By JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Nicole Buckey Snodgrass started Restore Yoga + Wellness in 2018 for one simple reason — she saw a need in the community and wanted to fill that void for the area.

Raised in Flushing and a graduate of Union Local High School, she first became involved with yoga and wellness 23 years ago. She had dabbled in yoga using video tapes for instruction and decided to take an actual live yoga class. She said the experience was “terrible.”

That’s when she thought: “I could do that. I could offer something really great.” So she started her first round of real training in yoga and yoga instruction.

Today, she is the founder and CEO of Restore Yoga + Wellness, located on the top floor of 150 W. Main St. in St. Clairsville. She is a Yoga Alliance-certified instructor and an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, or an E-RYT. She is also studying with Stone Yoga School to receive her 500-hour certification. In addition, she has been a certified health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition since 2005.

She said Restore is the only yoga and wellness studio in the Ohio Valley, and it offers massage, body work therapy, sound baths, facials and a variety of yoga classes for people at all levels of ability.

“The studio experience is something that I wanted for this area,” Snodgrass said. ” … A place where people could come and do the things they need to heal. A place of calm. A place of relaxation. A place of stress reduction.”

Although hers is the only local business of its kind, Snodgrass sees a variety of bright spots in the local area for people in general and for women in particular. One of those is the increasing number of opportunities that are becoming available through local colleges. She pointed to massage therapy training at Belmont College as one example. She also believes the local region provides chances for women to make an income to support their families in unique ways, including running online businesses.

She has one piece of advice for any woman who is interested in starting a business that is similar to hers: Get a consultant. She pointed out that one might know all about how to teach yoga, but that doesn’t mean they know how to operate an independent business. She said once she hired a consultant to help get her business off the ground, “everything changed.”

And that is not the only lesson she has learned as part of running her business. In fact, she said she is still learning all the time.

“I learn daily from my clients and students,” she said. “I learn humility. I learn to be a better teacher and a better person. I learned to listen to what their needs are. They’re my best teacher.”

She stressed that there is “no prerequisite to come to yoga,” adding that the physical, mental and spiritual practices with origins in ancient India are becoming more and more accessible to people in the local region all the time. She said she has seen many more women becoming yoga teachers in the past three to five years, and she has noticed yoga classes being offered in new spaces such as churches and community rooms.

Snodgrass said she lives by this motto: “Always sleep on it.”

“I have learned to listen to the needs of others before making decisions,” she noted.

Restore Yoga + Wellness is open 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday and Saturday; and 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Snodgrass and her staff offer group classes, private and semi-private sessions and special events. To learn more, visit restoreyogaandwellness.com or find the studio on Facebook.