Chamber business spotlight
By Kellen Olshefski
Staff Writer
For Susan Lancaster, owner of Essential Yoga in Elkhorn, her yoga experience began at a young age, though she said she didn’t truly know it at the time.
Lancaster said she began practicing Yoga when she was 16, though she didn’t know she was actually practicing Yoga.
She said at that time, she bought the Jane Fonda workout book and cassette tape and while she enjoyed doing it, it was way too intense.
“Back then it was all about ‘Feel the Burn,'” she said.
“You pushed yourself so hard until you could feel the burn and the next day you couldn’t walk and it was terrible and I hated it.”
However, a competitive swimmer and gymnast at the time, Lancaster said what she did like was the stretching because it felt good to her, “it felt right.”
“So I got rid of Jane Fonda and I just continued to stretch,” she said.
Lancaster, who has lived in Elkhorn for 22 years, said with both of her children going to school in Elkhorn she has gotten to know a lot of the community.
She said though she had been practicing for a long time, approached by her previous business partner at a conference in Lake Geneva, she was hesitant at first.
The pair opened White Hot Yoga in Lake Geneva originally, but soon moved to Williams Bay where her partner lived for about three years.
When her business partner moved, she decided to bring her business to Elkhorn where she knew the community and wanted to share what she was doing.
Originally located where Toe-to-Toe Ballet currently is, Lancaster said as people began to discover what was going on, her company began to grow.
In 2010, Lancaster opted to return to school for massage therapy, expanding her capabilities to aid the community she strives to serve.
After bringing in other therapists as well, she began to realize the space wasn’t going to be big enough and moved to Essential Yoga’s current location at 422 N. Wisconsin St., Elkhorn, two years ago.
“What we do here is offer holistic wellness,” she said. “Whatever people are looking for we have it and it doesn’t matter what age you are or your ability.”
Lancaster said though at the beginning she had a lot of people who knew her through her children and trusted her, word of mouth has traveled fast and she has gained a lot of students who she didn’t know originally.
With four massage therapists, two part-time and two full-time, including Lancaster, and an acupuncturist, Julie Stern from Tea House Acupuncture in Lake Geneva, the business offers a myriad of different types of massages from Swedish massages to hot stone and sports massages.
Lancaster said though it’s somewhat like a spa, the majority of people she treats have a medical-type situation.
“They’re in pain or they have tight shoulders because they’re always on the computer, a job hazard,” she said.
However, where Lancaster’s business specializes is the ancient art of Yoga.
Dating back more than 5,000 years according to the American Yoga Association, Yoga, meaning “to join or yoke together,” is built on three main structures: exercise, breathing and meditation.
Essential Yoga offers various Yoga classes multiple nights a week including degrees of difficulty from senior chair classes all the way to what Lancaster considers a level 3 Vinyasa Flow class.
In addition, Lancaster will be offering Tai Chi beginning in September. It will start with two free workshops.
Tai Chi, developed by monks practicing self defense skills as if they were to be attacked, turned into a daily practice, according to Lancaster, to try and remember the movements and that’s how it got to become a standing, slow movement activity ideal for people who can’t get down on the floor.
“I think it’s a really good partner for Yoga,” she said. “It’s just another offering that we can have here for people.”
Lancaster noted while many approach Yoga as physical activity, not necessarily looking for anything more, there are positive side effects.
“You learn to listen to your body,” she said.
Lancaster also said there are people who come because they are stressed and want to relax and learn how to breathe.
“We’re born breathing but for some reason, most people forget how to do it,” she said.
“Breath is a tool and can change your emotional state like that.”
Lancaster cited younger people as an example of having to deal with exams and driver’s tests. She said learning to breathe brings them down from the excitement or stress and they do much better.
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“On a global level, you’re awake and aware if you practice often,” she said.
“It can be a very deep eye-opening experience for people.”
Lancaster said one thing she feels she needs to get out there is that Yoga is not just for women but men as well.
“I think they’d be well-served to try it,” she said.
As for the future, Lancaster said she would like to see a health food store in Elkhorn and would be willing to work with anyone who would be interested in doing that. She said she would like to do it, though being as committed to Essential Yoga as she is, she just doesn’t have the time.
She also noted she would like to add more relaxation-related classes in the future.
Overall, Lancaster noted how happy “Yoga people” are, often being accused of “smiling too much.”
“It’s a side effect … you feel confident and happy,” she said.
“It’s infectious … we’re in the business of making people happy, experience some joy … take your Yoga smile out into the community and make somebody happy.”
Prices for Yoga sessions at Essential Yoga range from $15 for a drop-in lesson to $190 for 20 lessons. Essential Yoga can be contacted at (262) 949-9642 or at essential-yoga.net for more information about the programs and treatments offered.
