Today we’d like to introduce you to Samuel Malloy.
Hi Samuel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Wylde Well Yoga is not just one person. The studio came into being under the auspices of many different folk, and exists today because of shared vision and purpose. At Wylde Well we are about making yoga accessible and affordable for as many people as possible, bringing yoga practice to the everyday householder. We believe that the fabric of community is made strongest through weaving together many threads, creating a tapestry filled with diversity, enhanced though equity and bejeweled with inclusivity. It takes collaboration, coordination and sustained effort—think marathon, not sprint—to bring a yoga shala like this into being!
This all started over ten years ago with an out of shape, overweight, physically miserable guy who’d had enough of that and wanted to get fit in order to complete in a short triathlon (it’s good to have goals!). That guy was me, Sam, the person listed as “owner” of Wylde Well Yoga.
I was baby-stepping my way through P90X, and came to the workout disc, “yoga”. I recall thinking I would have a break that day. I breathed a sigh of relief, after all yoga is just getting bendy; I was overweight but pretty darn flexible. No problem, yoga will be a breeze! Turns out, I was wrong! That next day left me gasping for breath, sweat dripping off me; my first thought: “WHAT was that?? Oh my _____! Respect!!!” I immediately wanted 1) more; 2) to conquer this new challenge.
That lead to gushing to a friend of mine, Merril Miller, about the amazing affects of yoga, only to have her invite me to an early morning class at a large camping event. I went, and lo and behold, she was the teacher!! Once again, left gasping for breath and in a pool of sweat I learned yet a deeper respect for yoga (her style is Hatha) and for the benefit of having a live teacher to work with.
Returning home to Bemidji, I sought a yoga studio and found Dionne’s Om Yoga with classes lead by Dionne Daly, Dionne offered numerous classes of varying difficulty; I took as many as my schedule would allow (sometimes 2 in a day). Her classes were vinyasa (flow style) based off of Ashtanga, every single class challenged and pushed me.
In Fall of 2014 Dionne encouraged me to take my 200 hour teacher training with her. I did, completing that in late Spring 2015.
From 2015 through 2018 I taught yoga at a satellite site for Dionne’s Om in Walker, MN, as well as teaching at the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Diabetes Fitness Center in Cass Lake, MN.
I completed Unnata (aerial) teacher training in 2016 and Y12SR (Yoga in 12 Step Recovery) in 2018, both at Tula Yoga in St Paul.
After a brief hiatus in Australia, I returned to Minnesota and opened Wylde Well Yoga (version 1.0) in Walker, MN in 2018.
Australia beckoned and I answered for a second longer stay; after returning I began substituting then regularly teaching at Tula Yoga. In 2019 I began an Ashtanga apprenticeship program at One Yoga, completing that in early 2020. Soon after completing that training I moved out to Charlotte, NC, just in time for everything to shut down. I continued to teach over zoom to a small cadre of friends and family. In 2023 I completed a second training in Y12SR to refresh my knowledge, and followed that up with a Science of Stretching teacher training. Most recently I completed an Advanced Unnata Teacher training in spring of 2024.
Finally, in March of 2025, Wylde Well Yoga coalesced once again into a brick and mortar location, here in St Paul, MN.
Along the way through all the teaching and training I had the good fortune to work with several skilled, insightful teachers, acquiring guidance and knowledge on not just pose know how, but also how to observe, adjust, teach and guide students. The same grace, patience and sense of humor my teachers showed me I endeavor to bring to the studio.
All these skills are great but skills alone do not create a yoga or wellness studio. Casual conversations with some of those friends and family zoom class folks gave rise to a concept that took hold. Wylde Well Yoga as not just yoga, but also wellness, community and activism. A place to bring yoga and healing and empowerment to regular folks with more affordable class rates than many other places.
To that end Wylde Well offers not just Yoga (instructors Kai Adams, Kaelie Farrah, Sam Malloy) but also Chen Taijiquan (instructor Adora Griepentrog) as well as Community Acupuncture, provided by Rainbow Tree Acupuncture (Elizabeth Harrington).The studio space itself is available for small events, meetings, gatherings, other classes, private or public as well.
Currently we have 1 off-site class offered Thursdays, 6-7 pm at Bumbling Fools Mead, 2010 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis.
We are small but mighty and growing every day!!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a completely smooth road. The pandemic shut so many places down and made some folks fearful of getting back out there and back into practicing yoga in a room full of strangers. It also gave rise to a bumper crop of on-line class options and took people out of yoga shalas (practice spaces) across the board.
Getting people willing to get back in person is a slow and at times steep climb.
Figuring out exactly how to contact the people we want to reach is also a challenge; we want to have our neighbors come in and give this yoga, acupuncture and taijiquan stuff a try. Convincing people it is really ok to not already know how, to have never ever tried any of it before or even to kinda suck at it when you first give it a go is a serious challenge.
Humor helps, ( #irrevernt yoga, #laughing yogis, #pyrate yoga), but ya still have to get folks in the door, in the chair and/or on the mat!!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
This is NOT a “me” story.
The whole concept driving Wylde Well Yoga forward is that this is an “us” story, a “we, the people” moment and it is bigger than any one of us. Together we are working to forge a place of welcome and wellness, sanctuary, if you will, that is welcoming to everyone. There is no room for individual ego in the creation of that space.
I am certain that it is safe for me to say that every one of us involved in the re-establishment of Wylde Well shares this notion of acceptance, diversity and inclusivity.
What sets us apart from others? Affordability, informality, small class sizes (limited to 10 pre-registrations/class), service animals welcome!!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
We do have a growth plan!
2 years from now, or sooner, world circumstances permitting, we hope to add 2-4 yoga retreats per calendar year.
These will be service oriented retreats, where in conjunction with daily asana (pose), pranayama (breath work), and dhyana (meditation) practice, retreat attendees will get involved in community/environmental service work.
Personally, I would like to see Wylde Well able to offer aerial yoga classes on a regular schedule as soon as possible.
5 years ( possibly sooner) from now we plan to be in a bigger place, offering more classes and wellness opportunities than can fit in 1 room. We also are looking forward to developing a catalogue of workshop opportunities of various lengths and topics.
10 years from now, hard to say, however if the growth trajectory is maintained, perhaps a second location and definitely a robust, thriving wellness program including yoga, acupuncture, Ayurveda and massage.
In conjunction with the above developments, I hope to develop and grow a veteran program that focuses on supporting veteran mental health as well as physical. This track is currently in it’s infancy!
Pricing:
- Regular drop-in yoga classes: $15
- Introductory offer (yoga): 10 classes@$10/ea, 11th class free
- Chen Taijiquan; donation (suggested $10)
- Acupuncture: $25-$60; initial consult:$40-$60
- See website for further classes, discounts & offers
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ww.wyldewellyoga.com
