Square One Yoga Collective, a new studio offering low-cost yoga classes and community events, is opening March 1, 2009, in the Triangle Neighborhood of Emeryville.
Katy Cryer, a neighborhood resident, is teaming up with 11 other Bay Area yoga teachers to make the transformative art of yoga available to everyone, regardless of income. Cryer and all the other teachers at Square One are certified and experienced at teaching yoga.
At the heart of Cryer’s vision is the belief that yoga has become too expensive for many of the people who need it most.
“Yoga changed my life,” she said. “It helped me become calmer, more centered, more self assured, and more compassionate toward others. It even helped me break a 15-year tobacco addiction. Everybody should have this.”
Cryer plans to offer classes for $10, which is two thirds, or even half, what most Bay Area studios charge. People in the neighborhood for whom even $10 is prohibitively expensive will be given the opportunity to apply for scholarships.
Square One will offer specialized classes — for seniors, children, adolescents and people with other special needs — as the demand arises.
Pablo Ortiz Pena, a San Francisco architect, has designed the interior of the studio. Leigh Okies, of Leigh Okies and the Office of Fine Print, also in San Francisco, is designing Square One’s graphics.
Both Pena and Okies are working pro bono. They share Cryer’s belief that yoga is a conduit for social and personal change, and they say they are excited to contribute to the venture. Many, many hours of their hard work are making Square One not only the most affordable Bay Area studio, but also perhaps the most beautiful.
All events and classes on March 1 will be free and open to the public. Classes will begin at 9:30 am, 11:30 am and 4 pm. There will be a reception following the final class of the day. Sein Feit, an Oakland musician, will hold a kirtan (call and response chanting in the Hindu tradition) at 7:30 pm.
For more information, please call Katy Cryer at 510-547-9700 or 415-652-8229; email katy@squareoneyoga.com; visit our website, www.squareoneyoga.com; or drop by the Square One Yoga Collective at 4336A San Pablo Ave., Emeryville, CA 94608.

katy cryer
squareoneyogacollective.com
4336-A san pablo ave. emeryville ca. 94608
510 . 547. 9700
415 . 652 . 8229/cell