ENCINITAS — Soul of Yoga owner Ryan Stanley credits the community with the studio and yoga institute’s longevity.
“When you meet a teacher or somebody who inspires you, you just want to be in their presence again,” Stanley said. “You just feel like, ‘Okay, I want to spend more time hearing what this person has to say.’ I think that’s the draw ultimately of the Soul of Yoga.”
The studio is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Tom and Trisha Kelly founded it in 2001 as The Soul Center in their home. It became Soul of Yoga after moving into a commercial space in 2003.
In addition to the studio, Soul of Yoga operates an institute that has trained more than 1,500 yoga teachers over the years. Its offerings range from a 200-hour teacher training program to a master of arts in internal health with a concentration in yoga therapy through the California Institute for Human Science.
“It’s where the competency of the teachers comes from and kind of where our credibility comes from as well, because we’re running an institute at the same time we’re running a local yoga studio,” Stanley said.
Stanley purchased the studio in 2017 after leaving a corporate career. His wife, Catrina, introduced him to it in 2010, though he said he did not immediately grasp what made it special.
“There was philosophy within the classes that I wasn’t ready for,” he said. “I really rejected it at first because I just wanted a yoga class. I was like, ‘what is this?’”
Over time, he began to understand how those philosophies complement the physical elements of yoga.
“The eclectic styles are part of Soul of Yoga,” Stanley said. “A lot of times when you have a private yoga studio, it kind of goes down the path of the favorite style of the owner or the practicing style of the owner of the studio. And our goal is to really keep it open from a perspective of all the lineages and styles of yoga.”
That approach shapes both the programming and the business model.
Stanley said maximizing profits has been less of a priority, explaining that “luckily it’s just been enough over and over and over again.”
“There’s definitely a philosophical connection where within the philosophy of yoga, there’s an importance around not hoarding or being attached to any resources,” he said. “It is an amazing thing to strike the right balance between the philosophy of making sure to be abundant and at the same time, not hoard any resources and really share generously.”
Another essential ingredient, he said, is creating a place that welcomes a range of perspectives and beliefs.
Stanley said he takes pride in the studio’s role in providing a “continual community gathering place for people that believe different things.”
“I think it’s a really important part of being human and just reducing violence is coming to places with people that don’t believe the same as you do,” he said. “And so we welcome all those differences and contradictions.”
