By: James Gaffney
“Try yoga. If you never tried it before, try it, and if you [already] tried it and it’s not something you practice regularly, now we have a place where you can. I promise that if you do, you will feel the benefits of it.”
This is the motto of Annie Herman, a Philly native and long time teacher at a YMCA there for almost 12 years, before recently becoming an entrepreneur with the grand opening of the Queens Community Yoga Studio on 69th Street.
Herman first moved to New York almost 5 years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic. She felt that she had a second home at the YMCA back in Philadelphia, a “really great community,” and loved teaching there. By contrast, she did not really feel a connection to the Queens community during the pandemic.
“It was all new for me and I didn’t really meet that many people,” Herman said. “I tried a couple of things but never felt something like the Y.”
She then decided to create something like that for the community of Maspeth by envisioning a space where people could come together and practice yoga.
“The purpose was so that they could take care of themselves while also connecting to each other, and I feel that Maspeth is lacking that sort of space right now,” she said.
Despite not having much free time with running the studio, Herman enjoys her free time with her family, reading a book, spending time in the mountains, traveling, and being in the woods. She also teaches reading to elementary school students, as well as tutoring reading specialists as well as math lessons.
Herman is glad to bring a place like this back to Maspeth, which previously had 69th Lane Studio before it shut down a couple years ago, and hopes that it can flourish.
Early reviews on Google suggest that the residents appreciate the new neighborhood spot after not having one for many years. Blaise Ffrench, a yoga practitioner says that he “found yoga in Manhattan because there were not many places in Queens, and that for Maspeth to have a yoga studio is big for the borough, and I hope that with this it can influence more people to open up studios in other parts of Queens.”
She has never been an entrepreneur before, so this is a first time experience for her.
“I never owned my own business,” Herman said. “It gets scary sometimes, but it is also really exciting seeing it all unfold.”
One of Herman’s favorite things to do is catch the smiles on guest’s faces when they leave the studio, tangible evidence that she and her staff are succeeding in their mission in bringing yoga to the community.
“There were many moments where I said to myself, I am going to pull out. I am not going to do it,” Herman explained, recalling the challenges and setbacks of opening up the studio. “But I had this dream for a long time, and I kept persevering through it.”
Herman hopes to continue bringing people in the community and giving them the ability to practice yoga, as their business succeeds. She wants people to “experience what it can do,” and “not only physically but also what it can do emotionally and mentally.”
