By Charlee Harris

Melissa Lyons, the owner of All Walks Yoga, officially starter journey to become a yoga teacher began in September 2020.

After having difficulties finding classes that offer all levels classes and variations for difficult poses, Melissa decided to become a yoga instructor.

“I hear all the time from people that they’ve never done yoga because they don’t fit what they think is the ‘typical’ yoga look or personality and I wanted to have a place to give them a chance to experience yoga,” she said.

Opening during a global pandemic brings its own challenges but Melissa said her biggest challenge was getting people to understand her style of yoga class.

“Just because my yoga classes are ‘different,’ because we use variations of poses and routines to be more accessible to everyone, doesn’t mean that they are ‘less’,” she said.

It’s a fitting sentiment: In addition to being a yoga instructor, Melissa has been an elementary school teacher in the Akron Public Schools for eight years, teaching kindergarten through third grade. She also volunteers as a high school eSports coach for the Akron STEM Eagles.

Megan is a long-term neighborhood resident and is excited to be a part of the revitalization efforts in Kenmore.

“As we continue to read the stories about the eight other businesses that have opened on the Boulevard during the pandemic, and as we talked to the residents and business owners already there, we knew that the Boulevard is a special place and wanted to bring accessible yoga to the community,” she said .

Melissa is partnering with the Rialto Theater to teach yoga classes there, but she also hopes to have a storefront on the Boulevard one day.

“Continuing to bring people together in fun and exciting ways only helps to make the Boulevard more enticing as ‘the place’ to be,” she said.

Beginning May 30, All Walks Yoga offers classes on Sunday at 9 a.m. and Monday at 6 p.m. at The Rialto Theater. Classes can be reserved at allwalks.yoga.