Yoga instructor Tracey Ulshafer taught her first classes in an attic in East Windsor, but it wasn’t long before she realized it had potential to be a real business.
Now, Ulshafer, 42, has opened One Yoga and Wellness Center in two locations: East Windsor and Ewing.
Ulshafer’s interest in yoga stemmed from a back injury when she was 16. After numerous attempts at physical therapy and regular exercise at a gym, Ulshafer still wasn’t seeing results that made her feel good.
“Nothing worked to make my back feel better, or that I could really connect to – until I came to yoga and found it was very accepting of where I was,” Ulshafer said. “Wherever you are, whatever your physical or mental condition or state, just be there and breathe.”
Because of her injury, Ulshafer used modified poses and slowly gained the strength and flexibility she was looking for.
“Most of us initially come to yoga for the physical benefit, and then quickly realize that it’s a whole package, not just a physical practice,” Ulshafer said. “It’s a mindful practice that helps sync the mind with the body.”
Yoga is also a time to reflect spiritually, Ulshafer said.
“What yoga allows you to do is just really be at home with yourself and find that divinity within you, and that connection and oneness that we all have.”
Over 10 years ago, Ulshafer had been working as a massage therapist in East Windsor while she was training to become a yoga teacher, and discussed with the owner the possibility of offering yoga, too. So, Ulshafer’s classes began in the attic. But as her classes grew, so did her workspace.
Ulshafer then started teaching classes in the basement, but after a couple years, she knew it was time for her to have her own place and her own yoga center, she said.
The East Windsor location has been open for five years, but the Ewing center recently opened in August.
“As soon as I saw this plaza and this spot, I knew I should open up the studio here,” Ulshafer said about the second location.
Classes at the Ewing location are geared more towards yoga beginners or those returning to the practice after many years away from it, Ulshafer said.
The first is gentle yoga, which focuses on relaxing and clearing the mind. It includes breathing exercises and gentle stretching.
A more challenging class is Hatha, which means “sun and moon,” and encompasses a balance of stretching and strengthening. The most advanced class, Vinyasa, adds a faster pace and cardiovascular component, Ulshafer said. Yoga for Women classes are also available.
Flexibility, or lack thereof, is not a factor that should keep people away from trying yoga, Ulshafer said.
“There’s still a lot of people that think, ‘Oh, I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible,’ and it’s important to know that the reason to do yoga is to increase your flexibility,” Ulshafer said. “Yoga has a way of creating balance where there’s imbalance, whether it’s in the physical realm, or mental or emotional. So anybody can do yoga.”
One Yoga and Wellness Center is located at 25 Scotch Road in Ewing and 405 Rt. 130 N in East Windsor. For more information, call the Ewing center at (609) 882-9642 or the East Windsor center at (609) 918-0963. E-mail: info@oneyogacenter.net. On the web: oneyogacenter.net.
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