Would you become a business partner with someone you hardly knew?

For new Wild Mountain Yoga Center owners Amanda Dozal and Mandy Lucchese, it made perfect sense.

“Basically, not knowing each other was a strength,” Lucchese said. “You always hear, ‘Don’t go into business with a good friend or a relative.’”

“Everybody thought we were a little crazy because we didn’t know each other at all, but we’re definitely enjoying it,” Dozal said.

The new owners run yoga classes Monday through Saturday and business is good, despite current dismal conditions for most.

“In tough economic times, the most sound investment is your health,” Lucchese said.

Both women were yoga teachers at the center and knew that owner Shannon Casey Welch wanted to sell it “in house,” to some of the 20-odd instructors who work there.

Dozal had owned a yoga center outside of Madison, Wis., and wanted to save Wild Mountain for the community of people who use it. She approached Lucchese about the deal and they took over in October.

“This is our way of living,” Dozal said. “We’re blessed because this is what we do every day for a living, yoga becomes a way of life.”

Both women started out with recreational yoga and then found it was becoming more of a full body experience that calmed their minds as well. That’s when they decided to become yoga instructors, as a natural extension of their devotion to it.

“If you’re passionate about something and you love what you do, that will shine through and come out,” Dozal said. “Yoga is for everybody. I don’t look at anybody and think they couldn’t do it.”

Yoga is often depicted in magazines with lithe, young people in extreme stretching positions, which scares off many people, Dozal said.

“If you’ve never done yoga, it can be intimidating, but to say it’s only for the flexible is just a myth,” Dozal said. “Some people think it’s some eastern woo-woo religion and we’re trying to convert you,” she added.

“It’s for any religion or wherever you are in life.”

Most of the center’s 200 clients are women, but men also benefit, Dozal said.

“Once men start coming, they really see how strengthening it is and how it compliments other sports.

“I’ve got a golf workshop coming up and yoga can compliment your sport whether you’re a runner, snowboarder or cyclist because it keeps you mobile,” Dozal said.

“For about $10 a class it’s great for your health and to sleep soundly,” Lucchese said. “We have place of community and we’re all working together.”

To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.