This Black History Month, Woodlawn United is sharing the stories of local leaders supporting Black Health and Wellness in our Woodlawn neighborhoods. 

Meet Jamella Stroud, owner of Sacred Body Fitness. 

After suffering from an eating disorder in her early 20’s, Jamella discovered yoga to be an important aspect of her healing process. Yoga not only helped physically, but the practice also helped her heal mentally as she battled anxiety. Now, because of her own journey to healing and transformation, Jamella is passionate about helping other women develop both inner and outer strength. 

Reflecting on her personal experience and deep appreciation of yoga, Jamella realized she needed to share what she learned with others to guide them towards transformational healing.  

Her desire to help others led her to complete a 500-hour Yoga Teacher Certification. During this process, her love for the practice grew and inspired her to pursue a Yoga Therapist Certification, which requires an additional 800 hours of training. Becoming a Yoga Therapist will give Jamella the capacity to work with the community in a unique way. Yoga Therapists work in one-on-one settings and address both mental and physical ailments through a yoga prospective. 

In 2019, Jamella was inspired to open her own studio, and by 2020 she was taking steps to make it happen. After hearing about the new developments happening in Woodlawn, she felt led to be a part of the community by locating her yoga and strength-training studio here. She connected with REV Birmingham and is currently working to locate the perfect space for her studio. The vision for the studio in Woodlawn is to offer meditation, vinyasa, restorative, and strength-training classes. 

While working towards opening her studio, Jamella currently shares her yoga experience through Sacred Body Fitness. Sacred Body Fitness reflects her personal journey of redefining and transforming her physical body. Jamela says: 

“A woman's body is Sacred & Holy, it houses her most valuable assets: her spirit & mind. As she journeys to transform her Sacred Body, she will experience a mindset transformation as well when training with Sacred Body Fitness.”  

Yoga significantly impacts the mind, body, and spirit. Jamella experienced this transformation first-hand and now watches it unfold in her students’ lives as they gain awareness and transform their desires. 

One way Jamella shares her passion for yoga is by investing in the community. She teaches weekly community yoga classes at SocialVenture in Woodlawn. These classes are open to the community and are donation based. She also teaches yoga to 5th grade students in the Birmingham City School System. Even as children, these students have a lot on their minds, and Jamella is grateful for the opportunity to support them through yoga. 

Jamella is a strong, natural-born leader. Her transformational journey is multiplied through her passion and dedication to invest in women through yoga. As she plants roots and opens her studio in Woodlawn, her impact will continue to grow.  

Follow Jamella and Sacred Body Fitness online at sacredbodyfit.com, on Instagram @sacredbodyfit, and on Facebook @iamjamellastroud. 

Yoga is so vast. It’s more than just movement -- there is breath work, meditation, and self-study. Yoga is about the union of mind, body, and spirit. Anytime one aspect is out of alignment, the physical practice of yoga brings you back to the awareness of the body’s mental, emotional, and spiritual state to see what needs to come into alignment.