Business

The Work We Do: Ina Pollifrone-Visich, Solnste Hot Yoga

My name is Ina Pollifrone-Visich and I own Solntse Hot Yoga in Wading River and Riverhead.

Every day is different. We have different classes here so it depends what time we start. Some days we have classes as early at 5 a.m. and other days classes start at 9 a.m. We change and fluctuate the schedule with the seasons due to most of our customers working in the fall, winter and spring and then being off in the summer.

The day starts with either myself or a teacher coming in, setting up for a class, then cleaning everything and leaving. Throughout the day we have about five or six classes.

I’ve been practicing for over four years, so I’m still a beginner. 

I was getting very sick. I had fibromyalgia and I didn’t know it at the time, and I was trying to see how I could make myself feel better without using any medication, and I started practicing in a studio in East Moriches. Hot yoga made me feel so much better naturally so I started going every day and I noticed such a big improvement in my health that I wanted to open something close to my house.

So I drove past the Shoppes every day in Wading River. I just really loved the location, so we took a look at this location and that was that. It was totally out of the blue. I had a different career and decided to stop what I was doing and open a yoga studio.

I love it because it changes lives and changes lives for the better.

It does help with so many things, like physical health, emotional health, mental health. My most favorite thing about yoga for me is having a beginner come in and seeing that light go off when they go, ‘Oh my God. I love it.’ Just like I did when I started. So I think that’s my favorite part: Seeing people fall in love with it the same way I did.

It’s definitely been an amazing journey. There’s so much to learn. I’m still learning to run a business. Running a business is tough at times but it’s definitely been amazing. I’ve made so many friends because I never really had any friends in the area. This is helping me make friends for myself and make friends for other people. We have a growing community here.

“The Work We Do” is a News-Review multimedia project profiling workers around Riverhead Town. It is made possible by Peconic Landing in Greenport. See more photos on Instagram @riverheadnewsreview