Breathe In, Breathe Out: Logan Giroux ’20 on His New Startup

When starting out at URI, lifelong Rhode Island resident Logan Giroux decided to major in computer science for two reasons: practicality and challenge. “I saw a practical use to learning such a marketable skill for the post-grad world, and I also liked the challenge,” Giroux says. After graduating in May 2020, he turned his attention towards his passion for yoga, meditation, and fitness, as well as his desire to run his own business. He is currently putting those skills and affinities to use with his brand new startup Meditation Athlete, an online platform offering yoga and meditation classes to both athletes and casual patrons.

Giroux says that the skills he learned and opportunities he took advantage of while attending URI have proven very beneficial to starting his own business. “I have gotten a lot out of teaching yoga and meditation to the URI community through the Group Exercise program, of which I was a Program Assistant,” he says. “To be able to turn a passion into a business has long been a dream of mine. Without URI (and Denise Robbin, fitness and wellness specialist with campus recreation), I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to develop the many skills that coincide with teaching yoga and meditation: leadership, guidance, confidence, tenderness–they’re all needed when starting a business to teach others the basics of a meditative practice.”

Taking URI’s “Think Big, We Do” motto to heart, Giroux has big plans for Meditation Athlete’s future. As he puts it, “I dream big. I’m planning to expand and create different courses to improve athletic performance with help from the meditative/yogic approach. I’d love for athletes to learn the value of these practices for themselves and apply them without the need for teachers. My goal is to give others the confidence to believe in themselves as their own teachers once they have a good grasp on the fundamentals.” With all that in mind, Giroux also has a fair amount of advice for students looking to follow in his footsteps. “Take advantage of the resources available to you,” he says. “I feel as though I was pretty involved with the URI community and still barely scratched the surface of what was made available for me. Free services for students are abundant and great ways to meet people!”

~ By Chase Hoffman, Writing & Rhetoric and Anthropology Double Major, URI Class of December 2020