OM & Vine offers a bit of namaste with your cabernet

A wine and yoga studio that recently opened in West Dade provides customers with a rare combination. 

The owners of OM & Vine, Romy Moreno and Bee de Leon, said they wanted to develop a concept that offered customers the opportunity to relax.  

The site is located at 2705 SW 142nd Ave., and there are only a few other studios with the same mix. 

OM & Vine officially opened to the public Feb. 28 and since then, has become a success, Moreno said. 

Though it has been open for less than three months, the owners spent approximately three years working on this project. 

Moreno and de Leon met through mutual friends, and the concept for the business arose from their different personalities and interests. 

“She loves wine and I love yoga, so together, we were able to combine it,” Moreno said.

Moreno, 34, has been a yoga instructor for the past three years at several locations including CrossFit Kingdom near Tropical Park. She started practicing yoga as a form of a workout but soon discovered its mental health benefits. 

De Leon, 33, said she found her passion for wine after traveling to several countries and finding herself always gravitating toward the wine. 

“I have wanted to do something like this for the past 10 years,” de Leon added. 

According to both of them, opening a business during COVID times was not easy. They got the place back in 2018, but due to permitting issues, remodeling and later the pandemic, the process extended much longer than expected.

The studio currently employs four yoga instructors who teach a variety of classes. However, de Leon said that finding bartenders and hostesses has become one of their biggest challenges because very few people have applied for such roles. 

Still, they said they hope to use this time to personally get to know their clients and make them feel welcome whenever they visit the studio. 

“Right now, we are serving tables because we have to, but I would hope that at some point, we can do it because we want to,” de Leon added.

Because of the mental health issues brought on by COVID-19, Moreno said one of OM & Vine’s main goals is to play a positive role in the community and encourage women and men of all ages to visit the location and use the combination of wine and yoga as a way to heal and relax. 

Melisa Exposito, 21, has taken yoga classes with Moreno since 2019. 

“The vibes you get when you are in here are amazing,” she said. “I love how unique the place is, and I had never before been to a place like this.”

Moreno and de Leon are both mothers and said they hope to offer other women like them a safe place to enjoy and better themselves.

The studio offers several yoga classes, ranging from restorative to more intensive practices, designed for various skill levels and ages. 

De Leon said that even though yoga is popular with younger age groups, older clients may visit the location for the wine without being aware of the benefits of practicing yoga. 

Amys Serret is a journalism student at FIU. She is currently a senior and part of the Honors College. Her main interests are writing and potentially going into the organizational communications field.