“Helping others feel good is my calling, and it’s important to me to lead by example,” says Meg Galarza, owner of Yoga One Studio. “Looking and feeling good, and leading a life of balance and graciousness is a great way to spread the word.” In 2003, Galarza began training with Shiva Rea, a leading teacher in the evolution of vinyasa flow yoga, and founded YogaOne Studio in 2004 in Cedarburg, to help clients find their paths to feeling great. Her path, however, had twists and turns.

Galarza was born into a family that not only practiced daily meditation and yoga, but also had an overall dedication to wellness. At the age of 5, she was initiated into Transcendental Meditation, one of the most widely practiced forms of meditation. She and her family often spent their summers at what is now known as Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in Iowa, where they would devote themselves to meditation, self-exploration, spiritual growth and giving back to the community.

After high school, Galarza attended MUM for two years, where she studied Vedic science, Ayurveda and Sanskrit, but her heart wasn’t quite in it. “I had always felt as if I didn’t have a choice—MUM was where I would go to college,” she explains. “I began wanting something different.” Leaving MUM and the devotional lifestyle behind, Galarza transferred to the University of Iowa, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in finance.

A marriage and two children later, she was a busy, stay-at-home mom living in Wisconsin. Craving her once athletic life, Galarza began going to the local YMCA to walk, run and take classes, including yoga. “It felt like coming home,” she recalls. So much so that she even took on a part-time job at the facility—a position that would eventually lead her down a familiar path.

“I’ve always enjoyed helping others, so when the Y needed a yoga teacher, I thought it would be a great opportunity to help people feel good,” says Galarza. “From there, everything just grew organically,” says Galarza.

In 2001, she began offering classes at a local Pilates studio and soon realized she was creating not only a business, but also a community. In the process, she began to feel her most authentic. She grew up with the tools necessary for overall health and wellness, but never really appreciated what her parents had given her. “Often, we must go off the path to understand just how good the path really is,” she notes.

From the start, the YogaOne Studio in Cedarburg thrived, and in January 2011, Galarza opened a second location in Fox Point. Both studios, she says, offer the highest quality yoga instruction with a group of diverse and highly trained instructors. More than 70 drop-in classes are offered weekly—from beginning to advanced levels. Most importantly, she and her staff are dedicated to offering an atmosphere that cultivates, inspires and supports the transformational process of yoga.

“We’ve all heard it said that if you can breathe, you can do yoga, and it’s true, but what we want to do is create an environment that is comfortable for everyone,” she says. With that in mind, she explains that customer service is a top priority. Guests are greeted with a smile and made to feel welcome—no matter what age, size or shape.

YogaOne Studio is also a state-approved, 200-hour and 500-hour RYT teacher training school, offering yearly teaching programs based upon the deep roots of hatha yoga. Although Galarza was initially hesitant to open a school, it has turned into a real passion. “The school gives me an opportunity to speak and go more in-depth about the practice of yoga,” she says. “There is a real need for yoga instructors, and it is our goal to create dynamic, innovative and inspiring yoga teachers.”

 

YogaOne Studio is located at W61N397 Washington Ave., Cedarburg and at 6874 Santa Monica Blvd., Fox Point. For information on Cedarburg, call 262-376-9642; for Fox Point, call 414-352-9642. For more information, visit YogaOneStudio.com.