‘Aerial Yoga’ Finds Home in Small-Town New Brunswick
WOODSTOCK, N.B. — A rural downtown in New Brunswick will act as the most surprising home of a new yoga studio that plans to offer a variety of different classes from beginner to advanced.
2 Rivers Yoga, located at 611 Main Street in Woodstock, opened toward the end of March and is one of few studios in New Brunswick to offer aerial yoga, combining traditional yoga, pilates, and dance with the use of a hammock.
Erin Behl, an instructor of 15 years and the owner of 2 Rivers Yoga, told Huddle she moved to New Brunswick from Ontario in 2021. It was always in her plan to open her own studio, but with four kids to care for, obstacles came up often.
“When we moved here, I didn’t think that I was ever going to teach yoga again, just because of the pandemic and kids and moving, but then I started getting the itch to teach again, so I started teaching locally,” she said.
“I fell in love with this little community in this little downtown and I felt like it had so much potential and it was a great opportunity to try to build up a little yoga community here.”
So Behl got right to work. She found a previously unoccupied spot in July 2022, located just above the law offices of Hatfield Leech and Associates in downtown Woodstock. Overlooking the Meduxnekeag River, she felt it was meant to be.
She took possession of the space in October 2022 and spent six months renovating it for her grand opening on March 18.
One of the unique parts of 2 Rivers Yoga is its offering of Aerial Yoga. From a silk hammock suspended from the ceiling, Behl said people can stretch and use different exercises to strengthen the body.
“One of the main benefits of using the aerial hammock is that we can invert the body safely, offering zero compression to the spine without putting any pressure on the head or the neck,” she said.
Behl said there are many benefits to Aerial Yoga, especially for people who never practiced yoga before.
“Regular yoga practice is something that takes a lot of practice and strength to build up, whereas anyone can do an inversion in an aerial hammock,” she said.
Behl’s love for small-town culture means that she wants 2 Rivers Yoga to live up to its full potential and act as more than a yoga studio; there’s a small kitchenette, extra offices and a large space that she wants to make available to the community for meetings, birthday parties and other small gatherings.
She believes the more people who can use the space, the better it is.
“It’s not good if it’s just sitting there vacant … I want people to enjoy it,” said Behl.
Since her March opening, things have been going well for this out-of-the-way yoga studio. Behl said she’s already built up a small yoga community. Many are intrigued by aerial yoga, while some are intimidated because it’s still quite new.
But she hopes people feel curious enough to try it and she looks forward to seeing the business grow. She also wants to inspire other small businesses to set up shop in small towns like Woodstock.
“We don’t always have to go super far to get … different things that people can try out and be involved in,” she said. “I feel like this town has so much potential.”
Aaron Sousa is a Huddle contributor covering Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected]