Yoga teacher prepares to open new studio in downtown Washougal

As an employee of one of downtown Washougal’s busiest businesses, Yuliya Bohan is usually in the know about what’s happening around town.

Lately, a lot of the buzz she’s been hearing has centered around her own venture — a new yoga studio located next door to the location of her full-time gig at Trap Door Brewing’s Whistle Stop Pub.

“Naturally, I have been sharing my progress, so every time someone comes into the pub, they’re like, ‘Did you get the keys? Did you sign the lease?’ ” Bohan said. “Literally, it seems like the whole town knows.”

Bohan will launch her studio, Washougal Yoga and Wellness, 1830 Main St., with a soft opening event April 16 and plans to open completely in May.

“Everything has been unfolding so quickly, so perfectly,” Bohan said. “I’m still assimilating into my new reality that this is my studio, … and people are so excited about it. I started out in my garage, organically, and it’s been cool to witness the growth and the journey and the progress.”

Originally born in Ukraine, Bohan immigrated to the United States in 1991 and has lived in the Pacific Northwest ever since. She started practicing yoga in 2016 and decided to become an instructor in 2018 after participating in a class offered by Yoga+Beer, a collective of instructors who lead yoga classes and social gatherings at breweries, wineries, distilleries and outdoor spaces in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

The event Bohan attended was held at Victor 23 Brewing in Vancouver.

“I didn’t even like beer at that time,” she said, “but I took the class, and it was so much fun. There was a great community feel afterwards, because people didn’t scatter and leave — we connected. I was like, ‘I want to do this. I want to teach for Yoga+Beer.’ ”

Bohan participated in a training program in Costa Rica in 2019 and became certified to teach hatha and vinyasa yoga. After returning home, she became an instructor for Yoga+Beer, teaching classes at breweries and wineries throughout Clark County. She also converted her home garage into a studio and began offering in-person and online yoga classes, which helped her build a throng of dedicated followers.

“That really built a community,” she said. “All through COVID, I continued to teach, and people continued to (participate), and we had a really close group. Some, if not most, of those students are still with me six years later.”

Bohan started looking in the fall for a physical space to host online yoga classes and learned that Forest Moon Yoga next to the Whistle Stop Pub in downtown Washougal was closing.

Bohan found the prospect of having a business on Washougal’s Main Street slightly daunting at first.

“I was like, ‘I want to check it out. But that’s like, a really big deal. I mean, wow, a space on Main Street.’ It was a big step,” she said. “Somebody told me, ‘Just call and make an appointment. You’re not entitled to sign up or sign anything. Just view the space.’ So I made the call, I viewed the space the next day, and five weeks later, I signed my lease and got my keys.”

Bohan is now seeking yoga instructors to help her offer yoga classes seven days a week and provide classes for a range of skill levels.

“My teaching style has drastically evolved, and it continues to evolve with every single class the more I do it,” Bohan said. “But I would say my biggest unique thing is I make it not about yoga or the difficulty of the practice, I make it (about) just giving yourself permission to just be and move in ways that you don’t normally move day to day.”

Bohan will offer a class exclusively dedicated to stretching; a class specifically tailored to athletes; an early-morning class designed to help people build energy for the rest of their day; a lunchtime class; and a morning class for mothers who may have free time after dropping their children off at school.

“I love the community aspect of it,” Bohan said. “What people need at the end of the day is a sense of belonging, a sense of being a part of something.”

For more information, visit washougalyogawellness.com or instagram.com/washougalyogawellness.

Doug Flanagan: 360-735-4669; [email protected]