instructor Holly Griffin, who has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and lupus, who said, “They (Combs and Chambers) are fully aware that I cannot demo certain things and they’re like ‘yeah just verbally say it then.’ Most studios (have the attitude) if you can’t get in a headstand then you can’t teach it, but you totally can.”

Whatever your identity, background or ability, there is a place for you at M3.

This philosophy doesn’t just apply to those with physical differences, but to members of other marginalized communities as well. Combs and Chambers have always emphasized that their studio is a place where everyone is welcome, no matter their background or identity, and that the micro-community of the studio should reflect the macro-community of their neighborhood.

Since day one, M3 has offered discounted memberships to “community warriors,” people like teachers, social workers, and other public servants, as a way of giving back to those who give so much for the community. M3 also offers scholarships to incentivize those who might have a financial barrier to entry. The two even worked with Christy King after the death of George Floyd to ensure M3 was truly as inclusive and supportive as possible, especially for the Black, indigenous, and people of color community.

Combs said, “It’s easy to say that ‘I’m a part of the queer community so I don’t have to listen to that — I already know,’ but in reality, we don’t know much.”

Whatever your identity, background or ability, there is a place for you at M3. From intense hot pilates to relaxing hatha yoga, come take care of your mind, matter, and movement with the incredible people at M3 Yoga and Hot Pilates.