Meet The GirzoneS

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“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."  ~Anais Nin

The studio is operated by Erin & Ed Girzone. Erin manages the front end while Ed manages behind the scenes. In addition, both of them are dedicated parents to their two sons, Eddie and Elliot. Close friends and family also know them all as “E4.” 

Ed was formerly a PE & Health teacher at an elementary school in NH. While Ed was teaching, Erin left a brief stint in the classroom herself to pursue being a fitness trainer. Erin always had a passion for being active and healthy. This led her to work in two private studios, helping older adults improve their strength, balance, eating habits etc.

In 2014, Erin paused her career as a fitness trainer to have their son Eddie and to shift to the role of a stay-at-home mom - a job that she was whole heartedly ready and excited to take on.

By the time Eddie was two years old, Ed had put in nine years of teaching and realized his career was not filling his cup as he anticipated it would. To make a long story short, teachers today are being asked to not only teach a curriculum, but to fix societal issues as well. It's difficult to ask students to learn and be a part of a classroom community when so many come to school without their basic needs being met. Ed knew he was a talented teacher and he wanted to find another way to put his skills to use. 

After many hours of contemplation and discussions, Ed and Erin decided he would leave teaching. This was an incredibly difficult decision for many reasons. For starters, men are not usually supported in making career decisions based on feelings. Typically, if a man makes an above-average salary, that’s enough for him to ignore his frustrations about his job and he's deemed successful. A former colleague of Ed’s once joked about “golden handcuffs” implying that the combination of schedule, salary, pension and healthcare made leaving teaching not an option. However, for Ed and Erin all of these benefits did not outweigh the important need for Ed to be fulfilled by his job. For many around them, this was not easy to understand, but Erin and Ed knew that they both wanted to be equally happy. One of their long standing mottos has been for daily life to be fulfilling enough that the intention of a vacation is for exploring the world rather than escaping their own life. 

Once Erin and Ed moved beyond this decision and ironed out logistics like selling their house and finding affordable healthcare, they started to see possibilities opening up. 

So, how did the Girzones find themselves in Waterford Maine operating a wellness studio?

Newly pregnant with their second child, Erin and Ed knew that they wanted their boys to be connected to where their food comes from, to be physically active outdoors and to have quality family time together. What better way to expose their kids to all of this than to be close to Erin’s family’s farm in Waterford! 

At the end of the school year, Ed and Erin packed up their lives in New Hampshire and relocated to Beech Hill Farm, operated by Erin’s mother Doretta and her husband Ted. The farm has been in Ted’s family for four generations and they currently raise bison and grow organic produce. It is a beautiful hill-top setting that has been a special place for Erin and Ed to visit over the years. In fact, they were married there in 2011.

During that summer the Girzones lived and worked on the farm. While they considered how they could invest their time and money in the farm, they also needed a place to call home. As they pondered their future on the farm, Erin and Ed learned that a historic commercial building was going to be for sale in town. Unexpectedly, they decided to buy the building with the idea that they would live in the apartment upstairs and transition the open commercial space below to a wellness studio. Erin could step back into her career as a fitness trainer and this time she’d also have her yoga teaching certification. It just so happened that while they had been at the farm that summer, she had enrolled in a local yoga teacher training program.  

Coincidence? They think not! The building being for sale, finding that yoga teacher training program combined with the support of family were some of the many fortuitous events that unfolded to make this new business and new life possible.

The next 8 months were spent with Ed substitute teaching for the Oxford Hills school district and renovating the studio space in his spare time. Erin took care of Eddie, gave birth to their second son Elliot and created the studio website, class schedule and purchased equipment. 

As two individuals who hang their hats on planning things out, Erin and Ed couldn’t believe they found themselves relocating, buying a property, starting a new business and having a baby all in one years time! A couple of years prior, this scenario would have seemed ridiculous. However, it became quite remarkable how the universe appeared to continuously lead them in this direction. 

They opened the studio for the first time in mid-May of 2018, just a week after Erin graduated as an official yoga teacher and Elliot was 4 months old. 

Erin and Ed saw an opportunity to embark on a new journey and their life in Waterford is what has unfolded. The path that led to the studio was carved out by Erin’s ability to dream combined with Ed’s practical approach. Along the way, both have financially supported their family and both have been the stay-at-home parent making them a unique duo. Erin and Ed have been able to grow and adapt together and this ground work enabled the studio to not only be a reality but a success. 

The Good Health is a Habit Wellness Studio offers a variety of wellness services including fitness, yoga, somatic movement, private sessions, classes and self-care workshops. The studio supports local residents in Waterford, Lovell, Bridgton, Harrison, Norway, South Paris, and now across state lines with the advent of virtual classes through Zoom, a silver-lining to the pandemic. 

When clients become a part of the studio community, they stick around. Erin has created a comfortable and supportive environment which sets the stage for her clients to discover their potential, both physically and mentally. Through all of the services offered by the studio, Erin’s goal is to help others live more mindfully in how they move their bodies, but also in how they respond to life's circumstances. 

Erin and Ed embody this mindful living themselves. They are involved in growing the produce at the farm and processing it for their family. They use the principals of Ayurveda to keep their family healthy. They are outside every day with the boys and their dog Scout, playing in the woods and hiking local trails.  They make an effort to live minimally, both to reduce their carbon footprint but also because they recognize that LESS is MORE. They choose to have one car and to share a cell phone which to many would seem restrictive, but to them it represents freedom. In the midst of how busy life is with a business and two boys, they regularly find moments to stop and be grateful for all they have. 

Erin and Ed look forward to sharing their passion for health and happiness with you through the studio! 

"…When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder

if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

…I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”

~Mary Oliver

At the Good Health is a Habit Wellness Studio we are committed to supporting MINDFUL living  in a welcoming and supportive atmosphere. 

Behind the scenes we also operate with a conscious, acting on behalf of the environment and supporting other local businesses whenever possible. Our efforts include:

• chemical free cleaning products
   
• reusable wash cloths for cleaning the mats
   
• sorting and recycling our trash
   
• cork yoga blocks 
   
•  local drummer Bill Mead playing for our Saturday Moderate Flow yoga class on a monthly basis
   
• Grassroots Graphics of Norway producing all of our flyers, class schedules, t-shirts etc.
   
• Stalk & Pistil Flower Farm providing in-season bouquets (grown and arranged by them) for our yoga classes
   
• featuring local artists work for sale in the studio foyer

• Photographer Emily Delamater, who helped us capture the essence of the studio in most of the pictures you see featured on the website