health
Breathing Easier
Three women join forces to help others quell anxiety
WRITTEN BY JULIA MARTIN
S
hannon Albarelli was no
stranger to meditation
when she decided to
partner on a venture to
open Qwell, a studio in
downtown Montclair
devoted exclusively to the practice.
She’d done yoga for years; taken a
course in transcendental meditation,
and sang the praises of meditation to
stressed-out clients in her psychology
practice.
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HOLIDAY 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
As the co-owner, with Kelly
Lezynski, of Montclair’s Bar Method
dance studio since 2011, she also
had experience running a health-
and-wellness business.
Still, it took a personal tragedy
of epic proportions for her to fully
appreciate the power of meditation to
“quiet the noise and soothe the soul,”
to quote the title of her recent TEDx
talk on the subject.
In August of 2018, two months
before Qwell was scheduled to open,
Albarelli’s 38-year-old husband
tumbled down the steep garage stairs
of their Chatham home, hit his head
and died. He left his wife with two
preschoolers, her psychology practice,
the Bar Method studio, a new busi-
ness to launch and loads of sorrow
and stress.
“It wasn’t until then that I realized
the power and value of meditation; it
really saved my life,” she says.
IN SUPPORT OF SERENITY
Qwell Meditation & Wellness
Studio owners Kelly Lezynski,
Shannon Albarelli and Marcie
Handler