We recently connected with Crystal Hines and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Crystal, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

As a music lover, yoga playlists have always been so important to me, but when teaching in local studios, I didn’t have the freedom to play whatever I wanted. That is why I started running New Wave Yoga classes at breweries in 2019. Running these events allowed me to play all the music I loved like The Cure, Joy Division and Depeche Mode. Eventually, I created Health Goth Yoga (HGY) and I was able to branch out to more and more genres like emo, grunge and punk.

My goal is to offer a refreshing and inclusive experience that caters to individuals who may not feel accepted or comfortable in the typical yoga studio environment. By combining yoga with alternative music, HGY makes yoga more accessible and enjoyable for a broader audience.

The most exciting part of my business is running yoga retreats. I am the only alternative yoga teacher that runs retreats around the world. With these retreats, I am able to gather like-minded yoga students from various subcultures to practice, to adventure and to create connections that last a lifetime.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a 500 hour boston based yoga teacher who has been practicing yoga and meditation for over 15 years. Like most, I came to yoga for the physical benefits, but continued for emotional and mental benefits. Yoga allowed me to breathe, stay happy and focused, both on the mat and in life. I began to branch out to other forms of yoga and my interest in yoga asana and philosophy grew.

As a lifetime learner, I have acquired numerous certifications and attended countless workshops. Highlights include my 200 hour with Wild Earth, a 50-hour Ayurveda Study with Yoga Alchemy, a 100-hour Ayurveda Yoga and Coaching Certification with Bhakti Center at The Ayurveda Health Retreat Center, and Yin Yoga studies at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts College. Last year, I completed my 300-hour advanced yoga teacher certification with Ame Wren and Daniel Max. Currently, I am concluding the final course in the 100-hour IAM Yoga Nidra Certification with Kamini Desai.

My mission as a latina punk that’s been both practicing yoga and going to shows for close to 20 years is to make yoga accessible for BIPOC, queer folks and alternative misfits who don’t feel like they fit in at traditional yoga studios. This is why I created Health Goth Yoga.

Health Goth Yoga (HGY) is an alternative style of yoga that is music driven. It respects the roots of yoga movement but pairs the class to untraditional yoga music like punk, metal, emo, goth and alternative music. My company runs events, a virtual platform, alternative clothing and yoga retreats around the world.

Pop-up events are held in Boston, Philadelphia, LA, and Miami, with plans to expand to more cities this year. HGY also leads yoga retreats around the world, gathering like-minded adventure seeking weirdos to fun places to practice yoga, explore and create connections. Our yoga retreats, hosted in locations such as Catskills, New Orleans, Joshua Tree, and Puerto Rico, continue this year in Costa Rica, Sedona, Bali, and Catskills.

My virtual platform has live virtual classes and 100s of on-demand classes. It has supported a world-wide community of 1000s of alternative weirdos who are looking to manage and reduce stress and anxiety through yoga to the sound of music they actually enjoy. Our yoga retreats, hosted in locations such as Catskills, New Orleans, Joshua Tree, and Puerto Rico, continue this year in Costa Rica, Sedona, Bali, and Catskills.

In my classes, I seamlessly blend non-traditional movements and music into a traditional asana practice, integrating other limbs of yoga in an approachable manner. The flows are dynamic, fluid, and intentional, designed to be fun and creative while remaining accessible to everyone. I welcome all levels, offering variations for both beginners and seasoned practitioners to practice yoga to the music they love.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Owning a Yoga business was never something I thought I’d do. Let alone being a yoga teacher or owning a business! Even though yoga has been a part of my life since I was 15 years old, I never thought of it as a career. I even went into my first 200 hour yoga teacher training just to deepen my own practice and had no intention of teaching. However, after my certification, I immediately began to teach a weekly class at a local yoga studio. Over the next year, I scaled to 10 classes per week and I taught all these classes year round including when I was working full time as a National Park Ranger. For the first year of teaching, I mostly just taught classes in local studios but after a year of teaching under my belt, I gained the confidence to start hosting New Wave Yoga Classes at breweries every month, combining my love of alternative music and yoga.

It wasn’t until the pandemic that I really began to scale by taking my business online. Initially hosting monthly virtual New Wave and Emo Yoga classes, I eventually established a membership platform, teaching a weekly class and progressively adding more, scaling to my current schedule of 4 to 5 live virtual classes and over 200 on-demand videos. I am consistently promoting a Free, On-Demand Emo Yoga Challenge to funnel students into my membership. Last year, I successfully ran my first online course called Aligned AF: A seven week Chakra program.

Now I’ve taught 1000s of students from around the world. As much as I love teaching virtually, in person events and retreats have really scaled my business and has given me the freedom to make my side hustle into my main gig. Pop up events at breweries and yoga retreats have exponentially exploded my business. With bi-monthly in person events and seasonal retreats, I get to cultivate an in person community.

A notable milestone was the success of my first yoga retreat in the Catskills Mountains during the fall of 2021, which sold out within a month. Building on this success, I returned to the Catskills and introduced a second retreat in New Orleans the following year. The momentum continued, with three successful retreats in Catskills, Joshua Tree, and Puerto Rico last year. This year, I am hosting four retreats this year in Costa Rica, Sedona, Bali and Catskills. I started small and scaled to where I am today.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Authenticity is at the core of Health Goth Yoga. Being my most authentic self enabled me to build a brand with the reputation of inclusivity, individuality and community. By showing up in authenticity and letting my weirdness shine, I cultivated a safe space for other yoga misfits to show up as themselves for themselves.

I started this venture to create a community where everyone feels they fit in, where they can practice yoga to the music they love, and where connections are forged among like-minded yoga misfits and weirdos. By standing in my truth, I was able to niche down and grow my community.

At Health Goth Yoga, we’ve built a reputation by staying true to ourselves, embracing diversity, and fostering a community that celebrates individuality. It’s not just about yoga; it’s about creating a space where everyone, regardless of their background, feels seen, heard, and valued.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.healthgothyoga.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogawithcrystalrose/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealthGothYoga/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw_VJz4yhxPpORckBdQav4g
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@healthgothyoga

Image Credits
Sherilyn Furneaux