Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Maskeroni Price .
Thanks for sharing your story with us Christy . So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
A little over three years ago, my now husband and I moved to Dallas from NYC. We had been there for 13 years, and while we will always love the city, we were needing a shift. My husband was born and raised in Dallas, so it was a town that was somewhat still familiar to him. For me, it was all new. Starting again in a new city was hard but also exciting. I was excited to redirect my career and my lifestyle a bit to create more time for the things that I really loved and craved.
I have worked for myself most of my adult life as a registered dietitian, personal trainer, and yoga teacher. After working in fashion for a minute before realizing it wasn’t where I belonged, I went back to school for something for another interest of mine, and pursued my Masters in Nutrition and Applied Physiology along with Registered Dietitian credentials from Columbia University. I wanted to be able to help people, I wanted to help my family and I wanted to help myself. At the time, I had been dealing with a few health issues I couldn’t quite figure out with traditional medicine and doctors. I became quite passionate about learning about the body. While in school, I also became certified as a personal trainer. Later came my yoga certification. It was a tough several years — going to school full time, working to support myself and my goals, and living in a crazy (and expensive) city BUT it was completely worth it. It really has been an incredibly gratifying career for me.
Yoga has always been one of the most consistent things in my life. I started in college right after my four year swimming commitment was complete and have been doing it ever since. Like most peoples experience with yoga — it helped me. Tremendously. Through all kinds of life events. When I finally decided to get certified, it became the a piece to a puzzle that made it all fit together. It helped integrate all the education, experience, and effort I had been cultivating and learning. And it educated and evolved my teaching, my career, my body, and my life. It gave me even more direction to what I was doing and how I was doing it and furthered my passion for learning, education, teaching and helping others. It inspired me to fully combine all that I had learned.
Over time, I have come to understand that to feel good or better or great takes a multitude of tools and techniques. And, it takes time. Sometimes a lot of time. I have spent the last 15 years developing programs, classes, workshops, trainings and retreats around this integration of modalities. I am grateful to be able to offer clients and students a more holistic, well-rounded approach to feeling good.
I had the idea of a collective space – a place I could unite my skills with the skills of others — for a long time but the timing wasn’t right. I had worked on saving the money over the last many years “just in case” I got the nerve to do it. Last year it became pretty clear that it was time to move forward with it. The clarity came and a big piece of that was from the community of people that surrounded and supported me — family, friends, students, teachers, and mentors. They are what inspired and encouraged me to do move forward.
From this, ALULA COLLECTIVE was born– an integrated space, a community, and place where people can come to be informed and re-informed about their bodies, their minds, and its intelligence. A place where people can participate in changing their own lives and support others as well. A place of education. A place to bring in experts on different areas of study. A place where we can consciously change. We’ve been open just over two months and it is a dream come true.
Has it been a smooth road?
We haven’t been open long but we couldn’t be more thrilled with the response we have gotten so far. Of course there have been some bumps but I think any business has a few when they start. We (my husband and I) are doing this all on our own. We took the risk. We have moments. But, I knew we had to do it. Also, we have an incredible group of friends, family, students, and teachers helping us. Without them, the road would have been a lot bumpier.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Alula Collective is a merging of individuals and modalities to cultivate a healthy, more joyful life. We know life can get a little hectic some times. From the pull of life our mind, body, spirit, and normal rhythms can get off track. At Alula, we give you techniques that better integrate these polarities so that you can maneuver through life a little easier.
We offer yoga classes, trainings, and workshops. Some of the trainings and workshops recently on our schedule include: Home Practice Training, Sound Bath + Acupuncture Workshop, Yin Yoga Training, and an Adjustments Training. We will be offering a Teacher Training soon too. We have a Far Infrared Sauna with Chromotherapy that is available for both 25 and 50 minute sessions to help support the body. We also have nutrition counseling services. And, we are working to offer additional services soon.
Our yoga classes are different than most. At ALULA, we believe that what we do on the mat mirrors what we do in life. We can address the patterns in our lives via the patterns in our bodies. What I love about our practice is the ability to use our physical geometry, physiology, and neurology to not only inform and re-inform our poses, but to inform and re-inform ourselves as well. It is a very conscious way of doing yoga. We help the students understand why they are in the pose, how to set up, and what to do once you are in it. Our classes is heavily influenced by my study and practice of Katonah Yoga – a style of yoga I began studying in 2012. This practice has had a major influence in both my life and teaching. And, I am excited to share this information with our community and those that are curious.
We also do this practice as a community because connecting with people gives us a little more information, a different frame of reference, and a greater understanding and enhancement of ourselves as a whole. So instead of coming into a class, putting your mat down, and doing a whole class without talking or looking at anyone — we do it a little differently. We set up the mats facing each other so that we can connect, communicate, and have fun together.
Also, no matter what class you take, you will hear similar information weaved into each of the class. We recognize that every teacher comes with their own education, training, life experiences, and interests. At ALULA, we weave the strands of these together, employing a framework that is both rooted in Katonah Yoga, Taoism and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and also something else entirely unique to itself. It’s what we believe works.
I am most proud of the team we have — wanting to learn and grow with each other. And, the community of people that participate in this practice and life with us. To grow and support ourselves takes A LOT of effort. And, to know that people are willing everyday to do something different is incredibly inspiring to me and to all of us.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I have noticed a larger population of people seeking more information about their body AND more alternative methods to reaching their optimal health. My hope is that the focus of yoga continues to grow as a practice for function, for information, for longevity, and for life. While yoga can be a great “workout”, there are so many more incredible benefits to this practice.
Same for nutrition. I have seen so many more individuals dealing with chronic diseases or symptoms like auto-immune disease, allergies, and “IBS”. I think people are fed up with feeling the way they are feeling so they are seeking alternatives to the more traditional routes. While I believe the traditional routes have a place, I strongly believe we are seeing an expansion in getting to the root cause of why the symptoms exist instead of just treating the symptom.
Much of this stems from the stress many of us are dealing with in our lives. Whether physical, mental, environmental, or emotional our bodies are taking on way too much. This is shifting our perspectives to seek out practices like yoga, meditation, qi gong, or Tai chi; choosing more organic and natural foods and herbs to support our systems; and reducing toxic burden all together. These are the trends that I see building — or at least I hope are.
At ALULA COLLECTIVE, my hope is to support those wanting to be a part of this shift of perspective. We want to cultivate techniques in our lives that are bringing us more connection to our bodies and ultimately more joy in life. We’d love to see you on the mat, or in the studio soon!
Pricing:
- Yoga Classes: New Student week $25 / Drop- in$25 / package + unlimited monthly are also an option (see website for more detail)
- Infrared sauna : 25 minutes 1 person drop in $30 + 50 minutes drop in $60 / 25 minutes 2 persons drop in $60 + 50 minutes 2 persons drop in $80 / packages also available (see website for more info)
- Nutrition Consultant: 90 minutes initial consultant $185 / 60 minutes follow up $125
Contact Info:
- Address: ALULA COLLECTIVE
4325 Elm St. Suite 110 Dallas, TX 75226 - Website: www.alulacollective.com
- Phone: 972-863-3370
- Email: info@alulacollective.com
- Instagram: @alulacollectivealula
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/alulacollectivealula
Image Credit:
The Brand Movement+Samuel Solomon
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