West Hartford Yoga Studio Marks a Decade of Community Building

When Fiona Marchetti opened Anchor Point Yoga on a second floor above a bakery in West Hartford Center a decade ago, she taught nearly every class herself, sometimes filling in for a sick colleague twice in the same week. Ten years later, the studio employs fourteen instructors, runs a 200-hour teacher training program, and has become something of a fixture in the town's small business landscape.

"I didn't have a grand plan when I started," Marchetti said. "I just wanted a space where people who felt intimidated by yoga could walk in and feel like they belonged. Everything since then has grown out of that one idea."

Expanding Access, Not Just Offerings

To mark the anniversary, Anchor Point has added several new class formats aimed at people who might not think of themselves as typical yoga students, including a chair-based class designed for older adults and clients with mobility limitations, and a "Yoga for Runners" session developed with a local physical therapist to address common overuse injuries.

Marchetti said the chair yoga class, taught by longtime instructor Beatrice Solano, has become one of the studio's fastest-growing offerings, drawing a mix of retirees and clients recovering from injury or surgery.

"We used to assume that a crowded, sweaty room was the goal for every class," Marchetti said. "But some of our most meaningful work has happened in the quietest, slowest sessions we offer."

Training the Next Generation of Teachers

The studio's teacher training program, launched five years ago, has certified more than sixty instructors, many of whom now teach across Connecticut. Marchetti said she built the curriculum to emphasize anatomy and injury prevention alongside the more traditional philosophical components of yoga training, a balance she felt was missing from some of the programs she encountered earlier in her career.

Graduate Priscilla Ndiaye, who completed the training two years ago and now teaches part-time at Anchor Point while working a separate full-time job, said the program gave her tools she has used well beyond the studio.

"Fiona doesn't just teach you how to lead a class," Ndiaye said. "She teaches you how to actually see the people in front of you, notice who's struggling with a pose before they say anything."

Anchor Point has also weathered real challenges over its ten years, including a lengthy closure during the pandemic that Marchetti said nearly forced her to shut down permanently. She credits a loyal client base that continued paying for virtual classes and, later, outdoor sessions in a nearby park, with keeping the business afloat during that period.

Looking ahead, Marchetti said she has no interest in opening additional locations, preferring to deepen the studio's roots in West Hartford rather than expand its footprint. She is, however, planning a community open house this spring featuring free classes across all formats, along with a panel discussion with several teacher training graduates about their paths into the profession.

"Ten years in a small business is not something you take for granted," she said. "I want this next chapter to be about strengthening what we already have, not chasing growth for its own sake."