Bilingual Wellness Center in Downtown Watsonville

It’s one thing to operate a yoga studio and quite another to operate a wellness beacon. Phoenix Artemisia belongs to the latter category along with Watsonville Yoga.

The studio, located on Main Street in the heart of downtown Watsonville, is a space for yoga, capoeira, ballet, pilates, African dance, massage, acupuncture, salsa rueda, belly dancing, hypnotherapy, and more. It’s a former bank building – as evidenced by the vault door near the massage room which opened in 2016 – now operated with the local community in mind.

“For years people who have money have been able to go out and drink and eat, but what else is there?” said Artemisia. “Sometimes there are activities in the square here, but after-work activities and weekend evenings are often lacking. So we try to have more opportunities for people who want to do something else.

Watsonville Yoga was one of the first studios in the area to offer bilingual classes, aimed at Spanish speakers who want to take yoga and dance classes. “I think we’re one of the only places outside of San Francisco that offers classes for monolingual Spanish speakers,” Artemisia says, paving the way for the larger of the two studios, the Sol Room, a 1,000-foot studio. squares for classes including passionate yoga and dance.

“Our intent and approach is inclusiveness, bringing together people curious about yoga from all walks of life,” she says. “Sometimes there is shyness between people because of the language barrier in this community. I want to create an atmosphere where people can mingle and bond.

The studio has in the past offered a yoga class for farmworkers, though Artemisia says it doesn’t currently offer it due to teacher engagement and low attendance. Besides yoga and wellness, the company also prides itself on local artwork and community events.

“We’re juggling a lot of coins to make it accessible, like we’ve reduced evening class prices to entice more people to come for evening classes,” says Artemisia, noting that morning classes are among the most popular. .

Most of the teachers at Watsonville Yoga are locals, specializing in specific practices like Tai Chi or the healing arts. While the majority of classes are centered around yoga, Artemisia says they want to offer something for everyone. The studio has collaborated with the Mount Madonna Institute, local schools and the Santa Cruz Arts Council to bring yoga and wellness to the whole community. They offer weekly community acupuncture for $25 in hopes of making alternative medicine and wellness more affordable — a big plus when acupuncture often costs triple that amount.

“The response to what we’re doing here has been good, but it’s taken a lot longer than if we were in Santa Cruz or Los Gatos,” she says. “The concept we have here has great integrity, but being in downtown Watsonville was difficult at first because it’s under-busy with business and wasn’t in itself a destination of any kind. People use Main Street to get somewhere, and for many years it wasn’t a common place to go out or hang out. But I think that is changing.

Artemisia is especially excited about the potential reduction of Main Street from four to two lanes, which she hopes will bring an intimate, community feel back to downtown Watsonville.

“All this traffic is a major problem for us. It’s dangerous for the public and pedestrians and bad for local businesses,” she said. “It’s a beautiful, old and historic place where before the earthquake people liked to walk and socialize.”

Artemisia says she’s noticed more people spending time downtown in recent years. “I think the new businesses here, including Watsonville Yoga, make it intriguing for people to come here to rediscover the truly special attributes of downtown Watsonville while enjoying exciting and wholesome cultural and social activities.”

375 Main St. N., Watsonville. watsonville.yoga.


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