By Ahmad Yassir, Vermont Country Magazine.
Enter in the back of 532 Main St. #3, and you’ll find something that has quietly shaped the well-being of Bennington for 25 years.
Jane Schaeffer smiles when she says it’s been “a great experience.” A quarter century after co-founding Bennington Yoga Place with Deb Lewis, the studio remains steady, rooted in consistency, community and the belief that yoga is for every body.
“It was the two of us,” Schaeffer said. “Deb had the vision.”
In the early days, they searched for space wherever they could find it, even considering a workshop floor used by a local counseling agency, where machines left the ground oily and less than ideal. “You’d never think yoga is connected to manufacturing,” Schaeffer laughed. But Deb, carpet in hand and with her husband’s help, saw possibility.
At the time, yoga classes were scattered, some at the hospital, some at the new fire station, often sharing space with step classes or other programming. Schaeffer and Lewis wondered: Why not create a place just for yoga?
That intention, a dedicated space, still defines the studio today.
A Real Sangha
Schaeffer describes the in-person yoga experience as a “sangha,” a community.
“Doing yoga at home alone in front of the TV is like a Zoom meeting versus an in-person meeting,” she said. “When you see your classmate doing something, maybe you’ll copy them. Every student brings their particular experience to the situation.”
Yoga, she explains, teaches you about your own body. “You don’t have to look like the picture.”
While online classes remain part of the schedule, including chair yoga, Gentle Yoga and Monday offerings, Schaeffer believes there is something powerful about practicing together in a room that holds up to 25 students.
People chat in the hallway. They recognize one another. They return.
“It’s a real sangha,” she said. “Open to other people coming.”
Not One Style, But Many
The strength of Bennington Yoga Place lies in its teachers.
“Wonderful teachers is what really makes the studio stand out,” Schaeffer said. “They all have different perspectives on yoga.”
Angela Rocca, a full-time yoga teacher, creates mandala-style sequences. Allison Rogge blends yoga sculpt with a body-building sensibility. Carol Steinmetz focuses deeply on alignment, foot placement, gaze, detail. Suzie Pence, a veteran, closes class with singing bowls. There is gentle yoga, chair yoga and classes designed for those who prefer a more inward, supported practice.
“It’s not about you fitting the yoga…It’s about you finding the yoga that’s best for you in any moment of your practice and life.”
She distinguishes the studio’s approach from “gym yoga,” where an instructor might stand on a platform and deliver a routine without adjustment or interpersonal connection. “Some people like that,” she said. “Other people want something more inward.”
At Bennington Yoga Place, the invitation is to explore, and to try different teachers until something resonates.
From Problem to Practice
Schaeffer’s path to yoga wasn’t linear.
Trained in general anthropology, she conducted research in Jamaica on cannabis use, studied in New York and lived on a commune in Guilford. She later earned a psychology degree as a single mother and worked for many years at United Counseling Service before starting a private practice.
She began teaching stress reduction and relaxation, drawn to what she calls the “shift from problem to solution.”
“When people go to therapy, you need a problem to begin with,” she said. “Yoga was a great outlet to offer a solution.”
In yoga philosophy, she explains, the human being is composed of five sheaths: physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual. A yoga class works with all of them, whether someone arrives because they’re curious, newly retired, returning after years away or simply seeking to feel better.
“Honestly, people come back because it feels good,” she said.
Schaeffer remembers her own first class in Bennington, taken with Allison McGovern at the hospital while she was in a doctoral program and raising a child alone.
“I was stressed out to the max,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Whoa.’ Muscle memory. I learned how to relax again.”
It wasn’t the first time yoga found her. Years earlier, after her baby was born, a friend invited her to class. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s fantastic. I’m with other people, I’m doing something good for me, and I feel great.’ You definitely feel great by the end of every yoga class.”
Steady and Accessible
In 25 years, the studio has never changed its fee structure. There are drop-in rates and passes that reduce cost with frequency, and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Donation-based participation remains part of the ethos.
Classes are offered daily, sometimes even on Sundays, both in person and online. The schedule is available at www.benningtonyoga.com
One of Schaeffer’s mottos is simple: “Yoga is the answer.”
