Stacy Valdez Built An Inclusive Yoga Community Inside A Former Church

A yoga studio inside a church that looks like a castle sounds like a movie set, but it’s real and it’s right in Parryville. We sit down with Stacy Valdez, owner of Fairy Moon Yoga, to talk about how a surprise real-estate find turned into a welcoming yoga and wellness studio offering yoga classes, Reiki, and hands-on wellness workshops for the local community. If you’ve been craving relaxation, mindfulness, or a place that feels friendly the moment you walk in, this conversation is for you. 

Stacy shares the behind-the-scenes story: buying the building just before 2020, renovating fast, and opening during a time when people needed grounding more than ever. We also get honest about the comments that can come with running a yoga space in a former church, and why repurposing a large building into something healthy and community-focused can be a win for everyone in town. 

We dig into the myths that keep people away from yoga, especially the idea that you need to be flexible before you start. Stacy makes the case for accessible yoga for beginners and for adults 50 and up, with a focus on mobility, strength, and feeling better in daily life instead of chasing “perfect” poses. We also talk small business marketing that actually works, why word of mouth and Facebook ads bring people in, and how community extends beyond the studio with activities like paddleboarding. 

Check out Fairy Moon Yoga at Fairymoonyoga.com and follow along on Instagram or Facebook at Fairy Moon Yoga. If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a softer on-ramp to wellness, and leave a review so more neighbors can find us.

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Joe Longo.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Are you in need of some relaxation? Maybe a little mindfulness. I've got something for you today. It might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Stacy Valdez, owner of Fairy Moon Yoga. Stacy, thank you so much for joining me today. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Good. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Yeah, I'm so excited to connect with you. And we're all excited to learn about Fairy Moon Yoga. Can you tell us about your business and what it is and what you do and all of the goodies?

SPEAKER_00 0:46

So Fairy Moon Yoga is a yoga and wellness studio. We are located in Parryville. Um, so if you ever know where Riverwalk is, we are right up the street. We are the church that looks like a castle. And um, we have yoga, Reiki, and we offer wellness workshops, different types. So we also offer book analysis. So next month we're doing um mirror work by Louise Hay for three weeks. So if you're interested, jump into that. But um, we have a lot of different wellness things, and that's where we're at.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

That's wonderful. So you're in a church. Yes. Can you tell us about that as well? Because it is, um, I'm for the listener surprise. I was there, I've been there, and it's beautiful. But can you tell us about it and how did the how did this come, how did it all come to be?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

So we weren't planning on opening a yoga studio. We were actually just looking for an investment property. We had property in Gym Thorpe for um 30 years, and we're just looking around. And you know, we've always looked, we were lived in New Jersey and we always looked at churches, and they were always like, you know, almost a million dollars. And my husband was up here looking and he's like, I found a church, and it's like the price of a car. And so we went on Christmas Eve, looked at the church, we put an offer in on New Year's Eve, and we settled on February 14th of 2020. Wow. And at that point, we thought, uh, maybe we'll live in it, maybe we'll make it somewhere that we didn't know what we were gonna do with it. And then all of a sudden, we were sitting on our condo, and my husband was at one side, I was the other, and we were both like yoga studio. Um, because we had planned on moving up here in retirement. Um, and I always wanted a community. I was practicing yoga for 20 years, and I was like, you know what? I want a community where I'm gonna move, and I want to build the community that I want, one that's inclusive, that I know that is open to everybody. So that's kind of how we started, and it just flew. Then COVID happened, and my husband was able to be off for nine months and he worked 12 hours a day, and we opened in October of 2020.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Wow. When you got the church, was it because now it's obviously a beautiful yoga studio? Was it a church church? Did it have the pews, or was all of that stuff already removed?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

The sanctuary had this the pews removed, everything else was there, the stage and all of that. But um, they had kind of turned it into like a um a virtual church with like a coffee shop, which kind of didn't fly. And so they closed. And so when we got it, the church basically just needed to be painted, the platform needed to be um just restained, so that wasn't too bad. And then we had to redo the whole rest of it because it was like, you know, green and yellow carpet with brown paneling and all the things, all the 1970s stuff, right?

Yoga Myths And Inclusive Practice

SPEAKER_02 3:42

All the things you would expect in an old church. So since you've you've been here uh uh and doing this with with your business, have you what are some of the misconceptions that or myths about the yoga industry? And maybe even being in a church.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Well, for one, people look at it's a little funny. We've gotten some interesting comments online about being in a church. Um and you know, that's everybody's you know, I look at it this way. If people would have supported their church, we wouldn't have been in the church. But you know, that's up to everybody. You know, churches are struggling, and also would you rather have a blighted building in the middle of your community? Right. But then some of the other myths are when I say, Oh, we come to yoga, and they say, Well, I need to get flexible before I come to yoga. Okay, well, one of the ways to get flexible is to come to yoga.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Yeah, I love that one.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

I hear that all the time. I can't come because I'm not flexible.

Marketing Plus 50 Plus Community

SPEAKER_02 4:48

So we all know that marketing obviously is the heart of every business. What are you doing to get people in there and on the mat?

SPEAKER_00 4:56

You know, one of my most successful things right now for from word of mouth is also Facebook ads. Um, you know, I did some things with some local community things, but it never really panned out.

SPEAKER_03 5:09

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Um, we did wine on the river and people looked at us like we were the devil. Like when people are drinking, they don't want to think about yoga. It's like, I don't want to think about health and wellness right now because that kind of didn't work. So yeah, Facebook, word of mouth. Um, that's kind of where we're at right now.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Yeah. Um, how about your your target um like clientele? What do you find? Because I think this was another misconception of yoga as well. You finding a wide variety of people coming.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Yeah, you know, the one thing that surprised me was our actual average age of yoga right now is 50 and above.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Wow, how about we started?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

We had more seniors. And it shocked me because you know what? We had people that went skiing every day in their 70s, and I'm like, that's who I want to be. I want to be the person who's skiing every day, who's playing pickleball three times a week, who's playing tennis at 82. Right. Um, and I always tell the people that come to my studio yoga is not about being in the pretty pose, it's not looking like the Instagram person, it's so weird, not bent over the shopping cart at the Walmart.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Uh-huh. So true. So true.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

About that.

Life Outside The Studio

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Yeah, we definitely want to be able to get up off the floor and stand up straight. That's been one of my goals forever, right? Just sit on the floor. Because if I'm sitting on the floor, I'm gonna have to get up off the floor. But if I stop sitting on the floor, eventually I'm not gonna be able to get up from the floor. Silly, silly little little practice. Have you ever thought about having a podcast and talking about yoga and all of this good stuff?

SPEAKER_00 6:54

You know, I did. I I do think about it. Um, one of my things is time. You know, I work a full-time job in addition to running the business. So as the chief coach, bottle washer, cleaner, everything. Um, but yeah, I thought I have thought about doing a podcast and actually thinking about talking about yoga and what how it has helped people in their life. You know, how has made differences in their life? What made people come to yoga?

unknown 7:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

There's a good story, modalities.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

I love that. I love that. So outside of your job and the studio, what are you doing for fun?

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Fun. Oh, okay. You know, we are renovating uh an 1859 house in um Upper Gym Thorpe. So we've been working on that. Um, and I'm I'm like going to start paddleboarding. So we have a paddleboarding group at the studio, and I'm buying my first paddleboard, and I'm going to be paddleboarding this summer.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Oh, that is awesome. I love paddleboarding. Um, was definitely scared at first, but once you get it, it's like, oh, this is so. I mean, I haven't done yoga on my paddleboard, I've just kind of floated around, and that is good enough. But it's a it really is quite enjoyable.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

It was I went once with one of our teachers, Valerie, and it was so peaceful. I only got up to my knees, but that was fine.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Yeah, baby steps.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Didn't want to get crazy.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Um, so if you can tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about fairy moon yoga, what would that be?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

We're an open community. We meet you where you are at. It's not about what your neighbor looks like while you're doing yoga. Everybody's body is different. Whether your knees are up or your knees are down or you can do the pose. I always say in my classes, if you go into child's pose for the whole class, you are still doing yoga.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Yes, so true.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

When it's not about being Instagram and I don't like performance yoga.

How To Connect And Nominate

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Oh I think it does a disturb us to right, yeah, it kind of scares scares people away. Right. Um, I know it scared me away in the past because like I can't do that stuff, right? And then I realized, oh, right, maybe let's start with just touching my toes. Let's let's let's keep it simple. And everything changed then. So, how can our listeners learn more about Fairy Moon?

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Well, they can come to Fairymoonyoga.com or they can follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Fairy Moon Yoga, and that's basically where we kind of hang out. I don't try to do all the platforms.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Yeah, there are so many platforms out there, and I often recommend people like find what works for you and stay there. Um, because it it's hard to be everywhere. Well, Stacy, thank you so much for being here for our conversation, for sharing about Fairy Moon. From everyone at the Good Neighbor podcast, we wish you and your business the best moving forward. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

It's nice to be here.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GMPNEPA.com. That's GMPNEPA.com or call 572 9208.