About YogaForce

From the beginning, YogaForce has been a labor of love. When Anne E. Appleby first became addicted to yoga, in the late 80s, she was frustrated by the lack of hip, fun, comfortable clothing in which to practice it. By 1995, it seemed the only solution would be to found her own Company. This entailed contacting clothing manufacturers and dye houses, and handling sales, packing and shipping, entirely out of her condo in LA. A bit much for one person, perhaps, but from these modest beginnings, YogaForce has developed a legion of fans. In addition to yoga studios, health clubs and spas, Annie’s clothing and her patented A-Line Mat have been carried by more than 350 retailers, including Bloomingdale’s; Nordstrom;  Paragon Sports; The Cleveland Clinic; Sports Club/LA; Equinox; Select Four Seasons, select Ritz-Carlton Hotels, and select Joie de Vivre Hotels; Oshman’s Japan; Fitness Town Canada; Kitson; Fred Segal; AMAZON; HSN; and FAB.COM. Moreover, her brand has been featured in more than 50 top television shows, major movies and celebrity closets.

After surviving a few bad car accidents in LA, Annie introduced a revolutionary Patented YogaForce A-Line Mat. The patented alignment system on the YogaForce Mat aides in physical therapy, yoga, Pilates, and all floor exercises as it helps guide your body in proper positioning to maximize performance. The Mat was recently endorsed by The College of Sports Medicine and Dr. Andrew Weil and is available at such premier locations as Sporting Goods Stores, Yoga Studios, Gyms, Catalogs, Hotels, Medical Supply Stores, Rehab Clinics, Hospitals and Spas. The YogaForce A-Line has been profiled by leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal; The New York Times; TIME Magazine; The Yoga Journal; The San Francisco Chronicle and The Los Angeles Times. Annie was told by several orthopedic surgeons that she would never run again. Since then, Annie has run a few marathons and has absolutely no signs of any injury after aligning her body with the YogaForce A-Line Mat. “The Mat has put me in the best shape of my life. I stay in condition the easy way; I am mindful about healthy eating and keeping my body in alignment. It is so simple.”

Annie graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri magna cum laude  with an AA degree in Sociology/Pre-Law.  She then moved back to California where she received her BA in Sociology/Pre-Law from UC Berkeley, cum laude.  Annie is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.  Annie went on to intern for ABC News in Washington, DC. Later, while working at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, California, she continued her education at UCLA and began taking lunch time yoga classes on the lot. After founding YogaForce, Annie presented seminars on marketing and product placement to the MBA programs at USC and UCLA and to the fashion department at Stephens College.  She recently delivered a GOOGLE TECH TALK on Yoga and Bone Health.

Annie has been teaching yoga privately since 1997 and currently teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area at world-wide corporations such as GOOGLE, ORACLE and STANFORD UNIVERSITY. She also travels to teach and consult. The YogaForce F2 Collection launched at the POOL Trade Show in August, 2006. The YogaForce Clothing Line was tremendously successful. In fact, the line blew out of Nordstrom in less than 2 hours with orders for several more stores! Unfortunately, the clothing Licensee was the wrong fit. YogaForce hopes to find more capable License partners in the future.

Annie is a skin cancer survivor and advocate and is featured in the 2008 MELANOMA SURVIVOR CALENDAR. She is also mentioned in the book DR. YOGA by Nirmala Heriza, the Hatha yoga cardiac therapist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.  Annie, the CEO of YogaForce, is also active  with the San Francisco Sunday Streets Program, American Bone Health, Stand Up 2 Cancer and The Huntington’s Disease Society of America. In March 2014, Annie was selected as a SPOTlighter for The American Academy of Dermatology and invited to speak at the largest Dermatology Convention in the world in Denver. Annie was featured in ASPIRE MAGAZINE.

YogaForce was selected as the best Yoga Mat to start off 2017 by The San Francisco Chronicle and Medical Daily.
The YogaForce Mat was also selected as Best Sticky Mat of 2016: Yoga Journal

To learn more about Annie, check out the “who is Annie” post in her blog.

This winter Annie was selected to participate in the Stanford Balance Level Study at Stanford University in California.

Check back to see exciting announcements for 2025!