By James Kent
MENDON — A new yoga studio has quietly opened its doors along Route 4 in Mendon, already creating waves of calm and community. Grounded Yoga Studio, founded by longtime local Meg Budusky, officially opened May 5 and offers a welcoming alternative to the more intense fitness-driven yoga environments.
Grounded Studio is located in the same building with a Pilates studio, and with a new sign now hanging out front, the space is ready to be discovered. “We were just waiting for the street sign to go up,” Budusky said. “Now it feels real. We’re ready to welcome everyone.”
And she means everyone.
“This studio is for all bodies and all people,” Budusky emphasized. “We’ve built a space where people can come as they are—whether they’re experienced practitioners or stepping onto the mat for the first time.”
The Grounded Studio schedule includes Hatha, Vinyasa Flow, Baptiste Power Flow, Yin Yoga, and a weekly donation-based community yoga class every Saturday at 10 a.m. The studio maintains a comfortable room temperature (around 65–68 degrees), has free parking, and is stocked with all the yoga props one might need—though students are welcome to bring their own.
Classes are held seven days a week, with early morning options at 7 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and an evening class on Mondays at 6 p.m. Single classes cost $20, with student and senior discounts available and multi-class passes offering additional savings. Class registration is available via Vagaro at vagaro.com/groundedstudiollc.
A teacher turned studio owner
Before opening Grounded Studio, Budusky was a well-known elementary school teacher in Vermont—most recently at Killington Elementary School, where she taught 3rd and 4th grades. A Killington local through and through, she grew up skiing and snowboarding at Pico and has deep roots in the local community.
“When I was about 12 years old, my mom introduced me to yoga at Pico,” she said. “She was a longtime employee of Killington. She’s retired now, and so we used to use the Pico fitness facility a lot, and that’s actually where I started practicing yoga a long, long time ago.”
“I am generally a bit of a go, go, go kind of person,” she continued. “I really appreciated the synchronicity with the breath and with the movement… It helped me complete a stress cycle and get to know myself better.”
Budusky had long dreamed of becoming a certified yoga instructor, but teaching full-time made it hard to find the time. That changed after the birth of her son, who faced serious early health complications that required open-heart surgery.
“Yoga really helped me through that whole experience, and this community helped me through that whole experience—my husband and I,” she said. “When we got to the other side of it—now he’s very healthy and thriving—it helped us sort of recalibrate our priorities.”
With the encouragement of Anne Marie Stearns, who owns the Pilates studio in the same building and has been “an incredible friend and mentor,” Budusky took the leap. She earned her certification and started building what would become Grounded Studio.
Accessibility and community first
Budusky sees Grounded as much more than a fitness studio. “One of the biggest inspirations for the studio has been to try to make it accessible,” she said.
To that end, the studio offers a weekly donation-based class, with proceeds beyond teacher pay going into a fund to support those who need help covering class costs.
“That’s just kind of a no-questions-asked, open to anyone if they reach out,” Budusky explained. “If someone says, ‘I’d really like to practice, but this is sort of too steep for me,’ then we will work with anybody to make sure that they can access what they want to access.”
Accessibility also means inclusivity in how yoga is taught. “Sometimes I think when the media shows a lot of cool and impressive poses, it can make yoga come across as something that’s not accessible to people who wouldn’t see themselves as relating to that kind of physical exertion,” Budusky said.
“We’re trying to offer a wide variety of classes that can help increase accessibility to more people to this practice,” she added, noting offerings like an adaptive yoga class taught by massage therapist Kelly Clifford for people with injuries or physical limitations.
“We’re not about achieving the ‘ideal’ version of a pose,” she said. “We’re being very accepting of all body types and all body shapes and where everybody is in their body in that moment, on that day.”
What’s next
While Budusky leads many of the classes herself, additional instructors have joined the team, and the schedule is growing.
She’s also teaching one evening a week at the Rutland City Firehouse and hopes to expand Grounded’s morning and evening class options over time.
“I’m hopeful to add more classes in the early morning and later evening for people who work a typical 9-to-5 in the future,” she said.
With her background in education, a lifelong connection to movement, and a deep appreciation for what yoga can offer, Budusky feels that opening Grounded is a full-circle moment.
“It’s a really kind of special combination for me—of my school teaching background, my dance background, and my athletic background,” she said.
“I couldn’t do this without this community,” she added. “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to come back here—and gratefully, my husband also loves it here.”
For more information, visit: vagaro.com/groundedstudiollc.
Grounded Yoga Studio is located at 1360 US-4 in Mendon on the corner of Townline Road and Route 4.
