Live and Let Liv Yoga
Where Central Texas Comes to Breathe and Relax
By BRANDY CRUZ | Photos by BECKY STINEHOUR and courtesy of Live and Let Liv Yoga Studio
For more than a decade, Live and Let Liv Yoga Studio has become far more than a place to stretch or sweat, it has served as a sanctuary for healing, resilience and connection — especially for the military veterans, active-duty service members and families who call Central Texas home.
“I love that here, we share our culture, love and kindness, and strength with the world,” studio owner Stephanie Alvarez said, beaming. “That this community continues to be a place to return home to, or to settle in like it was always theirs, no matter how far away they came from, or how long ago.”
That philosophy has resonated deeply in Killeen, just beyond the gates of Fort Hood, known as “The Great Place,” where service, sacrifice and transition are woven into the fabric of daily life.
Live and Let Liv Yoga opened in January 2014 as the first dedicated yoga studio in Central Texas. The studio was founded by Lisa Kelly — an Army veteran, nurse and spouse of a retired veteran — whose life has long been centered around service and wellness. Inspired by personal loss, including the death of her mother to breast cancer at age 36, Kelly envisioned a place devoted to healing, community and holistic health.
The studio was named after her daughter, Liv, who was born on the summer solstice — a day celebrated globally as International Yoga Day.
“Liv is, by all rights, a miracle child. She was born with sunshine and the spirit of a true Yogi and healer in her heart,” Alvarez shared. “She is kind generous, compassionate, loving, honest, joyful, playful, strong, super smart, and above all else, she illuminates the world around her everywhere she goes.”
Liv’s passion to make the world a better place inspired her mom and that same spirit and passion now inspires Alvarez. She explained how she discovered yoga by learning from VHS tapes, library books and magazines — long before formal yoga spaces existed locally. When she first discovered the studio in the spring of 2014, she was already deeply invested in yoga. What began as attending public classes soon evolved into mentorship, teacher training and eventually ownership.
After earning her 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2017 and additional certifications in pranayama, meditation, advanced leadership and yin yoga, she stepped into studio management in 2019.
Then came 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic shut down businesses across the country, Kelly, who was running the COVID unit at the Temple VA Hospital, decided to sell the studio. In the midst of uncertainty in the wake of the pandemic, ownership transferred. After five months of closure, Live and Let Liv Yoga reopened on Labor Day 2020.
“I was handed the keys to the sanctuary,” she added. “Every single day I get to ‘liv’ the labor of love.”
In a city where military service shapes daily life, Live and Let Liv Yoga has intentionally become a refuge for veterans, active-duty personnel and military families.
The studio offers a free monthly community class for veterans, active-duty service members, first responders, teachers, veterinarians and their spouses or support caregivers.
It has also hosted yoga sessions for military physical training programs and provides trauma-informed instruction designed to support those navigating stress, anxiety, PTSD and other challenges often associated with military service.
“We are passionate about serving those who serve us,” Alvarez said.
That mission is deeply personal.
Her husband is a veteran, and many of her family members — including uncles, grandparents and currently serving relatives — have military ties. Over the years, the studio has welcomed countless service members and spouses through its doors.
“The amount of that community we’ve been lucky enough to live and practice next to is humbling,” she said.
For veterans, yoga offers benefits that extend far beyond flexibility. Breathwork, meditation and mindful movement can help regulate the nervous system, reduce stress, improve sleep and create space for healing. At Live and Let Liv, those practices are delivered with compassion and understanding.
They also share that same compassion with people who have survived breast cancer and domestic violence. They advocate for women’s health and rights, and hope to be a place of awareness and healing for survivors of all types of trauma. The studio’s trauma-informed teachers work to create an environment where people can move at their own pace, reconnect with their bodies and find tools for resilience that extend into everyday life.
Alvarez said it’s not unusual for former students stationed overseas to continue joining classes virtually from Germany, California and beyond.
That enduring connection speaks volumes about the community the studio has cultivated. Ask anyone at Live and Let LIV what makes the studio unique, and the answer is immediate: the commUNITY.
Killeen’s transient population — shaped by military relocation, hospital systems and Central Texas’ crossroads location — creates an ever-changing mosaic of people from around the world. At any given class, longtime locals may practice alongside first-time visitors, military spouses, healthcare workers and people just passing through the area.
“It’s incredibly beautiful to see how they still breathe and flow in sync next to one another,” she said. “We are tight-knit. We are diverse. We are small. We are mighty.”
Some students have practiced there since day one in 2014. Others discover the studio while stationed in Central Texas and carry its teachings with them when they move on.
That ebb and flow has become part of the studio’s identity. It is a place where people arrive carrying life’s challenges and often leave with something lighter. The studio offers classes seven days a week, morning and evening, because as the owner puts it, “Life happens and doesn’t stop, and you never know when you’re going to need yoga.”
To keep up-to-date in the latest yoga trends and to be the person her clients turn to, Alvarez has undergone trauma-informed training. Her major certifications include Experienced Certified Yoga Teacher (E-RYT), which involves 500 hours of training. She is also currently a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP), which involves certification every three years to maintain up-to-date knowledge in the field.
Beyond classes, the studio hosts workshops, private sessions, energy healing services and community collaborations with local wellness-focused businesses.
Its outreach has included events with Texas A&M staff for World Mental Health Day and community gatherings drawing more than 200 participants.
When asked what accomplishment she is most proud of, her answer isn’t a statistic.
Instead, she reflects on the faces of the thousands of students and more than 50 teachers who have shared breath, movement and healing inside the studio walls.
“How do you measure 12 years of living?” she asks.
Perhaps it’s measured in the stillness the studio creates, the resilience it inspires, or the countless lives quietly changed one breath at a time.
As Live and Let Liv Yoga Studio continues to grow, its vision remains rooted in service.
The goal is to expand outreach, deepen partnerships with other local small businesses and continue building a pillar of peace, wellness and resilience for Central Texas.
For the Central Texas community that means continued access to a space designed to restore, reconnect and heal. Live and Let LIV offers a reminder that true resilience also requires stillness. Sometimes healing begins with simply taking a breath. And at Live and Let Liv Yoga, that breath is always waiting.
Live and Let Liv Yoga Studio
Address: 3803 Levy Lane, Suite 102 in Killeen
Website: LiveAndLetLivYoga.com
Email: LiveAndLetLivYoga@gmail.com
Facebook/Instagram: @liveandletlivyoga
Phone: 254-290-3876
