New yoga studio promises fresh air at the Four Corners
A new addition to the busy Four Corners in Delmar is promising to offer an opportunity to slow life down and relax with an offering of yoga and energy healing services.
Breathing Room, located at 399 Kenwood Ave., held its grand opening on Friday, Jan. 15. Sisters and Delmar residents Mikko Cook and Krista Spohr are starting the business together Cook is trained in energy healing and Spohr has a background in yoga, but their goal is the same.
What we’re trying to do is create a space that is natural and is almost a refuge from the busy world,` Cook said.
Breathing Room will offer yoga, Reiki and meditation classes from the beginner level on up. Cook said she wants to make the programs as accessible as possible for newbies, and will offer `quiet contemplation` hours during which the novice and experience can sit in silence.
The studio will also offer specialized classes like broga (yoga for men only), baby and me yoga classes and meditation for mothers. Providing a stable point for relaxation was what inspired Cook and Spohr to start the business, realizing that it’s a necessity in their own lives as well.
`As the mother of two little kids, what I need the most is a little breathing room,` Cook said. `Even though it’s the most important thing, it’s the most overlooked and it’s the hardest thing to give yourself.`
Cook was trained at the Energy Healing Institute in Boston, and Spohr had a yoga studio in New York City before studying in Australia. Also on board at Breathing Room is Reiki Master Rogean Cadieux-Smith, yoga instructor Lisa Ginsburg and yoga instructor Devonna Quinn.
The sisters have been working since October to renovate the space, which used to be home to Judy’s Tiny Shop. Having her husband doing design work and brother-in-law doing carpentry work has helped immensely, Cook said.
Cook actually has a personal history with the location; her grandfather owned the building in the late-1960s into the ’70s, and ran a liquor store there. She’s a third-generation Bethlehem resident.
`We were both trying to bring solitude to people, except his was with alcohol and mine is with yoga,` Cook said.
Until Jan. 24, the Breathing Room will be celebrating its opening with free, 15-minute yoga sessions or energy readings. You can sign up on the Web site: www.theroomtobreathe.com. The business will also be `going red` on Friday, Feb. 5, for National Wear Red Day, organized by the American Heart Association. That day will feature special yoga classes and energy readings that focus on the heart.
Not only will the first week of events be discounted, but the proceeds will also be donated to Haiti earthquake relief efforts through the Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, (AMURT), said Cook. Spohr did work with the organization in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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