Free form: Willow Street Yoga Center

by Ivy Farguheson, Photos by Julie Wiatt

If you are one of the few people around Silver Spring and Takoma Park area who hasn't tried yoga, April might be your time. The days last longer, the weather is getting warmer, and you told yourself on December 31, when writing those pesky resolutions, that you would do something new in 2007. It's time to be kind to your mind, body, and soul and try a yoga class.

And yes, yoga can be pricey, but that can't be your excuse this month. Go alone or grab some yogi friends and head over to Willow Street Yoga Center, which will be offering free classes from April 16 to 22.

Started by Suzie Hurley in 1994, Willow Street Yoga Center opened after Hurley had spent 10 years teaching yoga all over the area, schlepping yoga mats, blocks, and belts wherever she went. When a space became available on Willow Street in Takoma D.C., she opened the studio.

Hurley figured that she would need about 80 students pay the rent. The first classes began with about 60 students, then grew quickly to 160 students. She moved the yoga center to the Maryland side of Takoma in 1997, and 10 years after opening her first studio, she opened a second center in downtown Silver Spring in 2003. Willow Street Yoga now serves more than 2000 students.

Suzie Hurley is clearly passionate about yoga. She is one those rare people who has found success doing something she loves. She takes yoga and its practice seriously and, more importantly, she sees how practicing yoga has the power to benefit anyone in any number of ways. It was this desire to introduce more people to yoga that led her to open Willow Street and offer free samples.

Well, you can't take classes for free all of the time, but they are held before each session (fall, winter, spring, and summer). The free classes allow all students, from the novice to the experienced, to check out the studio and its practices.

Hurley came up with the idea of a free week of classes because in the beginning, she said, "There was no money. An ad in the Takoma Voice was all I could afford originally. I just plastered 'free class' flyers all over the place...the response was amazing."

Suzie Hurley (above) opened Willow Street Yoga Center in Takoma DC in 1994, with the goal of bringing yoga's benefits to all. Before each seasonal session begins, Willow Street offers a week of free classes, open to anyone. Although her business now serves over 2000 students in two locations, Suzie still teaches seven classes a week.

With two successful studios, it would seem that Hurley does not need to offer free class sessions. But she disagrees.

"Why fool with success?" she said.

Walk into the new studio in Silver Spring and you begin to understand why Willow Street is a success. Instantly a feeling of calm comes over you. The incredibly helpful staff and the soothing colors and the open space itself give you the feeling that you are finally home, in a place to rest.

And, as Suzie says, the location is great. Parking is rarely a problem, with the City Place parking lots next to the studio, and you hardly notice that you are in the center of bustling downtown Silver Spring. The center's administrative offices are in the Takoma Park space, so phones are not ringing off the hook and people are not stressfully trying to get work done. Even when busy, the staff remains friendly, welcoming you into the space with warm smiles. After meeting Hurley, you cannot help but think that the calming effect has trickled down from her.

Being the owner of Willow Street means certain responsibilities, but Hurley continues to teach seven classes a week (five in Takoma Park and two in Silver Spring). She writes thoughtful pieces for the center's newsletter and is committed to ensuring that students practice safely by hiring instructors who are equally committed to their own practices.

She also surrounds herself with a staff which she calls "the best in the entire world" and has come to depend on them for the more business side of the center. Office employees at Willow Street also share Hurley's interest in yoga.

"The staff must do yoga," she said. "They must know, understand, and have a passion about it."

With everyone alternating between leading classes and running the business, it's no wonder Willow Street Yoga seems to be a system that flows so well.

That sense of harmony is again a reflection of Hurley, who sees the practice of yoga as "an art, a science, and a philosophy." She believes that yoga should be practiced as a way to "connect to your own heart; tap into self-knowledge. You experience it yourself...you see results over time."

Who knows — your time could begin this month. Stop by either studio space between April 16 and 22 and take a free class. Check out www.willowstreetyoga.com for more details.

Background: With its handpainted mural of wisteria and soft blue sky, the Willow Street Yoga studio itself is a getaway.