New Day Yoga looks out of place in Overland Park. Down a tree-lined street, away from the strip malls and the streaming traffic, the weathered building looks like an old general store or a cozy antique shop that has withstood the surrounding tsunami of big-box retail. Inside, New Day's two studios feel even more removed from the outside world, the dim lamps casting just enough light on the smooth bamboo floors. But it's not the relaxed atmosphere that lures students into a love affair with this Johnson County getaway; they fall head over heels for owner Vlad Rangotchev. A talented and powerful practitioner, Rangotchev teaches a mean, sweat-drenching vinyasa class but speaks with an endearing Bulgarian accent and adjusts his students with a firm but comforting hand. What's more, it's obvious that this guy isn't in it for the money. Rangotchev bends over backward to make yoga accessible to everyone. New Day Yoga boasts the largest menu of daily classes of any studio in the metro, and it offers child care during morning classes. The prices are among the area's lowest, and Rangotchev has been known to accept bartered labor from folks with financial constraints. Talk about a new take on an old tradition.
