Welcome to The Denville Moms Local Nonprofit Spotlight Series!
Studio Grand Opening. Directors for Bee Happy Wellness are Ben, Shelly & Zac Quintana. Picture credit: Shelly Quintana
As a kick off to this important series, we are excited to introduce you to Bee You Yoga & Wellness. Bee You Wellness Inc, is a 501c3 not for profit, and the yoga studio is Bee You Yoga & Wellness. Their mission is to provide a safe nurturing environment for long term recovery using the techniques of yoga, bodywork therapies and community for holistic approach to wellness. At Bee Happy Wellness, they provide a safe nurturing environment free from judgement where people can come to find their path to optimal physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health. They do this through the physical practice of yoga; bodywork therapies; breath work and breathing exercises; meditation techniques; and community programs.
What is your nonprofit called and how long have you been established?
Bee Happy Wellness Inc, a 501c3 not for profit. Formed April 2018
Studio name is Bee You Yoga & Wellness
What is your mission?
To make yoga and holistic health services accessible and affordable to everyone, with a focus on yoga for recovery.
Who does your organization serve?
Anyone looking to improve their optimal wellness through yoga, meditation, community and other complementary holistic services such as massage.
What was a recent project you worked on? How did it come to fruition?
We bring Y12SR – yoga for recovery, to sober living facilities. We host weekly Y12SR meetings and all of our yoga and meditation classes are donation based at the studio. Pay what you can yoga and meditation.
Picture credit: Shelly Quintana
What was the inspiration behind the formation of your nonprofit?
When I was 9 years old, I had a school teacher that figured out teaching her kids yoga and meditation made her job easier. I am grateful beyond words for this gift! Just after this I experienced my first of many significant trauma and when nothing else worked to get me through, I found hiding in nature and practicing the meditation and breathing I was taught became my therapy. Yoga became my therapy. My mat became my safe space, my sacred place. The place where I could come to switch off everything else and just be ok for a moment.
My life has been a roller-coaster of highs and lows. If I were to write my story down it would be hard to believe it all happened to one person. Yoga has kept me grounded during the highs and kept me going during the lows. I have tried every kind of yoga I can find and loved them all for their differences, I love sharing the collective wisdom of all my teachers with people.
On reflecting over my crazy life, I decided I had learned some pretty good tricks for coping with some intense baggage. I decided it was time to see if I could start helping other people figure out some tools that might help them through their journey. It took me over 10 years to get brave enough to take this step. Once I started trying to put this plan into action, I noticed many things, most importantly that yoga was expensive and could seem to the newbie somewhat exclusive. This was not what yoga had been to me and I set about figuring out how I could make it the safe, healing experience I had.
Often when we need yoga the most, we find ourselves financially challenged. My goal is to keep yoga and meditation donation based so that it can be financially accessible to everyone. My training in yoga therapy has helped me learn how to modify my teachings to be beginner friendly and anatomy safe. My trauma sensitive training helped me learn techniques for creating safer space. My aerial yoga training taught me another fun way to access some of the benefits of yoga in a playful way. With massage therapy and myofascial release therapy training I added more tools for deep relaxation and releasing trauma stuck in our physical bodies. With reiki I added energy healing and started combining these ingredients to create recipes for clients to find their unique path to optimal well-being. I continue to learn and add tools. There are so many inspiring people to learn from!
My goal with Bee You Yoga & Wellness is to create a safe nurturing environment free from judgement where people can come to find their path to optimal physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health. We do this through the physical practice of yoga; bodywork therapies; breath work and breathing exercises; meditation techniques; and community programs. Regardless of where in their life journey one currently finds themselves, or what challenges one is facing, Bee You Yoga and Wellness will provide a caring environment for growth. At Bee You Yoga and Wellness we believe that optimal wellness is a recipe that is unique to every individual. We help each person find their own recipe for wellness from the many ingredients available.
I write this in first person because that is where it started, with my journey. However, along the way I have gathered many helpers and could not do this without them. I do not see Bee You as mine. It belongs to all of us. Our hive guides and clients. Bee You is a community, a place where we can all come to share knowledge, strength and hope. Together may we rise to our fullest potential. Life need not be a competition, with support and love may we all grow.
Picture credit: Shelly Quintana
What’s on the horizon (with respect to your endeavor; future plans or goals)?
We have purchased an old Tavern and are hoping to rehabilitate an old tavern into a full wellness center and coffee/juice bar. The rebuilding of the Tavern project will focus on giving jobs to skilled professionals in recovery.
What speaker topics/experts are you looking for? Who can our readers contact if they want to volunteer their expertise? Do you have specific milestones/dates you can share with us (ie. gratitude clubs)?
We are always looking to collaborate with other holistic health professionals. We believe in collaboration not competition.
What is an example of “their own meaningful programming?” If our readers have children who want to get involved in your organization if is that possible and how?
We believe that learning mindfulness techniques at a young age sets a foundation for a healthier adult life. We offer many children’s donation based programs and as our community grows will offer more opportunities for children to become involved.
What are additional ways in which our readers can contribute or volunteer their time?
Most importantly helping us share the word. Sharing on social media, helping us get the word out. We will be looking for sponsorship to help us with the rebuild of the tavern. Take a class, see what therapeutic yoga can do for you!
Pictures from the Studio Grand Opening. Directors for Bee Happy Wellness are Ben, Shelly & Zac Quintana. Accalia Quintana also works with us at the studio.
Bee You Yoga & Wellness Facebook Page