sidesCo-founder of yoga space Wild Wolf’s and the newly launched studio The Wild Box chats to us about her businesses, the power of movement, and the best bits of Bristol.
Tell us about your business, Wild Wolf’s?
I created Wild Wolf’s in October 2016, along with my sister Stephanie, and the studio is based in a beautifully restored Old Stock Exchange building in the heart of the Old City of Bristol. I wanted to create somewhere that when you walk in you feel like home, your breath has already changed and settled into yourself and a calmer place.
We deliberated on the name for ages – our dad runs the well-known bar Mr Wolfs – so we pondered over embracing the family name but we kept coming back to Wild Wolf’s. Quite quickly we created a loving and creative community of people who visited the studio, which is what we always wanted. The timetable grew, we hosted lots of events and people hired the space to run workshops.
How did The Wild Box come about?
A few years later, we formed a union with the Sweat Box Gym to create The Wild Box. The studio is based in Bedminster in a much more industrial setting. It’s interesting to see how the two businesses have come together so well. Sweat Box covers mixed martial arts, and Wild Wolf’s is predominately yoga, but there is a lot of crossover for visitors looking to create some balance in their training. Everyone is welcome, and it is a studio that fully expresses our intent to fuse different worlds and to bring a new dimension to our deep belief in the power of movement.
What are the benefits of yoga?
We’ve created warm, welcoming and beautiful spaces as I think it’s a joy to be able to walk into a studio and instantly feel a certain way. Yoga can be done anywhere, of course, but in the modern world where people are stressed and running around it’s good to be able to create a dedicated space to come to. For me, the real benefit of yoga is really just spending time being present with yourself and your breath, slowing everything down and accessing your internal landscape. It’s about people feeding into their physical body, their emotional body, and for some, their spiritual body. I’m all for practicing gentle, restorative styles. I enjoy stronger styles here and there, but a lot of the time it is beneficial to bring it back to basics and ensure yoga makes you feel good.
Do you have a signature class?
We have a popular session called Wild Flow. Initially, this was my signature class. It was strong but with a beautiful flow, inspired by my teachers who have lots of Tai Chi inspired movements. Today, as I move into more restorative styles, Wild Flow has developed into any teacher’s interpretation of a strong, more expressive and creative class. I think it is really important that our teachers are able to express styles and movements they’re most passionate about.
What’s your favourite yoga pose?
Any kind of lunge with creativity. I like to mix it up and experiment with movement, anything to feel grounded yet uplifted. With restorative styles, when you bring the front of the body down to the ground, it can feel super empowering.
What can we expect to see next from Wild Wolf’s and The Wild Box?
We used to run a regular event called the Wild Night In at Wild Wolf’s, which we’d love to bring back. It’s 30 minutes of Yin yoga practice, followed by homemade drinks and snacks like delicious hot turmeric lattes and bliss balls, then afterwards we would watch a film together. Over the years we’ve teamed up with lots of other local businesses to run creative events, from Feel Good Friday’s to coffee and yoga mornings on the weekend.
At The Wild Box we have a cool outside space called Sweat Box Yard which we envisage being somewhere to host different events, like dance evenings with a partner outdoors on a balmy summer evening. I’m looking forward to how it all unfolds, I’d also love to run retreats in Somerset and the surrounding areas. We can’t wait to bring more people together in creative ways when we are able to do so again.
What do you love most about Bristol?
There’s a lot of elements I could list off, but ultimately it’s the people of Bristol that make this city so special. I moved here six years ago, and though I have family here it’s been so lovely to be able to create a community with Wild Wolf’s, our very own pack. It’s how I made my first friends here and I hope we can continue to do the same for others who come and visit both Wild Wolf’s and The Wild Box spaces.
