A Little History
Early in the year of 1999, local businessman and attorney Tom Carlson decided he wanted to enroll in a formal yoga class with an accomplished instructor. He had practiced yoga on his own for several years and wanted to go further. Proclaiming the benefits, he convinced his wife and several of their friends that his search should be their search also. The group of friends wanted a class near their homes and businesses - all center city. The group decided to check out classes offered at the downtown YMCA. To their surprise and delight, they discovered that an experienced instructor was also teaching classes at both YMCA locations as well as a local studio.
The first class, however - before the Y's renovation - was dismal. Tom Carlson - the person so enthusiastic about the class - was out of town. Joan Rosen, the instructor they'd heard such great things about, was also out of town and another instructor was substituting. The room was small and concrete piers blocked the young instructor. Plastic toddler furniture and toys had been pushed out of the way against the walls, a window air conditioning unit labored noisily, and tiny ants carrying graham cracker crumbs shared the carpet with the students. When Tom returned to town, he listened to the discouraged group and decided to contact Joan Rosen himself. Joan and Tom immediately hit it off, she was sympathetic and agreed to take on the class. They would practice in the carpeted basement of his downtown office building.
Chandler Carlson remembers that while Tom was intrigued with holistic yoga, she and her friends were far more interested in the physical benefits. "We began to realize we were going to exercise our minds and our spirits as well as our bodies," which of course is the point, to integrate those three disciplines. Still, we didn't want to get into anything strange. I think Joan sensed our reserve. She would at first refer to shivasana as "relaxation pose," but it still seemed odd to just lie there in the dark. Eventually you were truly quieted, calmed, restored. And when Joan would sometimes stop at your mat smelling of lavender oil, pull your head into place, tuck your shoulder blades and pat your arm, you thought - okay, this is so good I want to learn more.
Eventually, additional instructors were brought in, adding their own unique style to the studio. Joan always encouraged us to learn from different instructors and reminded us that in yoga, the learning never ends. The studio now offers Pilates, Yoga and Meditation in a non-health club environment in the same location where it started back in 1999.
- As Told by Chandler Carlson
