YIN YOGA WITH LUCY DILLON
Hearing people talk about where they go to yoga, and who their yoga teacher is, is not an uncommon topic to hear around Salt Lake City. However, what is less common to hear about are the uncommon people who embody the lessons of these ancient practices in how they contribute beyond a single class. The people — the teachers — who are ambassadors of our community.
One of these uncommon and amazing people is Lucy Dillon.
Lucy is the former owner of Vitalize Community & Healing Arts Studio, located in beautiful Millcreek. Her connection with Vitalize goes back 12 years, when Vitalize was housed in Sugarhouse and Lucy had rented a small space to teach Yin Yoga and workshops.
During this time, Lucy became friends with the studio’s founder and original owner, Angela Rhinehart. Over the years, Lucy and Angela became friends and even collaborated on different healing workshops.
Today, Vitalize is housed in the historic radio factory studios in Millcreek, just off 2300 East. In 2023, Lucy passed the torch of owning this beautiful off to the Salt Lake Buddhist Fellowship. However, Vitalize is still her home space for offering yoga classes.
As someone who has always felt connected to the space and philosophy that Vitalize was built around, Lucy is happy to have passed the torch of ownership to a group who continues to honor these philosophies.
Knowing that we are all called to different types of movement (or stillness), Vitalize is a welcoming space for ALL kinds of movement. This includes classes in meditation, dance, yoga, music, breathwork, and sound healing (just to get you started)!
In addition to opening the space for a range of healing arts led by thoughtful facilitators in the community, Lucy continues to lead her own classes as well. She is known throughout the city as being one of the best Yin Yoga teachers in SLC.
If you have a chance to settle into one of her Yin Yoga classes, you are in for a treat! This dedicated practice targets the connective tissue in chronically stiff areas of the body through supported, simple poses held for 3-5 minutes each. The practice is especially great for the hips and shoulders.
In addition to her Yin classes, Lucy also offers a meditation class and one of her specialty classes: Yoga for Stiff Bods. This class is a Lucy special that debunks the myth that you have to be flexible to do yoga.
Whatever class you may choose to try with Lucy, just know that you are in a safe space.
Lucy is one of the most welcoming teachers we have ever taken a class from and we love how her classes are open and inviting to everybody.
While Lucy’s roles as a studio owner and teacher are two things we love about her, we believe every person is more than just one title or role. Here are some things we loved learning about Lucy, beyond the studio:
Prior to Lucy’s role as a yoga teacher and studio owner, she had insight into the beat of Salt Lake City as a journalist for the Desert News, before becoming an aerobics instructor.
From her first days in Utah, Lucy has always been a supporter of small businesses and does her best to shop and support local. Her favorite business to contribute to daily is Caffe Expresso on Highland Drive (she’s another person who purchases her daily cup of joe rather than making it, which we support 100%)!
Lucy has a special connection to music and shares that with her students in her yoga classes. The more you attend class with Lucy, the more you will notice her attention and intention to creating playlists for each class. She also enjoys collaborating with local musicians to bring live music and even chanting to her classes.
One of Lucy’s favorite musical artists is Michal Franti who she had the opportunity to experience live in concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater this June.
As an animal lover, Lucy is known for her big heart that often finds her opening her home to rescue dogs. Currently, she has two pups Ben and Sky. If you are up in the mountains this winter, you may see them frolicking in the snow while hiking with Lucy.
Lucy has always felt connected to nature and enjoys hiking in the mountains of Utah, but her love of walking and connection to the earth was further ignited this last year during two pilgrimages. First, a 100-mile walk along the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, and just recently a 500-mile walk across the top of Northern Spain on the Camino del Norte.
Sometimes learning to love Salt Lake City, ourselves, and our community,
means going outside of what we know.
We are grateful to Lucy for sharing her experience of exploring, learning, and how those lessons helped her reconnect with SLC.
If you can’t already tell, Lucy is committed to Salt Lake City, her immediate community in Millcreek, and our greater Utah home. She is committed to her role in the community both personally, as a mother to two remarkable young adults, and professionally as a small business person.
Come meet this woman who brings light to the community and experience the joy of one of her classes! You can find her weekly class schedule at www.vitalizestudio.com or by following Lucy on Instagram @lightonlucy.
Photos by Meagan Mullahy Photography.
