WEST PITTSTON — Alyssa Miller, 26, and Jonelle Dickson, 31, wanted to bring a relaxing environment to the area and felt there was no better way to do that than with a yoga studio.
The business partners opened Home Yoga & Barre, located at 5 Luzerne Ave., on Aug. 10. The studio offers yoga, pilates and barre classes.
Barre, Miller said, is a mixture of pilates, yoga and ballet. Workouts are done with a bar that ballet dancers hold on to when practicing.
Classes are held seven days a week with Friday classes offering more meaning than just working up a good sweat.
“Fridays are our donation class,” she said. “It’s a one-hour class and 100 percent of our proceeds from that particular class go to whatever charity we’re donating to that month. Last month, for August, we donated to Blue Chip Farms in Dallas and raised $300 for them, and this month it’s the Social Concerns Committee that’s at Corpus Christi Parish.”
Friday classes are open to the public for non-members of the studio for an $8 drop-in fee.
Miller said she and Dickson serve as owners and instructors teaching yoga and barre. They also have eight instructors on hand.
“The atmosphere is beautiful and calming,” Kolesa said. “There’s positive energy coming out of everyone and it’s just welcoming. The students who come are like a family and it’s not they just come and leave; everyone introduces themselves. It’s a very welcoming environment.”
One of the more relaxing aspects of the studio are Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling, giving the studio a darker tint when students are participating in a class.
“It’s more soothing,” said Miller. “The natural lights that are in this building are fluorescent lights and we didn’t want to do any of that because that’s more energizing and what you want for a regular workout setting. Yoga and barre is more than just a workout; it’s more for relaxation. You come here to relieve your stress and just feel like you’re home.
“We just want a cozy and welcoming atmosphere,” Miller added. “Both my partner and I are very silly, so we like that. All of our instructors aren’t super serious when teaching, and that’s what we want is for people to practice without being intimidated, especially if they’re new to yoga.”
