About Us
It’s all yoga, all the time
Located in the small coastal village of Niantic (East Lyme, CT), the Studio offers a wide variety of classes, from meditations, to Vinyasa Yoga, to restorative Blanket Yoga and Slow Flow. Here, we dive deep into the philosophy and anatomy of yoga, so that you can experience healing of the mind, body, and spirit.
From Bali to Niantic
At the end of 2019, before she had ever heard the word “Covid,” Megan Mulrine sat across from a Balinese energy-reader, surrounded by the sounds of the jungle, as he predicted that she would have a yoga shala in the United States in three years’ time. She had been living in Asia for nearly a decade, and told him he was crazy–she had no intention of returning to the US.
Three years later, Megan was handed the keys of the Niantic Yoga Studio, and became the new owner in January of 2023.
Megan is an international yoga teacher trainer and yoga therapist specializing in bhakti yoga and the Hindu origin stories of asanas. She still runs her yoga school, Yogatrotter Academy, at the retreat center of her Hindu priestess in Bali, as well as now at the Niantic Yoga Studio.
Our History
The original owner, Kris Montigny, still provides incredible Blanket Yoga experiences at the studio. Kris began teaching Svaroopa® Yoga in Niantic in 2002. In 2006, she partnered with Donna Criscuolo, another independent Svaroopa® yoga teacher, to form the Niantic Yoga Center in its original location at The Bridal Mall on Liberty Way in Niantic. Prior to that both were teaching in their own locations, Kris in Niantic and Donna in New London. They decided to form the Center to create a Svaroopa® community where the teachings could be offered exclusively.
Both were involved with Master Yoga Foundation, the school of Svaroopa® yoga. Kris was a teacher trainer and travelled extensively running training programs. Donna was involved initially with their board of directors, then as Director of Marketing and eventually becoming the Executive Director of the Master Yoga Foundation.
The Center grew at a rapid rate in its first year. Classes doubled in a short time and students began to arrive early to make sure they had a spot on the floor, so as not to lose their place in class. After the first year, Donna hired two more teachers, Kathy Monte and Ann Mehr, to teach at the studio and increased the capacity even more.
Soon, Kendra Price had begun teaching at the studio. She and Donna coordinated a move from one space to another, while the dedicated students made it happen. Everything was in the new space within an hour. The studio closed down for one week while the walls were painted and the space was established. There was a dedication ceremony shortly thereafter.
After the first year in the new space, Donna turned the keys over to Kendra who continued to keep the tradition alive and vibrant, growing the business even further and teaching three classes each week. Many years later, Kendra passed the keys back to Kris Montigny.
15 years later, in November of 2017 the keys were once again handed over, this time to a student. Tara Filip was a dedicated student of the studio for three years before taking ownership. Coming from the perspective of a student who experienced great relief, change, and evolution through the healing power of the practice, Tara fully understands the importance of Blanket Yoga, the Studio, the students, the teachers and the practice.
During a meditation in the spring of 2017, Tara wrote a life purpose statement that at the time seemed to be without context. Believing there was power in the words, she hung on to them quietly.
In October, with a variety of events along the way, Tara was invited into ownership.
It was then that her life purpose statement revealed the divine context under which it had been created:
“I step into each day to inspire and nurture loving connections and partnerships through the creative work I am designed to do. I envision a world that encourages every soul to express the light within that makes each one of us perfect, whole, and complete that we may all thrive in selfless generosity."
Tara moved the studio to its current location on Main Street, which is absolutely ideal–right across from the beach and some of Niantic’s best cafes and restaurants.
When Megan Mulrine first stepped into the studio in 2022, she instantly fell in love with it. The pandemic had closed Indonesia’s borders and put a pause on her yoga school in Bali, so she and her husband, Michael, began exploring opportunities in the US. There was something about the Niantic Yoga Studio that called to her, and she asked Tara if she could host the state-side branch of her Yoga Teacher Trainings there.
Tara happily agreed, and with the studio settled into its new home, she offered ownership to Megan, to continue the incredible lineage of the studio, now in its rightful place on Main Street.
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What would you be if you could be anything? Isn’t it time to say ‘yes’ to the best version of you yet to be? Happy. Whole. Complete. Yes!
