Breathe Boston Wants to Make Yoga Accessible to Everyone

Izzy Paganucci/Photo provided

As anyone who practices yoga knows, fees can add up quickly. Monthly memberships easily swell past $100, and even squeezing in a few drop-in classes here and there can have your wallet feeling lighter. Add in the cost of mats, props, and brand-name leggings, and suddenly you’re looking at one costly hobby.

Izzy Paganucci was tired of all that fuss.

“I 100 percent believe in the benefits that come with practice, and no one should have to spend that kind of money on something that’s essentially free to do,” she says. “If you think about it, all you really need is your body and your breath.”

Guided by that belief, Paganucci is founding a new group called Breathe Boston. Once it launches, students of all skill and income levels are invited to take totally cost-free yoga and meditation classes, either in the group’s space in the North End or in students’ homes. Teachers will work with students one-on-one or in small groups, catering to different experience levels.

Breathe Boston is a passion project for Paganucci, who’s becoming yoga teacher certified and works full-time in sales for a software company. She and the other Breathe Boston instructors—all of whom are certified or in the process of becoming so, though few of them teach at established local studios—will volunteer their time for classes.

“This is a network of people who are passionate about this, who love yoga and want to bring it to new people,” Paganucci says.

It’s an ambitious undertaking for Paganucci, who recently moved to Boston, but one she says could make a difference in the lives of many people who can’t afford to practice in a traditional studio environment.

“It’s something that brings a lot of physical and mental strength, and is very helpful in the lives of people who live in the city and experience a lot of daily stressors,” she says. “We just want to alleviate that and spread the happiness, essentially.”