YogaKoh's 7th Birthday!

Today, we are writing to you from the Koh Collective, an extension of the YogaKoh and RetreatKoh family. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the incredible koh-mmunity we have built here, and the remarkable response we have gotten from our first edition. All our beautiful readers – you – have brought us to where we are today. 

And while we value the present moment and the shining future, it is important to remember where we came from. Our beloved YogaKoh turns seven years old this December! In honor of YogaKoh’s birthday, we want to take you all the way back to the start. We are all here thanks to one woman with a passion for movement.

Jolie Manza graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Movement Studies, and immediately moved to New York City to begin her career as a dancer and fitness enthusiast. While she loved her time in the city, the world was calling her name. Embracing her love of travel, Jolie took a leap of faith and decided to embark on a yoga teacher training in Bali.

Sound familiar? Jolie made the same life changing choice that many of you have, and fell in love, not only with southeast Asian culture, but with yoga. She was hooked. Igniting her spark, Jolie felt drawn to share with others the joy of Vinyasa yoga. While practicing yoga has endless benefits, your teacher truly is the difference maker in what you get out of a yoga class. Jolie recognized that fact and wanted to find a way to ensure that the new era of yoga teachers were well trained and held the same passion for education as she did. 

In December of 2017, Jolie brought her vision to life. After hosting yoga teacher trainings on the beautiful island of Bali and educating brilliant soon-to-be teachers, she launched her own yoga school. And here we have the birth of YogaKoh. A premier yoga school, recognized globally, offering teacher trainings, retreats, and in-depth courses all over the world. For over a decade now, Jolie has traveled and taught, sharing her expertise in yoga and movement. 

Jolie’s ultimate goal is to give students the platform to learn from teachers with different backgrounds and perspectives, sharing knowledge from their personal experiences in the yoga world. With no official headquarters, at YogaKoh, we consider the world to be our studio. In naming her new YTT company, Jolie was very intentional in calling it YogaKoh, with ‘Koh’ reflecting our deep connection to the mountains and the sea, and the unity that brings our koh-mmunity together.

And that is just what she created: a true family of people passionate about practicing yoga. 

Flash forward to September of 2024, and RetreatKoh is born. While Jolie adores the educational aspect of YogaKoh, she wanted to form a sister company where the primary focus is not your typical educational environment. Instead of learning from a manual or book, RetreatKoh presents a way to learn more about yourself through travel, relationships, and experiences. With our first two Surf x Yoga Retreats launching in March of 2025, we are expecting an incredible turnout. 

In November of 2024, the Koh Collective released our first edition – and here we are! Now in December, we are lucky to reflect on the past seven years: the trainings, the locations, the experiences, the hundreds of graduates we’ve released into the yoga world, and the genuine connections we’ve made along the way. We couldn’t be luckier to have such a kind and motivated koh-mmunity of people like you to have supported us all these years.

To Jolie: we wouldn’t be here without your willingness to be bold, your dedication, drive, passion, and knowledge. You are the heartbeat of YogaKoh, RetreatKoh, and the Koh Collective. We love you, we are proud of you, and we will continue to help you bring your vision to life.

And to YogaKoh: Happy 7th Birthday!

As always, keep practicing! 

the Koh Collective