About Elowen
A studio built for slowing down.
Elowen began in 2019 in a converted print shop on Linden Row. Today it’s two light-filled rooms, five teachers and a community that values attention over intensity.
Our story
It started with a class that felt rushed.
Our founder, Mara Ellison, spent ten years teaching in busy studios where classes started late, ran fast and ended with everyone racing for the door. Students were working hard, but very few were really learning.
So she built the opposite. Smaller rooms. Longer transitions. Time at the start to arrive and time at the end to rest. Teachers who explain the why behind each shape and remember your name the second time you visit.
Seven years later, that idea still guides everything we do. We are not the biggest studio in Portland, and we never want to be. We want to be the one you leave feeling better than when you came.
What we value
Three ideas we return to every day.
01
Unhurried
We give every pose time to land and every student time to understand it. Fewer shapes, done with more care.
02
Skillful
Our teachers train continuously in anatomy, breath and trauma-informed teaching, so their cues are clear, safe and useful.
03
Kind
No mirrors, no comparison, no pressure. Just a warm room and people who are glad you came.
Inside the studio
Light, wood and quiet corners.
The teachers
Five teachers, sixty years of practice.
Former dancers, a respiratory therapist and a physio-trained mobility coach. Different paths, one shared belief: good teaching is mostly good listening.
Come and see
Your first class is on us.
Book any class this week and try it free. We’ll save you a spot by the window.