Yoga teacher Crystal Moore is fulfilling "a dream come true."
Come Labor Day, she'll open
Serenity Place, a yoga studio at 2300 Rhode Island Ave NE. It is one of the few yoga studios in Ward 5 and the only one in Woodridge.
"I am so committed to Ward 5," she says. "I've been here three years now, and I wouldn't want to open a yoga studio anywhere other than my neighborhood."
The studio will offer one class per weeknight and at least one on weekends, depending on demand. Moore will teach classes for beginners and one called "Embrace Your Body," "which is for people who thought they couldn't do yoga. People who are older, bigger, less flexible. I've had to modify so many poses over the years, because initially I couldn't do 90% of what I was asked to do," Moore says, who credits yoga with helping her manage a chronic autoimmune condition. She says that her experience as a total yoga beginner 11 years ago who struggled with the poses helps her teach people who may have some of the same flexibility or joint issues.
She's recruiting other teachers for more advanced classes or different styles of yoga.
Classes will cost $18 singly, but multi-class packs and monthly passes will lower the per-class cost.
Serenity Place is located in a small office above coffee roaster
Zeke's. "On Saturday and Sunday mornings, people will definitely be practicing with the smell of coffee roasting underneath," says Moore with a laugh. Distracting? Maybe a little. Delicious? Yes.
That's not the only unconventional aspect of the studio, though. It actually shares space with the
Rhode Island Avenue Main Street's offices, and the office of a real estate broker, an arrangement Moore came to after she realized that she couldn't find a dedicated space for her studio at a rate she could afford. Teachers will clear furniture out of the common area for classes, which for now will be offered on evenings and weekends only (when the businesses aren't using their offices, in other words), teach class, then move the furniture back.
"It's a yoga studio with a lot of heart, but not a lot of space or fanciness," Moore says.
If all goes well, though, she's eyeing a dedicated space across the street.
(h/t
Brookland Bridge)