Business & Tech

Yoga and the Yankees: Together in Morristown

Owners of yoga studio and Emmy Award-winning production studio moving both businesses to Speedwell Avenue.

A yoga business and an Emmy Award-winning production studio. It sounds like an odd combination, like incense and baseball cards.

But, for Janice Molinari, the two businesses have not only given her a full and prosperous career, they have changed her world.

On April 1, that world will come to Morristown, when Molinari–with business partner Margerite Smith–open Ananda Yoga on Speedwell Avenue, in the space .

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Meanwhile, upstairs, Janice and her sister (and other business partner), Lisa Molinari, will open the new offices for Brisun Productions, which has for years worked with such names as CBS, the Discovery Channel and the New York Yankees, winning multiple awards along the way. 

"It's going really well," said Janice Molinari, who noted Brisun Productions had just recently been nominated for three additional Emmy Awards. "We're really excited."

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While Brisun has been in operation since the mid-1990s–and just started its ninth-season of the Yes Network program "Yankees on Deck"–Ananda Yoga has only been around for a little less than two years.

Janice Molinari had always had an interest in yoga and other mind/body practices, but a pair of hurdles contributed to not pursuing it. "I was ... buxom," she laughed, noting her large breast size had contributed to not only chronic back pain, but a herniated disk removal. "I always had an interest in opening a mind/body studio. Friends were like, 'you're crazy.'"

As such, that idea was put on hold. Then, she had breast reduction surgery, and the idea to open a studio no longer seemed so crazy. Ananda Yoga eventually opened in Mendham.

The results from a dedicated yoga practice were immediate. "Within six months, my chronic back pain was gone," she said.

"You could see it on her face for years," said Lisa Molinari. "Then, you couldn't."

No doubt that pain relief also was a boon for Janice's other business, which her sister did not join full time until she decided to finally leave her corporate career behind and resign from a position at PSE&G, on Sept. 10, 2001.

"I was in a very corporate world, and I asked myself, 'is this what I want to do,'" Lisa Molinari said. 

After having worked with her sister part-time for four years, continued prodding finally paid off. Since then, the duo has been nominated for 17 Emmy Awards, winning six. Projects have included "The Ultimate Road Trip" on the Yes Network, Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars" and the Para-Olympics.

Service projects, such as the Para-Olympics, are a part of Brisun Productions Janice said was very important, as has been the case for Ananda Yoga. Besides regular classes, Ananda has participated in local community projects, lectures and more. Janice is set to teach yoga at the Morris County Correctional Facility. "It comes out of a desire to be of service," she said.

Whether it's on the mat or behind the camera, the Molinari's and their businesses hope to continue providing both personal satisfaction, as well as benefits beyond.

"I'm lucky I love what I do," Janice Molinari said. "I love them both. I just love what I do."

"If you've got it, you give back," Lisa Molinari said.


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