A post from studio owner/director Leena Miller Cressman.
As we celebrate 20 years of The Branches and Queen Street Yoga, I’ve found myself reflecting on how we got here. There are people in our community who practiced with us on Queen Street, others who have only ever known the studio on Samuel Street, and many who joined us somewhere in between. It feels important to pause and share the story of where this all began, and how our studio grew into the community we know today.
When I look back over the last two decades, one idea keeps resurfacing — something that began as an instinct in the early years and has since become central to how I approach my work.
“The content is just an excuse to be together.”
This quote from movement teacher Frey Faust often comes to mind when I’m leading Yoga Teacher Trainings, hosting workshops, or simply chatting with folks around the studio. Don’t get me wrong — we’re deeply passionate about yoga and the many practices we share here. But it’s not the asana (yoga posture) practice itself that has carried this grassroots studio through three major renovations, a big location change, a global pandemic, economic recessions, and countless life transitions. What has sustained us for 20 years is being together.
Queen Street Yoga opened its doors in 2005 and celebrated its grand opening the following year. You’d enter an unassuming door on Queen Street and climb three big flights of stairs into a sunny, expansive space with high ceilings and squeaky hardwood floors. The studio was founded by Meaghan Johnson, an incredible teacher and community leader.
I started teaching yoga on my own in 2008, renting a room in a church and hustling my way into five classes a week. But I craved stability, purpose, and connection — colleagues to bounce ideas around with, a place to store my growing collection of yoga props, and a community to belong to. In 2009, I began teaching and taking classes at Queen Street Yoga alongside my church classes, benefiting deeply from Meaghan’s mentorship and the collegial environment.
In 2010, I stepped into the role of studio manager and began working more closely with Meaghan to run the studio and teach there full time. A few years later, when she decided to return to school to become a psychotherapist, I felt full of ideas and enthusiasm to keep building the community. At the tender age of 25, I decided to take the leap and buy the business. I was emboldened by the fact that my close friend Emma had begun teaching at QSY too, and she agreed to come along for the ride as manager and creative director.
Emma and I have been close friends for 20 years and have worked together for 14. It’s been a profound lesson in being together — learning to collaborate with our different strengths, work through disagreements, and support one another through both difficult and triumphant moments. We often joke that we’ve nearly mastered the art of reading each other’s minds. While we strive to run a business that supports our livelihoods, our guiding question has always been the same: how can this studio reflect our values of community care, environmental sustainability, and social justice?
Over time, the studio has grown into a carefully tended ecosystem. Teachers have planted themselves in our little forest, bringing so much life and care into the space — Carin since 2013; Leslie and Nicole since 2016; Wendy since 2019; Carol since 2020; and many more. In 2012, we started our work-trade program, where people exchange a few hours of admin or cleaning for free classes. These dedicated folks play a huge role in maintaining a welcoming, beautiful space, and many have gone on to become teachers or leaders. Wendy began as a work-trade, then started teaching, and since 2021 has been a cornerstone of the studio as Operations Wizard. Leslie started by creating gorgeous chalkboards, then became a teacher, joined the admin team, and later took a bold leap to become a co-owner of the building and business during our move and our rebirth as The Branches in 2021. Leslie has been such a key addition to our leadership team and plays a pivotal role in the creative collaboration that helped secure a sustainable future for The Branches on Samuel Street.
Together, our staff feels more like an extended family than a workplace. There have been countless potlucks, board game nights, meal trains during illness, help with moves, painting parties, baby showers, retreats, and many moments spent sitting in a circle, sharing and listening with care.
Our time together has unfolded across many spaces — Queen Street, Samuel Street, parks, our deck, my mom’s backyard during the pandemic, the public library, and the art gallery. It also extends outward through the many places our 137 Yoga Teacher Training graduates have gone on to share yoga. Along the way, our approach to movement has evolved too. We’ve expanded to include functional movement, Functional Range Conditioning, the Tensegrity Repair Series, and now — with a lot of joy and enthusiasm — lifting dumbbells and barbells in our Strength Essentials classes (huge gratitude to Nicole for her outstanding leadership there).
And we’ve done much more than just move together. There have been anti-racism book clubs, fundraisers, yoga history and cultural appropriation workshops, climate change discussion groups, holiday makers’ markets, parent-baby meetups, teen drop-in nights, and community BBQs.
And finally, there are our students. Without you, none of this would exist. Whether you came for a season or have been practicing with us for years, it’s the people who show up exactly as they are — sharing smiles, breathing together, and practicing side by side — who have sustained this studio for two decades. There are hundreds of you who have attended over 100 classes over the years, and a handful who have attended over 1,000. That’s more than 41 full days spent practicing with us! We are deeply grateful to each and every one of you for being part of our story.
These past 20 years have been shaped by the people who’ve gathered here — roots deepening, branches reaching, seasons changing. Thank you for growing this community with us. Here’s to the next 20 years together.
Yours,
Leena
The Branches 