The History of Riffs
Riffs was founded in 2010 in Park City, Utah by Larry Hart, Stephen Hart's father. It started as a guitar store called Riffs Acoustic Music and the term "Riffs" refers to a musical phrase, often one that is catchy and recognizable. In 2012, Stephen moved to San Diego to open his own guitar store of the same name, but quickly found the age of music retail stores was falling to online shopping. A big fan of yoga, one day he had the idea to host a live music yoga class behind the shop on our beautiful redwood deck he built originally to host small concerts. The class was a hit, and over the course of a couple years the yoga program grew and grew. In 2014, Stephen suffered the traumatic loss of his mother, something that turned his world upside down. He found healing in the yoga practice as he immersed himself in a Yoga Teacher Training program. With a new respect for the life changing powers of the yoga practice, he rebranded the business to Riffs Yoga Studios to keep the Riffs name in honor of his father, but put more focus on the yoga program. As Stephen continued to study and heal through yoga, the program grew until Jan 1st 2019, when he acquired a second location in Ocean Beach, at which point he sold off the last of his guitars and focused the business on yoga and sound healing.
About the Owner
Riffs has been a healing journey for Stephen, and often a reflection of his progress. When things were dark after the sudden loss of his mother in 2014, the business struggled to survive. When he found healing and growth through his practice, the business blossomed. Through this process Stephen recognized the life-enhancing powers of yoga and established a life mission to share this profound practice with as many people as possible. In order to do so, he had to make the business bigger than himself, and he started the process of hiring a team of equally passionate individuals to help share his mission of spreading health and happiness through yoga. In 2022, Stephen and the entire Riffs community suffered another huge loss when his fiance and lead teacher at Riffs Karina Gerschler passed away. It has been the community at Riffs and the healing powers of the yogic practice and lifestyle that has kept Stephen going through these difficult times. He has documented his learnings through these experiences on his popular blog HERE
Stephen and his late fiance Karina
Honoring Karina Gerschler-
Karina joined the Riffs staff in 2015 as a passionate and dedicated yoga teacher. She quickly became a fan favorite with her infectious smile and loving energy. She loved people, and thrived at the studio as she brought people together in a safe space. Through her dedication to her craft and passion for the practice, she eventually became the Yoga Program Director and lead Yoga Teacher Trainer. Not only was she an amazing teacher, she continued to be a dedicated student, constantly deepening her knowledge and studying with world renowned teachers.
As time passed, Karina's influence grew. Every aspect of Riffs was touched by her love and energy. Every teacher at the studio was blessed by her grace and wisdom. Her teachings surpassed yoga and helped thousands live better lives, more full of love and laughter. Karina will always be remembered through the energy of the space and the love she shared with all of her students over her many years at Riffs.
Where did the logo come from?
We adopted the hummingbird as our studio animal for several reasons. It came to us first by mere observation of the hummingbirds flying through our outdoor studio in Bird Rock. They seemed to be attracted to our energy, and often visit and hang out for class. We also loved the idea of the "hum" as a vibration that we are striving to elevate. The sun and waves came from the logo of Happy-U Yoga, the studio we acquired in 2019. We logo was so aligned with who we are and what we do that we decided to bring the two together in a symbol that shows our commitment to building community together in both Bird Rock and Ocean Beach. We sold the Ocean Beach studio in 2024.
Why orange and blue?
When Riffs opened initially in 2010, our color was blue. It was a color carefully selected by Steve's late mother, and it covered the walls in both the Park City location and La Jolla location. It represents water, flow, music, and love. When we rebranded to focus on yoga, we incorporated the color orange to represent healing, creativity, energy, and life. Together, they represent the sand and the ocean, the sun and the sky, paying respect to the healing powers of nature, the sun and ocean, and lifestyle we've come to love in San Diego. Blue and orange are the yin and yang of music and yoga, seemingly separate, but really the same, and together can provide healing and happiness.
Our Management Team
What is HART Eyewear?
In 2020, when the world shut down for COVID, Riffs was in a very uncertain place. During that time, Steve and the team from Riffs saw a major wellness issue relating to the increased screen-time in the emerging remote-work lifestyle. They put their heads together and launched HART Eyewear in 2021, a sustainable brand of high-quality blue-light glasses designed to protect your eyes from the effects of overexposure to blue-light. Since then, Steve & Co. have been protecting eyes across the country, distributing through their website and as corporate gifts to employees of screen-locked companies.
