Welcome to ZIVA Yoga Essentials!
We strive to create an environment, both in our shop and online, where our visitors experience what ZIVA truly means. We are committed to providing top notch customer service, the highest quality, eco-friendly products, and a warm friendly environment staffed with knowledgeable and well-trained employees.
Caring for our customers, our employees and the environment are our top priorities! Thanks for checking out ZIVA online. Enjoy your visit!
BA, Fine Art
MA, Therapeutic Recreation
Certified Yoga Instructor, Classical Ashtanga, Mount Madonna
About me and How ZIVA came to be…
I was drawn to yoga in 1993, initially as a means of easing stress. I really enjoyed the physical aspects of yoga and also found myself drawn to learning more about the spiritual aspects of the practice. I especially loved learning how to breathe consciously. Opening to learning how to breathe consciously went hand in hand with learning how to open my heart to life, and to really living. The yogic lifestyle helps me to be calm, centered, focused and youthful in body, mind and spirit. I am more fit and well now than I have ever been - physically, emotionally and spiritually.
In 2006, I felt called to deepen my yoga practice. For my 40th birthday I gave myself the gift of a 30-day residential intensive yoga teacher training at Mount Madonna. That was a life-altering and life-opening experience. I fully intended to pursue the business of teaching yoga when I returned home, but sometimes life has other plans for us. Two weeks after returning home, the vision of ZIVA landed in me with such intensity that I was immediately propelled to do research, write a business plan, seek funding and make ZIVA a reality. It never occurred to me to question the vision. I opened ZIVA's physical store-front in May, 2008.
With the launch of the website on 9/29/09, you now have the option of shopping in our beautiful retail store or shopping online from the comfort of wherever you may find yourself today. We will feel most blessed if we can contribute to your journey in any meaningful way.
As part of the fulfillment of my dream, I have just launched Phase II of ZIVA - the new ZIVA Yoga Studio - on May 8th, 2010. The studio is located right next door to the shop and the businesses are integrated as I'd always imagined them to be. I feel most blessed to have the support of the yoga community and of the Chico community in this new venture. We hope you will come check out the shop and the studio soon!
Sat Nam
Hi, my name is Jeanne Tyson and I am a mother of two and a full time student working towards a degree in International Relations. I am proud to work at ZIVA Yoga Essentials. It is a beautiful environment and I am doing something that I truly feel good about.
Yoga, for me, is a constant reminder of what life is really all about... breathing and doing my best in any given situation. Yoga provides me with the coping skills I need to be present and flexible on a daily basis, in body, mind and soul. It brings peace into my life and that is what I personally need in order to fulfill my path and pass peace onto others.
I have been practicing yoga since 2001, and find that as I deepen my practice, my body and mind grow stronger and more flexible, and my life becomes more intentional and joyful. Through my practice, I continue to learn how to stay present, centered, and calm, even in the most awkward or challenging circumstances.
I work at ZIVA because Angela has created a workplace based on yogic principles, strong business and environmental ethics, personal integrity, and beauty. I have been enriched by the community of people who work and shop at ZIVA, and I enjoy its great selection of yoga clothes, gear and media, including essential books on yoga and meditation.
In my other work as Kindergarten Aide and Kindercare Coordinator in a Waldorf school, yoga helps me to be lovingly present with the children through their triumphs and challenges, and to maintain a strong speaking and singing voice; and as a visual artist, it helps me return to my quiet, creative center.
I am blessed with a wonderful, loving family, both the ones I live with and my extended family in town and far away.
Mascot, Three-legged Wonder Mutt, and Super Love Bug!
Angela adopted me from the Butte Humane Society in February, 2009 and I immediately made myself ZIVA’s feisty little mascot! I come to work with Angela every day and have a very important job! I enjoy chewing nylabones, un-stuffing things, and making people laugh and smile. I’m especially good medicine for anyone who is feeling a little blue. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll have you cheered up and on to better feelings! I love what I do and ZIVA is the perfect environment for me to spread love and cheer!