A bird-themed yoga studio has just landed on College Hill, holding its first drop-in classes on Sept. 28.
Long-time yoga instructor J. Brown named his studio the Birdhouse Yoga Center after observing the sparrows in his yard. The entrance is engulfed in a painted black circle, proposed by Brown’s daughter, resembling the opening of a birdhouse.
The building also has “a little side entrance, kind of like a hole, that opens into a small little box that I am hoping to make a nest in,” Brown wrote on his fundraiser page.
Brown has been teaching yoga for years, operating a studio in Brooklyn, New York, from 2007 to 2017. He then moved to Easton and traveled for a few years before the opportunity came around to open a yoga studio again.
When the landlord asked if Brown would take the open spot, he had to decide quickly. Brown said yes, but he didn’t have enough seed money to support the studio during its first year. Brown wrote a blog post about his situation and raised over $20,000, meeting his fundraising goal.
“It’s been pretty powerful and special and very humbling for me to have that support come through,” Brown said.
Brown teaches a particular approach to yoga that he describes as therapeutic and gentle. This includes accommodating seniors and people with injuries so they can enjoy yoga.
“To do just the right amount for today is kind of the art, and that requires a certain amount of sensitivity and awareness,” he said. “That’s a lot of what the practice is about, you cultivating enough facility with yourself so you know how to set good boundaries and make good choices for yourself.”
“It brings your attention to the nature of your existence,” Brown continued.
Additionally, Brown aims to move away from the celebrity image of the yoga teacher people might see on Instagram, which was especially popular before the pandemic.
“I really just want to get back to where it all started,” said Brown, referring to a local, grassroots version of yoga.
Brown began yoga in college when he took a class for an acting training program.
“Those yoga classes made me feel good in a way that other things didn’t,” Brown said. “Things got challenging and difficult in my life. Yoga ended up being the thing that I went to.”
Paulina Royzman ’27 is excited to have a new space for yoga near campus.
“It’s an extra excuse to do yoga, try something new and also venture outside of me doing yoga on YouTube or in Hogg [Hall], which are equally amazing,” said Royzman of the new center. “But connecting more to the Easton community and just exploring something different — I think that could be really fun.”
Brown hopes that the center will allow people to focus their energy productively.
“Right now, we are living in a society where everything is trying to steal your attention,” Brown said. “Developing a facility where you are able to direct your attention rather than having it pulled from thing to thing is one of the most invaluable things that yoga provides.”
