Chelsea Wanco, Jessie Davies, Mary Owens & Shea McGill. Photo courtesy of Tiffany Lantz Photography.
Grabbing fluffy floor pillows from the tea room where yogis can enjoy a warm beverage and lounge between classes, Freebird Yoga’s founder and owner Jessie Davies invited me to sit on the floor with her.
Her toddler daughter joined us and sweetly insisted on sitting, crossed legs, on the pillow with me.
“I want Freebird to feel like you’re walking into a friend’s house, not a business,” Davies said. “Rather than a sterile, ‘Welcome to Freebird,’ when people walk in, it’s, ‘Hey! Good to see you again.’ I want people to feel warm and at home—to feel free to take a big exhale.”
This foundational mission of home-like comfort and Davies’ desire to cultivate a community of kindred spirits can be found all throughout Feebird, from the vibrant, bohemian ambiance to the tastefully curated vendor items for sale in the foyer to the choice of name.
It’s not a play off of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, but rather, the name, Freebird, is a commemorative nod to Davies’ mother, whom she described as a “phoenix rising”—a mystical presence—who several years ago was freed from a battle with cancer. More broadly, this abstract idea of being lightened from burden is also how Davies says she feels when her body meets her mat.
“When I get onto the mat, and I do the physical practice of yoga, it’s in essence this space of freedom for me. It’s a dance to connect my breath to movement,” she said. “It is important to me that, when people come to Freebird, they come to their yoga mat with whatever is on their hearts, on their minds, or in their body, and a freedom to express that.”
Freebird opened in June on W. Main Street in Mechanicsburg, and Davies admits that it was a bit of a leap of faith. However, it was something that Jackie Dahlheimer, a long-time friend and mentor of Davies, said they often chatted and daydreamed about together.
“I always knew it was coming,” said Dahlheimer, who opened her own yoga studio, House of Yoga, in York in 2016. “I may have started out as her mentor, but throughout our relationship, it got to the point where we just started running alongside each other—rooting for each other. My time came to step out of the way and tell her, ‘You’re more than ready. It’s time for you to lead.’”
In the eyes of Dahlheimer, Freebird’s eight class instructors, and the countless community members who are repeat attendees, Davies has soundly landed that leap of faith.
Nina Hamilton had a yoga studio on Mechanicsburg’s Main Street from 2012 to 2014, just a few doors down from Freebird. Rallying around Davies, she now leads regular power flow classes here. When she’s not teaching, she enjoys making the short walk from her house to the studio to practice yoga.
“It’s so special to have a studio back in Mechanicsburg,” Hamilton said. “Every town needs a place like Freebird on their main street.”
The studio offers a breadth of classes from beginner workshops to more advanced yoga mobility and moderate vinyasa, ensuring that all feel like they have a place for their mat at Freebird.
Rooted in four core values—freedom, connection, curiosity and play—Davies also periodically hosts events at the studio that take these principles of yoga off the mat, including paint nights, mala jewelry-making workshops, and makers markets featuring local artisans. And she doesn’t see an end to these mission-minded initiatives.
“I’m someone who likes to dream way big,” said Davies, who not only envisions more classes on the schedule in the future, but potentially international retreats and maybe even another yoga studio location one day. But for now, she says all she needs is right here.
“Right now, I just want to see us busting at the seams with community,” Davies said. “I want to fill these walls with good people, good conversation and sweetness, until we’re overflowing.”
Freebird Yoga is located at 13 W. Main St., Mechanicsburg. For more information, visit www.fbyogastudio.com.
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