Maile Wicklander
TULA Yoga Studio Founder/Owner
MA, RYT-500, Qualified MBSR Teacher
Yoga Teaching Schedule: In-person Gentle Yoga classes held on Mondays & Wednesdays at 10:30am, and Thursdays at 5pm. SomaYoga Live-stream class on Wednesdays at 5:15pm.
Free Guided Meditation Sessions: Held throughout the week. Please check our schedule for our current offerings.
Born and raised in Central California, I came to Chicago from San Francisco for an MA degree in Psychology in 1999 and fell in love with the city, the people, and the snow! After also falling in love with an amazing person, I got married, had 2 children and settled in Logan Square. During the few years I spent as full-time mother, I discovered yoga. I was drawn to it as way to reconnect with who I am as a person, not just the various roles that I played in my life. I was also drawn to the quiet reflection and the turning-inward that yoga encouraged.
In 2011, I felt a calling to open a yoga studio in my beloved neighborhood. I took a leap, found the perfect space and worked hard to make Tula a reality.
I purposely chose not to pursue a yoga teacher’s certification or training program before opening the studio because I wanted to make sure that I built the studio through the beginner’s mind of a student, still open to many ideas and interpretations.
In March of 2020, I felt a calling to teach this wonderful practice. I completed my 200-hour training with Tula Yoga Studio (under the exceptional tutelage of our Tula teaching team). In August 2023, I completed a 500-hour SomaYoga (Somatics + Yoga) Teacher training with Yoga North Duluth. I also earned a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Level 1 Teaching Certificate with Brown University and offer MBSR sessions throughout the year and meditations sessions weekly.
I am extensively trained in trauma-recovery through yoga, somatics and mindful meditation.
I teach gentle, slow and mindful movements. My classes are trauma-sensitive, highly accessible and infused with underlying yoga philosophy and ethics. You may find elements of qigong, pilates, somatics, physical therapy exercises and functional movements interwoven with traditional yoga postures. I combine these movements with pranayama, mudras, meditation and mantra/intention to create well-balanced and experiential classes. They are designed to increase flexibility, strengthen the body and add stability to everyday movements. I also aim to cultivate curiosity, increase one’s interoception, emotional regulation and contemplative skills.
I believe yoga is a pathway for getting in touch with the higher SELF. I firmly believe, as Indu Arora often says, that “yoga is a work-IN, not a work-out”. Every student who steps into my classes, continue to be my greatest teachers.
Beginning in Nov. 2024, I will be pursuing my 1000-hour Yoga Therapist Certification with YogaNorth Duluth and training in Dharma Yoga Mindfulness at Spirit Rock.
When I’m not at running the studio or doing/teaching yoga/meditation, I am hanging with my awesome teens + husband, traveling, playing with my 2 dogs, reading fiction/poetry, exploring my native Hawaiian roots, studying Buddhist psychology, listening to records, doing pottery, knitting, cooking or swimming/biking.
