By Charly SHELTON

The June meeting of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. welcomed two business owners who introduced themselves to the MSPA board and gave demonstrations of their businesses.

Katie and Erick Padilla of Arthur Murray Dance Center showed off some of their dance moves with an impromptu tango across the conference room floor on Thursday morning. The couple is waiting on an official date to open its Arthur Murray Dance Center in Montrose. Arthur Murray Dance Centers specialize in teaching ballroom dances for adults, with most of the instruction done in private, one-on-one lessons.

“Erick and I have been teaching with Arthur Murray for almost 30 years collectively. Erick has been [teaching for] 18 and I am 11 years teaching dance with Arthur Murray,” Katie said. “And we’re really excited about this particular area and the potential that there is here because it is that small-town community. Arthur Murray tends to have a family feel and a warm environment, and is a little higher end. I feel like no matter where we go we get welcomed warmly, so we’re looking forward to adding to that vibe.”

Arthur Murray Dance Center will be located at 2260 Honolulu Ave. and will be opening soon.

Another studio in Montrose has been established for a while but its owner stopped by to say hello to the board. Yoga Rock Studios, founded in 2012, is located at 3600 Ocean View Blvd., just below Honolulu Avenue. Co-founder Nikki Mercolino extended an invitation to the community to come to the studio for a free meditation class. From noon until 12:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Yoga Rock Studios offers a lunchtime meditation to help ease the stress of the workday.

“[At only 30 minutes,] you have time to run over, sit, get connected, reduce your stress, lower your blood pressure and then go grab a little bite to eat and come back to work full of bliss,” said Mercolino.

She added that the lunchtime yoga sessions will run through the end of July, but possibly longer if people continue to attend. There are also classes in yoga, guided meditation, and stretching, as well as a $50 unlimited use membership option for the first month. After her presentation, Mercolino gave a demonstration of a vinyasa flow, small sets of poses that easily melt one into another and a part of her overall classes.

“Yoga is a lot of things. It’s not just getting into a complicated pose, it really is about centering your breathing and vinyasa flow is really about the flow of breath with movement,” Mercolino said. “This is actually one of my favorite poses and you can do it anywhere and no one will even know you’re doing it.”

She went on to demonstrate the mountain pose, a standing pose.

Mercolino believes that yoga is an essential part of life and can benefit anyone who is able to do it, even on a small scale.

“This is just such an easy motion and if we just did that every single day, along with a few other things which, if you come to our class, we can teach you. Ten minutes of yoga a day can change lives. I really believe that,” she said.

Yoga Rock Studio is located at 3600 Ocean View Blvd. in Montrose.

  Charly Shelton