TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania has a new home in Bellefonte. The yoga studio left its space of five years at Indigo Wren’s Nest Wellness Center on South Spring Street and moved right around the corner to 214 W. High St., the previous Elite Edge Athletics location.
Already, the new location has brought increased visibility to TriYoga, letting the people of Bellefonte know the studio is in town and serving the community.
According to Theresa Shay, founding director, TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, she and her team spent September and October renovating the space and making some minor cosmetic changes, during which the buzz surrounding the new location began to grow. The space, she says, fell into their laps, with the For Rent sign showing up in the window around the same time she and her team decided to stay in Bellefonte after leaving Indigo Wren’s Nest. After a few considerations, they jumped at the new spot and the results have been positive.
“Since we started in November, we’ve had wonderful response from people who were former students over the last five years returning, as well as new students doing free trial classes…” says Shay.
The street presence, she notes, sparks curiosity for those who have maybe never tried yoga and makes them feel welcome, and draws in current yoga practitioners to find out what’s different about TriYoga.
She adds that the downtown Bellefonte business community has also been very welcoming, with the business owners on the block offering greetings and suggestions.
“It’s been a very festive feeling of being part of the scene in Bellefonte as opposed to tucked away where people really have to know that you’re there and seek you out,” she says.
So what’s different about the new Bellefonte location, that makes it stand apart from TriYoga’s other locations in Boalsburg and Spring Mills?
“Bellefonte is the only place where we offer classes seven days a week,” Shay explains. “That’s one of the biggest differences. It has a very wide range of offerings…we’re doing things there that we don’t do in other places. We have a prenatal yoga class there, a mom and baby yoga class. We teach meditation there on a weekly basis. It’s spanning the whole spectrum from gentle yoga all the way up to more advanced classes.”
The Bellefonte studio is also the only one which offers youth yoga, on Monday afternoons.
As far as the location, TriYoga is the only yoga-dedicated venue in Bellefonte. When the initial Bellefonte location was decided, Shay notes she and her team felt the community deserved its own yoga studio.
“There are plenty of options and opportunities for people who live in State College, but the Bellefonte people were really limited,” she says.
“Having a dedicated yoga studio really helps people engage with their practice and go deeper with their practice, because there are no distractions. The whole space is about creating a calm environment and I think, at all our studios, that’s what TriYoga does. We teach people how to move in a way that’s relaxing and calm, so it shifts the energy inside so you can walk back out into a very full schedule or a very demanding life or family responsibilities or intense work, whatever it is you do, and you can carry a more expansive state with you, so it’s helping you do those things in life in a more relaxed, easier, more productive way that keeps you calm.”
If you want to check out the new Bellefonte TriYoga location for yourself, new visitors receive a free trial class. Additionally, a new, four-week mom and baby short course, only offered at the Bellefonte location, starts Saturday, Jan. 19. Pre-registration is required.
Visit the TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania website for more information.
