#Newsflash | I Am Yogi Studios to Hold Grand Opening in Queens Village on Jan. 25

The borough’s first Black-owned hot yoga venue will open in Queens Village on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 9 am.

After a ribbon-cutting with stakeholders and elected officials, the celebration at I Am Yogi Studios will include free classes, giveaways, raffles, and community-engagement activities. 

The triumphant day marks a new challenge for founder Lisa Robertson, a living testament to yoga’s healing power. While pregnant in 2019, she suffered severe depression that led to three hospitalizations. In conversations with a doctor, she discovered yoga and practiced right up to the week that she gave birth.

“Yoga saved my life,” she says.

Robertson, a Far Rockaway native who studied at IS 192, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, and Queens College, never looked back. She obtained a certificate and started teaching yoga, meeting with clients in houses, beaches, and studios.

She quickly realized that Queens didn’t have a Black-run space – and to be perfectly honest – she got a little tired of traveling all over the place.

Two years ago, she founded I Am Yogi on Rockaway Boulevard. Now, she’s relocated to a bigger and better space – around 1,100 square feet with a reception area – and offering hot and traditional classes.

Robinson offers Vinyasa, Hatha, Ashtanga, and Yin yoga with meditation, sound bowls, movement, African dance, drumming, flexibility, restoration, and other related activities with three female and two male instructors. Classes are all male, all-female, and co-ed.

“Our mission is to create a sanctuary for healing, empowerment, and wellness,” she states. “This studio is more than a business—it’s a space to address health disparities, foster community connection, and celebrate cultural inclusion.” 

I Am Yogi is at 219-09 Hempstead Ave., close to the Nassau County border. There’s metered parking in front, and the Hempstead Ave/Springfield Blvd stop on the Q110 bus is nearby.

Editor’s note: Robinson was a client of QEDC’s Entrepreneurship Assistance Center, a program that gives entrepreneurs the resources and tools they need to run a business. She also participated in last year’s Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge, which is administered by QEDC and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. She won and received $20,000 for I Am Yogi.

Images: I Am Yogi