Liz (second from left) with some of the Artemis Yoga community.
Liz Padula, owner of Artemis Yoga in Watertown, Massachussetts, has been practicing yoga for most of her life. As a six-year-old, she was introduced to yoga and meditation by her sister who had just returned home from the Peace Corps. Her own journey led to practicing yoga at a San Francisco YMCA, then back to the east coast at a church hall in Newton, MA with the well-known Iyengar teacher Peentz Dubble. Liz then completed 500 hours of alignment-based vinyasa yoga training with Natasha Rizopoulos. For Liz, yoga went hand in hand with her work in high tech product marketing, both an escape and a mindset that kept her calm under an intense professional pace.
Liz guides a class full of yogis.
FROM MARKETING PROFESSIONAL TO YOGA STUDIO OWNER
Yoga helped Liz maintain mental serenity and strength during a challenging period with health issues and the personal loss of loved one. It was from this place of personal challenge, resilience, continued hope and joy that the vision for Artemis Yoga began. When she realized that she could turn her passion into a purpose, Liz used her business background and MBA to help confidently make Artemis Yoga a reality! In her search for a location, Liz loved the vibe and growth of the Coolidge Square area of Watertown. “It is a great neighborhood with so much energy right on the edge of Cambridge and Brighton,” says Liz. “As soon as I saw the building, I knew it was the perfect spot and began to develop plans for the renovation of the space.” In 2015, Artemis Yoga opened its doors as a friendly, welcoming, and accessible neighborhood studio.
The beautifully renovated storefront of the yoga studio.
ARTEMIS YOGA’S MISSION & GOALS
A symbol of graceful strength and resilience, Artemis also means safe, sound, and vigorous; qualities that many of us seek in our lives. As a yoga studio, Artemis has cultivated a community that helps students build their own strength and resilience to injury while also being a space where they can feel refreshed, calm, and ready for any day-to-day challenges.
Liz shares more about the studio’s mission and goals: “We want to help students to tap into their strengths – whether they are the student who is challenged by a pose and susceptible to a short cut or the really limber person who falls lazily into a pose from accessibility (and not strength). We want to laugh at ourselves and enjoy this moving meditation while building each students’ strength, balance, and serenity along the way. Our students come to relax more deeply, stretch out tightness, quiet the mind, learn body positivity, meet friendly people, create a stronger mind-body connection, and carve out time for themselves. Artemis Yoga welcomes students to grow or start their yoga practice here. Our tagline is Welcome. Learn. Practice. We truly believe that!”
The studio provides 40+ in-studio and online classes a week, led by over 20 part-time instructors and staff.
AN OASIS IN WATERTOWN
Aremis Yoga is an open, inviting, and tranquil environment in which students are welcome to join all levels of yoga and learn, relax, and rejuvenate. An oasis in Watertown, the space hosts two practice studios and offers flow yoga (Vinyasa), Iyengar yoga, Ashtanga yoga and restorative yoga as well as programs for kids, teens and more.
The studio has garnered rave reviews for its community, teaching, and design beauty—a space that is simple, inviting, appealing and highly functional. Before opening, Artemis Yoga hired contractors and architectural experts to redevelop and completely transform two out-of-date retail storefronts and a basement area (formerly a historic urban grocery store) into one beautiful yoga center. The space was reimagined into a beautiful yoga center with two large practice rooms, three bathrooms, shower, lockers, and a lobby area with high ceilings and plenty of natural light. When the pandemic hit, Artemis Yoga was ready with its modern HVAC system that included built-in fresh air exchange units – a critical aspect to re-opening safely with top-notch air quality.
A bright, cheerful, and modern space greets students as they walk in.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
"At its essence, yoga is about community and a desire to be of service to others," reflects Liz. As such, Artemis Yoga regularly holds benefit classes to support their communities.
In June, they held their second annual Pride Benefit Class to raise awareness and support the efforts of Greater Boston PFLAG, which provides opportunities for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, working every day to achieve a vision of a world in which LGBTQ+ individuals are safe, supported, included, and equal in their families, in their communities, and in society.
In April 2022, Artemis Yoga hosted an afternoon of benefit classes to support relief efforts in Ukraine. As the events in Ukraine unfolded quickly, they acted with compassion and support by putting together specialty classes for their students to enjoy while also supporting with donations to #ChefsForUkraine through World Central Kitchen. In addition, Artemis Yoga teacher and professional textile designer Shireen Damghani showcased her beautiful, hand-dyed silk scarves and donated the proceeds to Ukraine relief efforts.
In addition to holding benefit classes, Artemis Yoga is home to many specialty programs for continuing yoga education, unique girls' empowerment programs, plus yoga and mindfulness classes for working professionals and employee wellness.
One of their March Momentum challenge participants won a Manduka mat!
