Last weekend marked the grand opening of a yoga studio — rather a yoga community — called YogaSoul on Princeton Hightstown Road in the newly remodeled Windsor Plaza. West Windsor resident Linda Domino started a love affair with the art of yoga almost 20 years ago and hasn’t looked back. “I believe that yoga is for everyone and every body. I love to share it. Whatever your reason for walking through our door and regardless of your flexibility and body type my team strives to help you feel comfortable and at home,” says Domino.
“I started yoga when I was about 30 years old and, for the first time in my life, I felt graceful and comfortable in my body. Yoga has changed my body and my life. Opening YogaSoul has been a journey of love. I am grateful to offer this studio to the community as a place to grow strong, learn from others, and feel free,” says Domino.
Domino grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh with a stay at home mother who worked part time in a local school. Her father worked very hard as a “company man” and rose through the ranks of corporate America — a leader in his field. Domino ran cross country and track in high school. She moved to the West Windsor area in 1994. When she married her husband, Dave, they were both working for Prudential in Newark. “We loved the Princeton area and moved into an apartment on Nassau Street. We bought our first house on Alexander Road right behind Windsor Plaza. I can see our first home from YogaSoul!” Domino explains. In 1999 the couple moved a half mile away onto Sherbrooke Drive in West Windsor. “I am just a three minute walk to the studio,” says Domino.
The Dominos have two kids — Mike, a junior at WW-P South, and Sarah, a sophomore at Notre Dame High. “They share my love for physical activity and are ready to begin their yoga practice at YogaSoul. You’ll see them working at the reception desk at the studio too. Mike and Sarah are both talented athletes. Mike plays football and lacrosse. Sarah runs cross country, track, and plays lacrosse,” says Domino.
The YogaSoul studio teaches Vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga and classes are open to any student. The studio also offers deep stretch classes, pilates, prenatal and nutritional guidance. “Our classes are a powerful, conscious flow of movement and breath. Vinyasa is an engaging, transformative style of yoga that builds strength, flexibility, and balance,” says Domino.
“I had a calling,” she says. “I walked out of a yoga class and heard a voice tell me ‘this is what you need to do — create a studio like this.’” When she returned home Domino called Cyzner Properties thinking that if a space was available this would be destiny. “I feel I’ve got the perfect space at Windsor Plaza. It was meant to be and we need more yoga on this side of Route 1,” she says.
When she signed the lease the building was just the shell foundation where Acme once stood. “I have learned a lot about design and construction and Cyzner Properties has been very helpful,” she says. “It has been a year-long process and I am so ready to move beyond the building of the space and begin building a yoga community.”
Many hard working West Windsor residents may leave their homes on a Monday morning — stressed already — racing to work, traffic all around, cell phone in their hand, and feeling like they’ve forgotten something. Perhaps one of the most basic things they are forgetting isn’t the iPad or coffee thermos but a basic human instinct — taking a deep breath! Being mindful of our body movements and breathing rhythms help us stay connected to our core.
“I started practicing in the 1990s when yoga was beginning to become ‘trendy.’ My kids were young and I felt drawn to the practice. It was something that I could have for myself outside of my work and family,” says Domino. And as she began to attend classes nightly with her mentor Joanne Carter of Simply Yoga she became more motivated. “Joanne inspired me both as a yoga teacher and business woman.” added Domino.
When asked what the mission statement is for the new community minded studio, Domino replies, “YogaSoul came to me in a mediation: To see everyone who walks through the door as pure spirit, a kind soul, a seeker; to create the conditions to enable our students to feel open and free from their hardships and get back to a place of innocence and pure spirit.”
“Opening weekend has been amazing. The classes have been packed! I am so grateful for the amazing support of my loyal students, friends and family. You all feed my soul!” says Domino.
For more information on the new studio or to book at class visit www.yogasoulnj.com or call 609-306-9025.
