Daily Inspiration: Meet Emily Masters

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Masters.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Canopy Yoga opened September, 2024 – so we are a pretty new space! The renovations of the space began two years ago, with the design, permitting and architectural review phase taking over a year. Construction began in January 2024 and was completed in August. The space was previously a hair salon. We completed complete re-model of the space – refitting it to have a relaxing nature inspired “Joshua Tree” aesthetic and added a glass skylight to separate the yoga studio from the upstairs smoothie bar area. Students can order a smoothie before class and it will be ready for them when they finish!

My background is in technology banking but yoga has always been a huge passion of mine. I completed my yoga teacher training in 2020 and after having our daughter decided to dive fully into yoga and open my own studio. I decided on LoHi as the location and went looking for spaces. The LoHi community has been a huge part of our life and we love the people, the area and the ability to walk to so many amazing businesses. Having moved from Sydney, Australia to LoHi 6 years ago I had been looking for a boutique yoga studio with a focus on community and various types of yoga – so when I couldn’t really find that I decided to make one. The process has been long having worked on it all independently and not as part of a franchise – but it has been very rewarding and the students have been loving it so far!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Overall it has been a fairly smooth road which I have been grateful for! The difficult moments were with permitting and the back and forth with Denver, which took longer than expected at times. However our contractors (HedleyCo) were wonderful to work with and I think that is a rare experience in a larger construction process, so I really appreciate having shared this experience with them! All the people I have met along the way have been great, and it has been great building this experience with our wonderful teachers and smoothie bar staff.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My background is in banking (10+ year career) and yoga was always an important part of my life. As such I feel I enter the yoga studio world from a perspective shared by many of our students, and really wanted to create a relaxing and rejuvenating space for them. I know what it is like to be living in the hustle and bustle and needing a break from the busy and often stressful world around us. That is why I wanted to focus a lot on the overall experience and feeling we are cultivating at the studio, creating a studio environment that matches the calm and peaceful feeling many of us have after a yoga class. I also wanted to offer smoothies, allowing people to be nourished in a healthy and convenient way after class. All our smoothies are vegan to respect our animal friends and the environment we all share. Showers were also important to me, allowing people to have space to reset and cleanse before moving on with their day. I want our students, who are often on the go, to feel special and relaxed when they come to our studio, so we created our hand finished plaster showers as well as have all natural Sans shower products from New Zealand. We put effort into the small details, like having an arched door to the studio and having Dyson hair dryers. I know I would have appreciated a studio like this in the neighborhood – so I hope our students do too!

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I completed my 200 hour teacher training during Covid, and from this I really learned the value of in person yoga classes. There are a lot of online offerings – which are great for certain situations but I know I was really craving the sense of community and togetherness an in person yoga class brings. Community is very important, which is why we have a sitting area for students to connect after class if they wish to. We are also hosting various workshops and events to help foster this sense of community.

Pricing:

• 2 weeks for $49 intro pass
• $26.50 drop in
• Unlimited membership $150

Contact Info:

• Website: www.canopyyoga.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoga_canopy/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/61563479004130/
• Other: email: hello@canopyyoga.com

Image Credits
Photo of lights: Colin Rex