A mother-daughter duo is bringing their passion for healing to Lisbon with the launch of Starlight Yoga & Reiki earlier this month, offering yoga classes, reiki, and dance movement therapy.

Sarah Thompson said this new venture is the realization of a longtime dream she and her daughter, Hannah Johnson, have shared — creating a space to offer healing services and connect with the community.

“Everyone that we’ve spoken to about what it is that we’re doing, they’ve been very excited about the fact that we are doing this in Lisbon, in a smaller community,” Thompson said. “That we’re bringing something that normally only those in larger communities have easy access to.”

Thompson said she designed her yoga classes to be accessible to all skill levels, with a special emphasis on welcoming and encouraging beginners.

“My primary focus in yoga is making it accessible for all bodies,” Thompson said. “Often, yoga is presented in the terrain of those who are very thin, those who are very flexible. And I enjoy working with those who are in large bodies and those who are beginners.”

Another key motivation for opening the studio was Johnson’s recent graduation from Lesley University in Massachusetts, where she earned a master’s degree in dance movement therapy — a practice that uses guided movement and expressive dance to support emotional, mental, and physical well-being, helping individuals process emotions and connect with their bodies.

“Your first language is movement. The very first thing that you communicate with is movement in your body, even when you’re a child or a baby,” Johnson said. “We are communicating so many different things that we’re just not aware of, and we are holding and storing emotions in our bodies.”

Johnson explained that dance movement therapy addresses the connection between mind and body, an element of healing that other forms of self-care often overlook.

“For example, talk therapy only focuses on the mind, and then things like normal gyms only focus on the physical,” John- son said. “We really wanted to connect that mind and body, because your mind affects your body, and your body affects your mind.”

After earning her master certification last year, Thompson is also excited to offer individual sessions of Reiki — a gentle, energy-based healing practice that originated in Japan.

“It’s really unlocking energy channels that exist within your body to help your body heal itself,” Thompson said, adding that reiki is often used to alleviate stress, reduce pain and increase an overall feel- ing of wellbeing.

Thompson is also offering oracle card readings, a reflective practice that provides insight, guidance, and inspiration through intuitive card interpretation.

“My style is really to tap in to the energy of the cards and the messages that come through the symbols associated with them,” Thompson said.

Adding to the excitement of the studio, Thompson and Johnson said, is their mother-daughter bond, which has translated into a supportive working relationship as business partners.

“A lot of times when people hear working with family, they think of all the sitcoms where there’s a lot of funny instances and arguments,” Johnson said. “And that’s couldn’t be further from the case. My mom and I work really well together, and we lift each other up.”

In addition to working with her daughter, Thompson said another highlight of opening the studio has been the welcoming reception by the Lisbon community.

“Something that we feel very proud of is that we’re part of the community,” Thompson said. “We’ve been working with local vendors for all of our things as we’re working on opening,”

The studio, located on Main Street in Lisbon between Indulgence Salon and Lisbon Insurance, has done a soft open- ing throughout the month of February, with their grand opening last weekend. The center is also holding a sound bath event Saturday, March 8, in their studio space.

“The greeting that we’ve gotten from our neighbors here on Main Street in Lisbon has been just really wonderful,” Thompson said.

The studio offers three yoga classes a week — two on Wednesday evenings and one on Thursday mornings. They also offer six weekly dance movement therapy classes Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons with specific sessions for toddlers, children, teens, and adults.

Reiki and oracle card readings are available upon request. More information can be found at starlightyogalisbon.com