It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Romy, my long-time yoga teacher and friend. When I was first introduced to yoga in 1999, I didn’t like it very much. I attended 3 yoga classes and thought yoga wasn't for me. A friend encouraged me to take Romy’s class.
Meeting Romy was my yoga game changer. I absolutely loved her class. Her spirit made me soar, her instruction was easy to follow, her love of movement made the poses finally click for me. I attribute my love of yoga to Romy.
I was recently in the Lawrenceville, NJ area and stopped by Romy’s studio to say hi and catch up on where life has taken both of us since we last saw each other. I asked Romy to share her yoga journey with me.
Roaming with Romy:
Romy radiates energy and movement. She calls herself the Energy Queen. She has been an aerobics and group fitness instructor for over 30 years. In 1992, a friend gave her a Bryan Kest’s (founder of power yoga) video and she immediately fell in love with yoga. She bought more of Bryan’s videos the next day and started looking for yoga studios nearby. She practiced, took as many workshops and teaching trainers as she could. She started incorporating yoga in her fitness classes.
Over time Romy has studied alignment-based yoga, Kundalini, Hatha, Vinyasa yoga and meditation with a variety of teachers and remains a student of highly acclaimed global yoga Janet Stone. Romy is a 500-hour certified leadership life coach with Grace Caitlin.
As Romy was gaining more knowledge, a close friend of hers received news that she had cancer. Romy wanted to help her friend practice yoga through the cancer treatment. The yoga connection of mind, body and spirit helped her friend tremulously with the treatment. Seeing the benefits of yoga first-hand, Romy decided to stop teaching fitness classes and start her own studio to help people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds tap into the power of yoga.
She opened Romyoga, a vibrant studio in her house. Her studio was built on the foundation that yoga is for everyone. Romy became well known in the community for her inspiration, teaching style and her passion for yoga. She had the studio in her house for many years and it was extremely satisfying. However, the studio was limited in its ability to grow. As the universe does, it intervened at the right time.
Romy was approached by Complete Health Chiropractic (CH) to open and manage a yoga studio that would be an expansion to their existing chiropractic and physical therapy business. This provides CH rehab patients the ability to receive an introduction to yoga.
Today Romy runs Complete Health Yoga and continues to nurture Romyoga. She leads yoga retreats, immersions, yoga hikes, and is a corporate wellness speaker.
The CH studio is Hatha based and teaches Patanjali’s Eightfold Path of yoga principles. Romy strives to provide the community with a welcoming environment so people of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities feel at home. Her yoga teachers come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. They are mature in their teaching abilities and, able to serve a large variety of student's needs including illness and injuries.
Romy is always growing and getting ready for her next offering. She’s leading a one-year Conscious Leadership immersion. She empowers those around her to create a complete practice of consciously leading their lives; to manage their energy and become physically strong through all stages of their lives; to connect to their minds; strengthen their spirit, and to bring about a world where they have the courage to show up as their best self.
Romy is doing more work with women of color encouraging them to embrace the yogic practices that can benefit them and help them thrive. She’s going into different communities to teach classes and help people of color feel more comfortable in yoga classes.
In addition to studio classes, Romy and the studio teachers offer yoga classes and mini retreats through live streaming. You don’t even need to leave your house to benefit from Romy’s energy.
With Romy’s extensive teaching, marketing, publishing, public speaking and studio management knowledge, she is a wealth of information for new yoga teachers and studio owners. I asked her to share advice for both.
Valuable tips for new yoga teachers:
Keep practicing.
Let go of comparisons.
Be patient with yourself.
Take as many workshops as you can. Vary the types and yoga philosophies. Take some that include chanting.
Take classes with veteran teachers.
Listen closely to veteran teachers and notice the small details of how they teach their class.
Business tips for yoga studio owners:
Stay connected with your students. They are your treasures. Find out how you can support them.
Make teachers feel valued. Find out what matters to them.
Stay on top of your marketing. Word of mouth is still the best advertising because you’re at a local business.
Give your students the tools to deal with the twists and turns of life. Tools for reducing stress and increasing energy.
I asked Romy what gifts yoga has given her. She said, “The list is many. To sum it up the
universal connection of mind, body and spirit has helped me flow through the different stages and responsibilities of being a daughter, a sibling, a wife, a mother and a friend takes us through.”
If you are ever in the Lawrenceville, NJ area and interested in a yoga classes, retreats, or conscious leadership or need a wellness speaker give yourself the gift of meeting the Energy Queen. You will be inspired!
Thanks for reading! I’d be very grateful if you’d help me spread the word about Romy by emailing this to a friend, or sharing it on Facebook and Instagram. Thank you!
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Contact and information links:
Romyoga
Romy Toussaint
Conscious Leadership Immersion
Complete Health Yoga
136 Franklin Corner Road
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
t: 609-912.0440 ext. 109
Bryan Kest Power Yoga
Janet Stone Yoga
Learn about Patanjali's Eightfold Path of Yoga (The Yoga Sutras)
About Theresé
I’m a yoga teacher and fulltime RVer. I travel the US and Mexico teaching yoga, exploring communities, gathering inspiring life stories and sharing yoga information. My intention is to help RVers keep up their yoga practices on the road.
Follow me on Instagram @thetrippingyogi and Facebook under Theresé Julo
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