From low-impact restorative practice to aerial yoga, there’s something for everyone at Yogadown. Owner Jerusha Francisco said offering a wide array of drop-ins, workshops and registered series classes in a variety of styles makes Yogadown studio in Okotoks a popular place to practice. “I think the biggest thing is the sense of community here,” said Francisco. She said that’s likely part of the reason Yogadown was voted Best Yoga Studio in the 2018 Best of the Foothills awards. Simply Yoga took silver and Everything Movement received the bronze award. Yogadown offers everything from yin and restorative yoga styles to more intense, cardiovascular and strength-building practices, she said. Their specialty though is aerial yoga. “We’re the only studio in the area that offers aerial yoga until you get to the Douglasdale-area of Calgary,” said Francisco. Participants will find a class of 15 to 20 people, though rooms at Yogadown could hold more people, she said. It helps make the classes more intimate for the studio’s 20 teachers. “We don’t like it to be too full because we like it to be a very positive experience where the teachers are able to see them without being lost in a crowd,” said Francisco. The studio has been running for 11 years, but Francisco has owned it for the past six. She jumped at the chance to buy Yogadown in 2012, when the original owner was moving to Costa Rica. Francisco had worked at the studio as a teacher for five years and couldn’t imagine the atmosphere of the place changing. “I didn’t want it to end up in someone’s hands who would do something completely different with it, and I wanted to keep that heartfelt essence that it was originally started with,” she said. “What’s really kept me here was that sense of community and that connection we create with our students and the people we work with.” Manager Taylor Lamb said there’s nowhere else like Yogadown. “I’ve worked at and been to other studios, and there’s something so special about the fact that anyone from any walk of life can walk through the door and feel welcome and wanted and loved and accepted,” said Lamb. “They fit in at the studio as part of the family. That to me is so special and you don’t find that everywhere.”
