“Expect the unexpected” may be the new watchword of Shri Yoga, which is dedicated to light and prosperity, striking a pose of flexibility of nimbleness, with the ability to pivot with the best of entrepreneurs in Rhode Island.

 

It started in 2010 when Alison Bologna, a Pawtucket resident, who is also an awardwinning journalist and local news anchor at WJAR NBC 10, decided to open a yoga studio in one of the empty downtown storefronts in Pawtucket. She named it “Shri Studio” with the intention of bringing light (the definition of “Shri” in Sanskrit) into the district by offering low cost and free yoga outreach classes to students who otherwise wouldn’t have access. While serving more than 8,500 students every year, Alison outgrew three leased spaces in the city and began to look for something more permanent. Knowing this, and a bit about her love of design and architecture, she was soon convinced to invest in a 15,000 s/f underutilized mill near the new MBTA commuter rail hub in the Conant Thread District in 2018.

 

Alison has supported and contributed to the betterment of Pawtucket by bringing Urban Revitalization Yoga to our city. She received her undergraduate degree from the Medil School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She also graduated with honors from Columbia University School of Journalism and received her Masters degree in English with honors from Harvard University. She currently anchors NBC 10 News at Sunrise with Mario Hilario. She is the recipient of an Emmy, an Edward R. Murrow award, 2 Associated Press awards, a Justice Award from the RI Attorney General, and a Gracie Allen award. In addition to her journalism employment, she is a staunch advocate for bringing yoga to all in Pawtucket. She received her Yoga Alliance Teaching Certificate in 2006 and went on to open the first SHRI Yoga Studio in Pawtucket in 2009. In 2012, she started the 501-c-3 nonprofit organization, SHRI Service Corps, providing free yoga to a multitude of disenfranchised citizens of Pawtucket. The SHRI Yoga Studio offers yoga to those with behavioral health issues, in recovery, or with developmental disabilities, as well as children and veterans. In 2014, she partnered with a local bakery to form SHRI Food which makes her infamous “SHRI Bark”. She generously supplies this nutritious health bar to Pawtucket schools and other non-profit organizations.

 

For Alison’s efforts, she has been honored with a Woman of Excellence award, a RI Small Business Entrepreneurial Woman award, and a Girl Scouts Leading Women of Distinction award.

 

In 2023, she opened her studio at 390 Pine Street in the newly re-developed historical mill that has been transformed into community space near the recently opened train station in Pawtucket, where she now has more than 20 certified yoga instructors employed there. Her resume demonstrates hard work, dedication and commitment to the citizens of Pawtucket and we are grateful and fortunate to have her in our city.

 

For these reasons, Alison Bologna has been chosen as the recipient of 2023 Pawtucket Hall of Fame Person of the Year award - Congratulations Alison!