Opening a boutique yoga studio may seem like a risk in rural Pennsylvania, but to Lindsay Henry, owner of Meadville’s newly-opened Yoga Spot, it was a no-brainer. The tight-knit nature of a small town, in Henry’s mind, lends itself to the closeness of a yoga studio.

“You just feel so connected (in a small studio),” Henry said. “You get to know the teachers personally, you get to know the other students in the class, and it just really has that community vibe.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of 2020, Henry and her partner, Kate Costanzo, assistant director of athletics & recreation at Allegheny, found themselves separated from that community they had come to know and love at Meadville Yoga, a local studio which shuttered due to the pandemic. They turned to practicing and teaching yoga via Zoom to fill the void, both earning their 200-hour yoga teaching certifications.

“For me, the yoga studio was always kind of like my second home,” Henry said. “When that was absent, I think myself — along with a lot of other people who practiced — were really feeling displaced and missing that connection.”

As the pandemic wore on, Henry and Costanzo began hosting COVID-safe pop-up classes in partnership with French Creek Coffee and Tea Co., as well as outdoor events in public parks. The support that they received from the community was so strong that Henry, who has a background in business, began formulating plans for opening a storefront.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to own my own business and create my own thing, but I never found that passion or that spark,” Henry said. “Once it became clear and I realized I had this passion for yoga it all just came together … this is what I’m supposed to do.”

After finding a storefront at 252 Chestnut Street (ironically, the former home of  French Creek Coffee and Tea Co.), Henry got to work on customizing the space to suit her vision. While renovating, she considered both the practicality and the aesthetics of the space to create the optimal environment for practicing yoga. Among these improvements were yoga-friendly flooring, dimmable lights, larger windows, a changing room and a restoration of the space’s original tin ceiling.

Henry hopes that, in providing the perfect environment for yoga practice, Yoga Spot will encourage both experienced and inexperienced practitioners to attend a class. In offering a diverse range of classes — around 25 classes weekly taught by eight instructors — Henry believes that there is a yoga class for everybody.

“It was important to (Lindsay) that she had a variety of yoga classes — something for everyone — creating an inclusive, welcoming yoga studio,” said Costanzo, who teaches the “Yoga For All” classes at Yoga Spot. “A lot of times in yoga, you hear folks say that they’re a little more hesitant to go inside to a studio. It can feel a little bit intimidating and we’re really trying to let as many folks as possible know everybody can benefit from yoga.”

“We want to make (yoga) accessible to everybody,” added Henry.

Among the distinctive offerings Yoga Studio offers is ‘Hikyoga,’ a combination of hiking and yoga taught by Costanzo.

“(Hikyoga) gives people a different way to kind of get an introduction to yoga without it being quite as intimidating,” Henry said. “It’s a great way to get outside and connect with nature.”

Part of Yoga Spot’s inclusive mission is outreach to the Allegheny community. Among the teachers at the studio are Jennifer Hellwarth, professor of English and women’s, gender and sexuality studies, and Joshua Searle-White, professor emeritus of psychology. Regarding Allegheny students, Henry hopes to provide a soothing environment for stressed-out undergraduates and give them a chance to disconnect.

“We want to be a place for Allegheny students to get off campus and go do something for themselves,” Costanzo said.

Included in Yoga Spot’s offerings to Allegheny students are student discounts for class passes and packages, including a special semester-long pass specifically tailored for college students, and events on-campus such as a Hikyoga class planned for Oct. 9 at Robertson Field.

Yoga Spot’s grand opening has generated buzz around campus, as well. Shannon Ferguson, ’22, participated in several of Yoga Spot’s pop-ups prior to the studio’s opening.

“I can’t wait to find time to go there because the pop-ups were such a great space to decompress and release a lot of stress and anxiety,” Ferguson said.

At its core, Yoga Spot is built on love for the community — both Meadville and the yoga community at large.

“The world, as a whole, needs more yoga,” Henry said. “That’s my philosophy. Whether you’re in a huge city or a small town, I think the benefits of yoga transcend whatever size demographic you’re looking at.”

To learn more about Yoga Spot or to register for classes, visit yogaspotmeadville.com, the Mindbody app or their Instagram and Facebook pages.