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Business Spotlight: Wauwatosa yoga and massage center aims to bring body and mind into focus

Mark Sternig, leading a class, operates Center on Bodywork, a yoga and massage studio at 1502 Underwood Ave. in Wauwatosa. Photo By C.T. Kruger

By Jessica Stephen

Nov. 17, 2014

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Mark Sternig was raising his son and daughter, working part-time for FedEx, when he decided it was time for a change.

"It just seemed like the time I was putting in at Fed Ex wasn't worth the pay anymore. So, I made the leap."

That leap led him to a disheveled storefront at 1502 Underwood Ave., where Sternig and his father created the space that became Bodywork, a yoga and massage studio, known online as Center on Bodywork.

The studio has become a second home, one he opens for five classes each week, often for about a dozen students, although he can accommodate up to 16 at a time.

"After that it starts to get a little crowded," Sternig admitted with a laugh.

Sternig is protective of his space, which has been surrounded by change since he opened in 2000.

"I've seen a little bit of growing up around me over the last 15 years," Sternig said. "The fire station was right across the street; they've moved down the block a bit. I've seen Café Hollander come in. I don't even think the Noodles (& Company) building was even built yet 15 years ago. It's been a work in progress, that's for sure."

Sternig enjoys being the non-shop, non-restaurant part of the tapestry that is downtown Tosa.

"I think it's pretty important to have some diversity," Sternig said. "And I think I fit in for people who want to do yoga but want to stay in the Tosa neighborhood. There's sort of a community kind of feel around here."

And, while the community has embraced him, Sternig said his biggest challenge has been convincing people that maintaining their bodies through yoga and massage is not a luxury.

"That mentality has always been a bit of a challenge for me because I'm of the mind that this kind of work is such an aid to get from wherever we're at to adjust to where we want to be."

That's because, for Sternig, yoga and massage are about more than the manipulation of muscles.

"The way I look at the yoga is that we're attempting to bring our spiritual nature and our physical and material nature together. …Doing our postures and having a more focused time on the mat just helps us see how we talk to ourselves or not, how we judge ourselves or not, how we encourage ourselves or not, how we focus while we're breathing, how we focus while we're breathing and standing on one leg. I look at the poses as representative of how we see ourselves. We are who we are on the mat, and that's who we are off the mat. It's just easier to focus during that hour and 15 minutes on the mat."