Om and the Art of Opening a Business

“It truly took my practice off the mat,” said Patricia Fischer Donohue of her long journey leading up to the grand opening of Riverstone Yoga – any day now. “Without my practice I would not have made it so long.”

Located in the clubhouse of Hudson Harbor, Donohue faced many hurdles – between the building itself not being ready, bad timing with the economic downturn that put the development there on hold for a while, and requirements from the village. Finally, the missing piece, the Certificate of Occupancy has come, and Donohue doesn't much want to talk about what it took to get it. “I'm still here,” she said.

Not for lack of support, she said. Unlike some other ventures in the village (talk of and a can still smart, though the tattoo parlor at least is thriving), no one seems to have any objections to yoga studios, of which we have many. “Everybody wants this,” Donohue said. “The village, the building owners, the residents. Everybody's been behind it.”

In the summer months when she had no space, Donohue was generous enough to offer free outdoor yoga to the people (often 30 or 40 of them), which drummed up more interest.

The space brings the outdoors in, being “as green as can be,” said Donohue who co-owns the business with her husband Kevin Donohue. Inside the "really beautiful" horse barny clubhouse, is the only studio of its kind in the Hudson Valley with dedicated spaces for hot yoga in one room and other types in another. In the hot yoga room are features to keep things clean and sanitary: fresh air exchange, antimicrobial flooring and more.

Donohue hopes to offer something for every type of practitioner, with instruction for all styles and levels, because “my motto is everyone is on a different place on the path.” The space will build up to 8 to 12 teachers and many hours a week, but Donohue plans to start slow.

“I've lived in Tarrytown for a long time and I've always wanted to do something like this in my backyard,” said Donohue, who began teaching as a Bikram certified instructor in 2002. Now it looks like she'll finally get her chance. She hopes to be here for the long haul. “I've got a nice long lease.”

On the Riverstone Yoga Facebook page where Donohue has been updating the place's status or lack of one, she wrote a few days ago, “Send us some good karma energy. We just need the Village's final ok on the CO and we can announce our opening date!.”

Then she updated Monday with the good news, all in caps: "WE HAVE OUR CO!!! OPENING DATE COMING SOON...FOR REAL!!", followed by some well-deserved likes.

For more information, including opening date, follow Riverstone Yoga on their website or their FB page.