We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashlee McDougall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashlee, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Yoga Loft Tucson strives to provide a place to find peace and joy through the art of yoga. We do this by bringing together a diverse community that enjoys practicing yoga and are looking for ways to apply the principles of the practice into their everyday life.
We’re driven to create an accessible yoga atmosphere for our community; everyone deserves access to yoga because it’s such a healing practice! To achieve this goal, we’ve established various Work/Trade programs that provide students access to yoga education who might not be able to afford it otherwise. In addition, we have a diverse class schedule with easy-to-understand names and descriptions, so people can choose the correct practice for their needs.

Our teachers share these values and are experts at meeting their students where they’re at. If you’re looking for a welcoming yoga studio that can help you tap into your unlimited potential, Yoga Loft Tucson is here for you!

What should our readers know about your business?
I opened Yoga Loft Tucson because the practice of yoga saved my life, and I wanted to share the tools I found helpful with my community.

My name is Ashlee McDougall, and I’m the founder and co-owner of Yoga Loft Tucson. I started practicing yoga to help manage the symptoms of my lung disease, cystic fibrosis. I found yoga at a time in my life when my health was rapidly declining, and I was afraid of the future.

By practicing yoga, I found that I was much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for. But navigating the yoga world with a chronic illness wasn’t exactly easy. Many styles, like hot yoga, made me feel worse after the practice and it took me a while to figure out what style of yoga helped decrease my chronic pain.

Nonetheless, I was fascinated by the practice and how it helped me find balance in my life. So, I started taking yoga training after yoga training to learn as much as I could! I learned a slower style of yoga that focused on strength over speed was the style that made me feel my best. After nearly a decade I was feeling strong in my practice, and the opportunity to open Yoga Loft Tucson fell in my lap.

Right away, I knew I wanted a partner who shared my vision about creating an accessible studio, that would feel safe to as many people as possible. But unfortunately, my friend who I wanted to ask was opening her own studio at the same time! So, I thought the universe wanted me to open and run the studio on my own.

Fast forward five months, I knew I needed a partner to find a better work/life/chronic illness balance. Luckily for me, my friend took one of my classes and told me that her plans had just fallen through with her studio. I asked her to be my partner on the spot, and the rest is history!

The best business decision I’ve ever made was asking Jackie to be my partner. She’s wicked talented, has been practicing for over 20 years, is a 500-hour registered yoga teacher and has been practicing massage for 17 years. She understands the body and movement in ways that genuinely astonishes me.

Together, our mission is solidified – together we are creating a welcoming and accessible studio that offers a style of yoga that will help our community build strength physically and mentally.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Things to do: Hike Tanque Verde Falls
Sunset at A Mountain
Hike Tumamoc Hill
Hike Saguaro National Park
Desert Museum
Catch a show at Gaslight Theater
Hangout Downtown/4th Ave
Catch a show at the Rialto
Food:
Seis @ Mercado
La Olla on the NW side
Blanco Tacos @ La Encantada
Dove Mountain Brewing
Culinary Dropout
Berry Greens
The Hub
The Monica
Frog & Firkin
Bisbee Breakfast Club

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We’d love to shoutout our teachers! Without them, Yoga Loft Tucson wouldn’t be anything more than an empty room. We’re honored to have them join us in our mission to create a welcoming community.

Website: www.yogalofttucson.com

Instagram: @yogalofttucson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/yogalofttucson

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/yoga-loft-tucson-tucson

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.