Niki Januzzi in a yoga pose at her studio. Photo by Donna MacKenzie
While Yoga Love of Honeoye Falls has been in business for several years, owner Niki Januzzi has dreamed of a space that she could make her own and now she has it.
Yoga Love of Honeoye Falls has moved into a new, and bigger, space, at 4 Ontario Street in the village of Honeoye Falls and celebrated its grand opening in the space on January 24. Previously, Januzzi and one other teacher taught in space owned by Pam Scully, next to Bodywork Kneaded, on North Main Street.
“I rented the space from Pam and shared it with an art gallery,” said Januzzi, a Lima resident. “I am grateful to Pam for the time we were there, but I dreamed of a bigger space. I rent this space as well, but it is bigger and I can make it my own. I now have five other teachers with me and I am hoping to grow and attract even more people to the studio.”
Currently, her average class size is 9 or 10 and she teaches four classes a week. Yoga Love has 30-35 regulars and others pop in and out as their schedules allow. The other teachers are Jennifer DeVille-Catalano, who teaches yoga for preschool children (ages 2-3 and 4-5) as well as teaching a women’s circle monthly; Amy Morrow, who teaches preschool children (ages 2-3 and 4-5) with a music and more approach; Vanessa Brown, Emily Moore-Awad and Brooke White. While there are the classes for preschoolers, Januzzi says most of her clients are adults. Yoga Love is open with classes scheduled Monday through Saturday. Januzzi said that at times, they will do random workshops or classes on Sundays.
“We also offer packages for people to come regularly and deals to keep people coming on a regular basis,” Januzzi said.
The name Yoga Love was something that Januzzi had in her brain for a while, saying it involves personal love and yoga has a lot to do with your own practice of it. She has been a dancer most of her life, majoring in dance in college, and incorporated some yoga in her dance practice in her last semester of college when she was studying in Jamaica. While she did a little bit here and there with yoga, she didn’t start practicing it seriously until 2006 when some health issues led her to digging deeper into yoga.
“It really helped with the physical, emotional and mental part of those issues and eventually led me into wanting to teach yoga,” she said. “Because I was a dancer, I do incorporate some dance movement in my yoga but it is more movement than dance.”
After her son was born, Januzzi began to look for a possibility that would allow her to make her own schedule. Although she does still work at Ember Restaurant in Livonia, Yoga Love enabless her to do that. Now that she has a bigger space, her goal is for everyone to come and have classes to offer them and have teachers to create a warm, inviting and welcoming space for them. Eventually, she would like own her own space instead of rent.
Asked what makes Yoga Love of Honeoye Falls unique, Januzzi responded that it is the teachers.
“I think what makes any yoga studio unique is the teachers,” she said. “Not only do people gravitate to a certain style of yoga but they also look for a teacher they like and that is something that I think we do well here with our welcoming style. I am proud of that.”
Januzzi is enthusiastic when speaking about the health benefits of yoga. It helps the body with flexibility and balance, uses a person’s muscles in a different way and alleviates stress. It lessens stress by helping put you in a place where you can be relaxed, attain some peace and let go.
“It’s part of a mind-body connection,” she said. “It is one tool in a healthy regimen. People are becoming more aware of yoga’s health benefits. Doctors are talking about yoga’s health benefits and even the New York Times has done an article on it. Preschool children can benefit from it and, the way older children and teenagers are stressed today, I think they can benefit as well. There are preliminary reports that military veterans are finding that yoga can help them cope with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). It would take some more studying on my part, but I would love to work with veterans and also cancer survivors.”
Januzzi stressed that Yoga Love is a collaborative space; anyone interested in teaching workshops should give her a call at 737-2934 or reach her through email at yogalovehf@gmail.com. The business’ website is yogalovehf.com.
