Yoga Now owner Amy Beth
Treciokas with Miguel Elliott.
Photo: Miguel Elliott
June 2006 | Yoga Chat
New Gold Coast Studio Goes Green in a Big Way
By Darlene E. Paris
When we practice yoga, we can sense the connection between our sense of well-being and that of our planet. However, many of us are not willing to acknowledge this relationship in other more obvious matters. Some of us practice on yoga mats that are non-recyclable, or use household supplies containing chemicals that are harmful to the Earth.
But one yoga practitioner in the Chicago area has made a decision to embrace an Earth-friendly lifestyle and business. Yoga Now owner Amy Beth Treciokas recently opened a yoga studio that honors Mother Earth in an area that has a lot of concrete: Chicago’s Gold Coast.
Treciokas now owns two studios named Yoga Now, one in Edgewater, 5852 N. Broadway Ave., and the green-friendly studio on the second floor of 742 N. LaSalle St.
She resolved to use green products to clean the studio and purchased yoga mats and blocks that were PVC-free. Her plans were simple. That is, until she met Miguel Elliott, who happened to own a natural building company called ChiCobCo.
Elliott’s company uses natural materials to build a variety of things including gazebos, benches, schools and homes. Treciokas was familiar with his work because she had donated money to break up concrete for a bench he made of sand, clay, and straw near the studio she owns in Edgewater.
When she asked Elliott to lay down recycled tile in her new studio, she had no idea that he would do that and more. He would use the same material in which he built the bench to add something special throughout the 3,300 square-foot yoga studio — sculptures that remind yogis of their connection to Mother Earth.
The material he uses to make these works of art is called cob. Cob is a ball of mixed material consisting of sand, clay and straw, said Elliott, who has worked with this material for 13 years.
Elliott understood that Treciokas wanted the place to be more than a yoga studio, but a community center of sorts. The place has two yoga studios, a kitchen, two massage rooms, a sauna, and steam room.
“There were a lot of things about this project that made me say, ‘You know, I’ve never done this before, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work,’” says Elliott.
One of the things he had never tried before was using his own combination of clay and sand on the walls to give it the appearance of the earth. He also discovered a way to use baseball-mound clay to give the walls its earthy color and Kiss My Face Olive Oil soap to give it a nice shine.
He had also never attempted to make a cob bench with radiant heating, decorated with lights for added flair. That bench now sits just outside of one of the yoga studios, and is a favorite hangout spot after class.
One of his greatest feats, however, was constructing a meditation dome in the smaller yoga room made out of cob.
In the other studio, Elliott used cob to create a Kundalini serpent crawling up a vine to cover utility pipes. And another utility pipe in the hallway was turned into a tree with eight limbs to remind people of the eight limbs of yoga.
With Elliott’s help, Treciokas’ new studio turned out to be a sustainable one replete with energy-efficient appliances, bamboo floors, and walls covered with clay and sand resembling Mother Earth. “And, if that’s not enough, instead of fiberglass, the walls in this studio are insulated with recycled blue jeans,” Treciokas said.
Visit yoganowchicago.com, or 312-280-9642.
Darlene Paris is a Chicago-area writer and regular practitioner of yoga.
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