As this magazine celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026, we’re turning the spotlight on the local legends who’ve been here just as long—the businesses whose resilience, relevance, and roots have shaped the heartbeat of the Lowcountry. Our new year-long series, Staying Power, honors the entrepreneurs and establishments that have weathered economic shifts, cultural change, hurricanes, recessions, growth booms, and everything in between- yet continue to open their doors with purpose, passion, and unmistakable Lowcountry spirit.
Kicking off in our January Health & Wellness issue is a business that embodies exactly what this series is about: Jiva Yoga Center, turning 25 in 2026. Founded by husband-and-wife team Jean and Ken Rioux, Jiva has grown from a humble island studio into a community anchor- one that has shaped not only local wellness culture but the lives of thousands who have stepped onto their mats seeking strength, healing, peace, or simply a breath of grounding in a fast-moving world.
Over the coming months, Staying Power will take readers behind the scenes of the Lowcountry’s longest-standing businesses- exploring where they began, how they’ve evolved, the challenges they’ve overcome, and the wisdom they’ve gained along the way. These stories are more than business profiles; they are tributes to endurance, authenticity, and the entrepreneurs who define what it means to last.
Here’s to the next 20 years- and to those who’ve shown us how it’s done.
Staying Power: How Jiva Yoga Center Turned a Passion Into a 25-Year Legacy
Jean Rioux is photographed at Jiva Yoga
When Jean Rioux first unrolled her mat in a dimly lit yoga room in Portland, Oregon, she never imagined that moment would eventually ripple all the way to Hilton Head Island and shape the wellness culture of an entire community.
At the time, she was a young lifelong mover – mountain biker, runner, hiker, rock climber – who thought yoga was something she’d “get to later” when she wasn’t so immersed in high-impact activities.
“I always knew I would stick with yoga once I wasn’t quite as active,” Rioux said. “But back then, I thought yoga was something totally different. I didn’t understand it the way I do now.”
That curiosity, combined with timing and a deep love for the Lowcountry, became the seed of Jiva Yoga Center, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
From West Coast Wellness to a Second-Floor Studio
Rioux and her husband and business partner, Ken Rioux, met on Hilton Head Island back in 1987. By 1990, they had set off on an adventure, eventually landing in Portland for four years, where Jean worked at a wellness center that combined chiropractic care, massage, psychotherapy, flotation tanks, hot tubs, and yoga.
“It was the classic scene,” Rioux said, smiling. “There was this guy who looked like an iconic Indian guru with a long beard teaching yoga. Very old-school. But even then, I knew there was something powerful happening in that room.”
Yoga followed Rioux as she moved through Oregon, San Diego, and Utah, but it was still a side interest – an intriguing complement to the intensity of mountain biking, running, and other outdoor sports. Only when she and Ken moved back to Hilton Head in 2000 did everything begin to coalesce.
Back home, Rioux began taking yoga classes at a local gym. “I loved how it made me feel inside and out,” she said. “I was extremely passionate about the benefits I reaped, and I wanted everyone to feel that way.”
She enrolled in a yoga teacher training program in Atlanta while simultaneously working as a massage therapist. Her first “studio” was not a studio at all, but a small massage space in the Gallery of Shops near Sea Pines Circle. There, she had a little extra room – just enough to roll out a few mats.
“At first, I thought I’d just do some one-on-one yoga with my massage clients,” Rioux said. “Then my friends were like, ‘Let’s do yoga for golfers!’ and I said, ‘OK, let’s try it.’ It built from there, very slowly and very organically.”
Word spread. Students started telling friends. Classes grew. Soon, that tiny extra room wasn’t enough.
“The tenants upstairs were so kind,” Rioux recalled. “They moved to a different part of the building so we could expand. And then we just kept knocking down walls until there were no more walls to knock down.”
For nine years, Jiva lived in that second-floor space at the Gallery of Shops. It was not the most visible location. You had to know where you were going to find it. But for those who climbed the stairs and stepped through the door, it was a refuge – warm, welcoming, and transformative.
Then, in 2009, Rioux faced a pivotal decision. She had the opportunity to move Jiva to its current location on Highway 278, a more visible, Main Street-style address that would require a leap of faith.
“It was a big step,” she said. “Suddenly we were not tucked away upstairs anymore. We were in a place where the community could really see us. It was scary, but it was absolutely the right move.”
The space was rebuilt and reshaped to fit Jiva’s needs. Rioux now had space for two yoga rooms, more class offerings, and what would become a thriving retail area. The move signaled a new chapter, not just for Jiva, but for yoga on Hilton Head Island.
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The Early Days: Manifesting a Dream
Like most small businesses, Jiva did not launch full. Classes were sometimes sparse. Some days, no one came at all.
“I remember another teacher, Bob, and I would show up for class and nobody would come,” Rioux said. “It hurt my feelings, of course, but we decided we were going to keep practicing anyway. We told ourselves, ‘We’re creating the energy for what we want.’”
Looking back, she believes those empty-room practices were critical because it helped to develop a strong sense of purpose and a drive to succeed.
“We were manifesting,” she said. “Instead of being defeated, we chose to keep doing the thing. That’s my advice to any business owner: Don’t give up just because the place is empty one day. Keep showing up. Even if there’s one person walking through your door, you give them everything.”
That steadfastness of showing up when it wasn’t glamorous, when it wasn’t guaranteed, when it wasn’t easy became part of Jiva’s DNA.
Today, Jiva’s community includes students and teachers who have been with the studio for nearly its entire life. Teachers like Vicki Rickard, Rioux’s sister-in-law, came on early and have helped shepherd generations of practitioners. Longtime students like Ann Webster, Hester Hodde, and octogenarian powerhouse Helen Hopkins have been practicing at Jiva since the early days.
“They’ve seen everything – the moves, the changes, the evolution of the studio, and the evolution of yoga itself,” Rioux said.
At Jiva, community isn’t just a marketing buzzword; it’s a lived reality. Students turn to the studio through seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow, through marriages, births, job changes, diagnoses, surgeries, and loss. Rioux and her team have quietly observed and absorbed it all.
“People go through so much,” she said. “In every single situation, our desire is for everyone to feel safe, to feel loved, to feel comforted, and to grow here.”
Whether it’s the first time someone walks into a yoga class, the first time they finally relax into savasana, or the first time they find themselves in a posture they never thought possible, Jiva has become a place of discovery.
“When you see that ease come over someone’s face, or that spark of ‘I did it!,’ it’s amazing,” Rioux said. “We get to witness that every day.”
Paddleboard yoga classes
Growing Up with the Practice
One of the reasons Jiva has remained so relevant for 25 years is that it has grown right alongside its students and its founder.
“I’ve been in health and fitness since I was about a teenager,” Rioux said. “Dance, gymnastics, outdoor sports – I’ve always navigated life through movement.”
As she entered her 50s and 60s, she began to experience what many of her students also face: aging joints, surgeries, recovery, and the reality that the body simply changes over time.
“You can’t keep yourself where you were in your 20s or 30s or even 40s,” she said. “The question becomes: Where am I today? What can I do now? Maybe all I can do today is breathe – and that’s OK. The point is to do it consciously.”
Following knee replacement surgeries, Rioux even created her own “bed vinyasa,” visualizing movement while lying flat and experimenting with what was safely available to her body in that moment.
“That’s what yoga cultivates – self-curiosity, body awareness, and an absence of fear,” she said. “You find that comfortable edge, that place where movement brings joy instead of pressure or performance. That’s how you stay connected to the practice for life.”
As Jiva settled into its Hwy. 278 location, the expanded space allowed Rioux to grow the retail side of the business. This was pre-Amazon, pre-click-to-buy-everything, and certainly pre-Lululemon-online or on the island.
“There was no online shopping for yoga clothes,” Rioux said. “If you wanted quality yoga wear, you came to us.”
But as the world changed, so did Jiva. Online shopping exploded, and Rioux and her husband began asking different questions about what they could offer that fit not just the market, but their lives.
“Ken is a surfer, we were rollerbladers, we love all kinds of movement and adventure,” she said. “We started thinking: How can we bring more of that to Hilton Head?”
That question led to paddle board rentals, skateboards, surfboards, skimboards, bodyboards, beach tents, and eventually Onewheel, the electric board one rides like a snowboard. Paddle board yoga became one of Jiva’s signature offerings for more than a decade, merging the studio’s love of movement, nature, and play.
Today, Jiva’s retail and rental offerings continue to reflect that spirit of adventure, expanding the brand beyond the studio walls while staying rooted in its core mission: movement, joy, and connection.
The Mindful Triathalon Team, a joint venture with Al Olivetti at Hilton Head Running Company.
Another way Rioux brings her passion into the broader community is by co-hosting (with Al Olivetti of Hilton Head Running Company) the annual Mindful Triathlon: Run/Walk + Yoga + Meditate at Coligny Beach.
“It’s a community event in the truest sense,” Rioux said. “A 5K run or walk, followed by 45 minutes of yoga and 15 minutes of meditation, all right on the beach.”
Jiva has hosted eight of these events so far, with the next Mindful Triathlon planned for spring. The gathering has become a beloved seasonal ritual, drawing residents of all ages who want to move, breathe, and connect in a shared spirit of wellness.
For a time, Jiva extended its presence across the island and over the bridge. Responding to feedback that the drive to the south end was “too far,” Rioux opened a north-end location, which operated for five years. Later, the studio launched a location near the Bluffton traffic circle, serving that growing community for another five years.
“Those locations were amazing,” Rioux said. “We met so many new students – people who might never have made their way to our main studio.”
Eventually, though, she noticed something interesting: students were willing to drive across the island to attend their favorite classes, teachers, and times. It became clear that maintaining multiple locations wasn’t necessarily the best way to serve the community – or the business.
“We realized people would travel for what they loved,” she said. “So, when the timing was right, we brought it back to one main focus. And I’m really grateful for that. It’s vibrant. It feels exactly like what it’s supposed to be.”
Jiva Yoga Family (from left to right): Helen Hopkins, Connie Cappy, Hester Hodde, Jean Rioux, Vicki Rickard and Ann Webster.
Training Teachers, Deepening Roots
Over the years, Jiva has become more than a place to take a yoga class; it’s become a training ground for future teachers and serious students. The studio has hosted numerous 200-hour and 300-hour teacher trainings, as well as workshops with respected international instructors.
“There’s something for everybody on our schedule,” Rioux said. “Heated, non-heated, different styles, different levels. You can truly live your life through the practice; wherever you are in your journey, there is a place for you.”
That inclusive, lifelong approach is one of the reasons Jiva continues to thrive. It’s not a studio only for the young or ultra-flexible. It’s a home for curious beginners, longtime practitioners, and everyone in between.
Most recently, Jiva has welcomed an influx of new students through its Hot 26 program, a sequence beloved by many who previously practiced elsewhere on the island. “It has been an honor to offer space for that whole group,” Rioux said. “They bring a fresh wave of energy into the studio.”
To support this growing hot yoga community, Jiva upgraded its hot room with infrared heat panels, which provide deep, therapeutic warmth. “Infrared heat is incredibly healing,” she said. “It’s not just about making the room hot; it’s about helping the body feel supported and nourished in the practice.”
Perhaps the most remarkable part of Jiva’s story is how, in building a place where others could grow, Rioux has grown herself – particularly as a leader.
“I had no formal training as a leader or manager,” she said. “I just organically navigated my way into this. Finding my voice, setting boundaries, guiding teachers – all of that has been a process.” Her leadership evolution has been supported by Ken’s steady presence and by her own commitment to personal work.
“If I do my own work – if I keep growing as a person – then I can lead from that place,” she said. “It’s really that simple.”
The Legacy Continues
As Jiva approaches the 25-year mark, Rioux is quick to emphasize that staying power isn’t magic. It’s a blend of passion, consistency, community, humility, and a willingness to adapt.
Her four points of advice to other business owners, especially those in health and wellness, are both practical and deeply spiritual:
• Commit to your craft. “You have to truly believe in what you’re offering,” she said. “It can’t be something you’re only half in on. Your belief is what carries you through the hard days.”
• Show up, even when no one else does. “Don’t let an empty room convince you to quit,” she said. “Show up with the energy you want to see, whether there are 20 people or one person.”
• Let the work be an extension of who you are. “This isn’t something I turn on at the studio and turn off at home,” she said. “Yoga is my lifestyle. It’s who I am. That authenticity is what people feel.”
• Trust that you’re rewarded for consistency. “Whether you call it God or the universe, there is a response to your commitment,” Rioux said. “You always get back what you give.”
As the Lowcountry changes, as new trends arrive and old ones fade, Jiva remains grounded in something timeless: Presence. A quarter century after that first little yoga room above the Sea Pines Circle, the studio at 1032 William Hilton Parkway continues to hum with breath, sweat, laughter, and quiet transformation.
“It’s still exciting to wake up and come here,” Rioux said. “I love sharing this practice. I love seeing people discover new parts of themselves. I’m eternally grateful to be able to work at what I love and share it with everyone who walks through our doors.”
Twenty-five years in, Jiva Yoga Center is not just a business with staying power – it’s a living, breathing example of what can happen when passion, perseverance, and community come together and refuse to quit.
And in a year when CH2 celebrates 20 years of telling the Lowcountry’s stories, there’s something beautifully fitting about honoring a place that has spent 25 years helping people write new stories of their own, one breath at a time.
