Three Trees Yoga began as a shared intention.

As we commuted together to teacher training in Seattle, our mantra, usually said with a big grin, was “When we have our own yoga studio.....” For a year we spent weekends together studying the aspects of yoga that made our hearts sing and our bodies return to the mat again and again. We developed deep bonds of friendship and came to respect each other's strengths. Plus, we laughed all the time.

Our journey wasn't a straight line. Some promising avenues turned out to be dead ends. Yet we kept walking towards our vision of a place completely dedicated to yoga. No more shared space where we moved furniture, swept up cookie crumbs and heard crying kids from the daycare. We dreamed of a quiet, serene practice room and a healing arts center with the most revered practitioners from our community. When we peeked into the windows of our building for the first time, we sensed we were home. The space felt held by the trees and the Hylebos wetlands surrounding it - which must have been what inspired Rocky (Jeni's husband) because he took one look at it and christened it Three Trees Yoga!

Prior to that, we had been combing through possible names for months and nothing seemed right. Every Sanskrit name we loved was shot down by our pragmatic husbands because they insisted no one would know how to pronounce it or spell it. We compromised by calling our parent company Maitri (which means friendship or loving kindness...and sounds like 'my tree') and it turned out our husbands were right- the Sanskrit name still confounds the utility companies.

In June 2005 we opened our doors and were immediately welcomed by new students as well as a loyal community who followed us to the new space. In addition, we have been blessed with a staff of teachers and practitioners that far exceeded our hopes. They are dedicated, passionate, caring and continually studying and deepening their own knowledge and experience.

Three Trees Yoga has taken on a life of its own. Students often mention our friendliness and a welcoming quality that they say is hard to find in our big box world. We try to learn your name and we're happy to see you. The people who walk through our doors bring their laughter and sincerity as well as their challenges. Together we learn to be compassionate with ourselves as we play at our physical edges; to be present with our breath and allow this moment to be as it is; to open our minds to new experiences and our hearts to those practicing on the mat next to us.

~ Karen, Suzy & Jeni