Second Fall

Some businesses feel they are successful if they have managed to stay open for one full year.  If that’s the case, count us in the “we made it!” group.  This past August our little-yoga-studio-that-could celebrated its one year birthday.  We had a lovely celebration of yoga, cupcakes and good community.  I’m always shocked at how quickly time can pass and how much STUFF can be crammed into just one year.  This past year has held many teacher changes, a growing yogic community and several studio identities.

As any small business owner can surely understand, finding an identity that works can be the trickiest part of business longevity. When we first opened I attempted to trace the blueprints of my favorite Chicago yoga studio, without recognizing that since that yoga studio already existed and was doing quite well, maybe something different was needed.  At the time, I thought that meant we would easily find eager similar yogis willing to give us a try.  However, after a few months and taking several steps back to assess how things were going it became clear that my initial idea wasn’t the best one.  That realization led to our identity renovation in March.  We completely revamped our schedule, fine tuned our philosophy and dropped all of our prices.  Seven months later I am happy to tell you that we have realized an identity in which we can believe.

Is it a challenge to have lower prices and all-levels classes?  Absolutely.  We aren’t raking in the big bucks and it can produce a quandary when you have a room full of seasoned yogis and one yogi who is attending their first ever class.  But that’s the beauty of yoga!  It’s humbling to remember my first yoga class, having to crane my neck to see if in fact the other students also heard the teacher calmly ask us to lift our toes of the floor and balance on our hands (what??) in something called crow pose.  So, at times, while I admit to being a bit flustered by the wide eyed newbie yogi, it can be pretty powerful watching them go through an entire class without throwing up their hands and saying screw this, I’m out. By having all levels of students in the same room, moving through the same poses a visceral sense of coming together fills the studio to an almost tangible point.  Last but not least-let’s be honest, it takes a lot of balls to come into a room full of strangers, take of your shoes, move around in a confined area and breeeeeeeathe.  Or even just breathe.

It’s hard to explain the feeling when you hear students after class meeting each other, exchanging contact information and planning yoga dates.  Times like this remind me that yes, while I initially opened this studio for selfish reasons (to have a studio within walking distance with awesome teachers), it’s so much bigger than that.  I sadly often forget that I didn’t continue practicing yoga because it made my physical body toned and super fly.  I continued to practice yoga because how it made me feel inside:   the natural high, a strange sense of optimism, the feeling that everything seems a little easier and peace. Some people get “that feeling” when they go to church.  I get it when I teach and practice yoga.

All in all it has been a great year for the studio.  We’ve gone through shifts and waves, we made it through a Groupon, and we still get new faces everyday who leave with that just done yoga serene smile.  I’m proud of what we’ve built.  I’m proud of who we’ve become.  And I’m excited to see where we go.

Whoops!

Basically in May I went on two vacations, subsequently got knocked up and forgot how to think clearly enough to write. Anything. Stay tuned, I actually have lots to say.

Confessions of a Yogi

I admit it.  I am a yogi and teacher that wears a lot of lululemon clothes.  Is it because I am vain?  No.  Is it because I need to wear labels?  No.  Is it because I am trying to sell my yoga studio by wearing really tight, brightly colored outfits?  No….I don’t think.Kidding, the answer is still no.

The reason I wear lululemon is simple.  I own a studio where I teach everyday, usually more than once.  Also, I have a daily practice.  And finally, I sweat. A lot.  This means, for me, that I need clothes that are going to last a long time, being washed at least once a week.  This also means that they need to not grow three times the original size while I am pouring buckets in the middle of pincha mayurasana during my 90 minute class. And by the way, I want clothes that fit me well even when I am doing the most convoluted yoga pose. It’s no fun to come out of compass only to realize that I’m showing a whole lot more skin than necessary.

I know, I know.  It’s my duty as a respectable yogi to rail against those who try and force the men and women doing downward dog to pay inflated prices to be what one dork calls lemmings in stretchy pants.  But if part of the problem with LLL is their arguably high pricing, why not call out the studios who are nearly pricing people of their practice?

I recycle, I’m a vegetarian, and I buy local when it’s an option.  I do my part to be a conscious human on the planet.  My practice and teaching aren’t compromised by the fact that my butt sometimes features a label that is either the outline of a lady with 60s hairstyle or the omega symbol.  I can’t tell.  Besides, it seems a bit counter-productive to judge a yogi by his or her tank top.

In closing, I would just like to remind us that everyone who comes to a yoga class is in some way trying to better themselves.  That’s a good thing.  So who cares if they decided to go with a LLL outfit or whatever else.  We’re just glad you’re here.

Just Yoga

I have been wanting to write about donation yoga for a while and haven’t been able to articulate what I want to say.  It seems like a very straight-forward idea, people coming to practice and breathe together in an affordable way.  The only thing that is discounted is the cost.  Yet, here in Chicago people appear unimpressed with the notion.

When I opened Imagine, I really wanted to do a donation only studio.  Doing yoga should not be unattainable, it should not be out of anyone’s price range.  The first year of my practice I was lucky to only have to pay five dollars a class.  I want people to be able to practice as often as they want without having to forfeit their rent.  Of course, we have to be able to keep our doors open, but I optimistically hope that providing a space for people to better themselves both mentally and physically, the money will just fall into place.

My plan was to model our studio after my favorite yoga studio in the city, who basically made a duplicate model of their traditional studio only this location was donation only.  I thought it was genius!  Give people the same teachers, the same classes but let them pay what they can.  How could this not work?

My favorite studio recently ended this experiment.  It left me feeling very sad for the students who were able to take advantage of fabulous teachers sharing the gift of yoga to anyone who could chip in a few bucks.  Donation yoga isn’t a new idea or even an original one.  There are several studios all over the country who only have pay what you can yoga.  And they are wildly successful.  So why not here?  What is it that turns people off?

At many studios in the city (including my favorite) you can walk in to a class with 60 eager yogis, all who paid full price.  You walk in a donation class and there is maybe 10 eager yogis.  It doesn’t seem to matter that it could be the same teacher teaching the packed to the gills class!  So I ask again, what is it about donation yoga in Chicago that doesn’t work?

It could be that people associate donation with cheap and perhaps assume the class won’t be a quality class.  Or maybe people like the idea of spending money.  Or worse, some yogis may not want to practice with people who cannot afford to pay drop in fees.  I hope that’s not the case.  But who knows?  I digress, this post isn’t about trying to delve into the collective psyche of Chicagoans.

A small idea finally started to form in my head after months of incessantly looking at studios such as Yoga to the People and Black Swan Yoga in Austin, Texas.  And one day it came out in such an obvious way, I felt silly for my inner dueling of what they were doing and what we weren’t.  It’s so plain and so simple.

Those studios are not running a traditional format.  In every sense of the word. There are no levels, there are minimal class variations.  The basic idea is, you show at the time class starts and you do yoga.  That’s it.  End of story.  How could I have missed the most essential part of their formula?  By forcing students to try and mold themselves into a certain level of practitioner or making them choose between the seemingly endless types of yoga, you are making it harder for them to just do yoga.

I don’t mean to say that I don’t respect different styles of yoga, I do, very much.  But by giving the teacher license to teach in their style at their designated time, the student’s only responsibility is to find a class time that fits with their schedule.  Cue the parades!  I solved my mystery!  I feel pretty excited to have stumbled upon this little gem.

So where does that leave us?  Glad you asked.  It may seem radical and it may seem crazy, but if you don’t take a risk or stay true to what you want, what’s the point?  And what I want, as previously stated, is for as many people to do yoga at an affordable price.  This isn’t the first time we’ve shaken up the schedule, but at last we found a way to move closer to the end goal of a donation studio.  Starting on March 1, we are going to streamline our schedule and make it more accessible to the masses.  I’m nervous, I’m excited and most of all quite intrigued to see how people react.  By removing class labels and just advertising that we teach “yoga” I’m hoping those who are curious about starting to practice will feel less intimidated.  By removing levels, I’m hoping that people can start to let go of ideas of being advanced or moving on to more difficult poses and be excited about what they can do today.

No one else in Chicago (that I know of) is doing this.  So that at least makes us different.  So Chicago, how about it?  If you want to practice yoga in a great space with some awesome teachers, try us out.  Come to a class labeled yoga.  You’ll love it.

Climbing out of the hole

Many times a day, almost everyday, I think to myself “How did I get here?”  Meaning, how did I decided to open a business and think that was a good idea.  Yes, I know you are all thinking, “Another post about the studio?”  And I have this to say, you’re damn right.

I’m glad that I was raised by people who encouraged me to embrace experiences and use them as a means to become a better, more thoughtful human.  Being a business owner is hard.  It’s hard to not take everything personally.  Why has that student never returned?  Are other businesses taking public jabs at us or I am just being paranoid?  Am I making the right decisions for my students and teachers?  The questions never end.  The struggle between dwelling on these mostly unanswerable questions and just letting it all go takes up a good chunk of my daily routine.  Usually I am smart enough to take a deep breath and a step back so I can appreciate how far our little studio has come in three very short months.  Usually I am smart enough to remember that we have just opened and barely scratched the surface of our potential to be an influential and successful studio.  It’s not just about the bottom line and making money.  That is obviously important, otherwise we would not be able to remain open.  But what I most deeply care about and strive to achieve is ensuring that each student that walks through our door feels comfortable, peaceful, and has an experience which allows them to delve deeper into their own self.

If someone is able to open their own eyes to all of the growth lessons life hurls at them, they are very lucky.   And man am I getting a ton of opportunities.  Vacillating between the swirling fears of inadequacy and staying rooted in confidence and faith in myself and our business is tantamount to jumping in and out of Lake Michigan on a winter day.  But, like I said, I am fortunate to have been taught to seize these moments of chaos and hysterical blindness and transform them into calm and lucidness.  Sometimes it feels easier to fall into the depths of self-doubt but if I were to submit to those feelings only the studio, Scott and me would suffer.  The valuable examples of my parents and mentors provide a much needed life raft in these situations.

Scott and I joke that we had a baby this year.  I am here to tell you that is what it has felt like from the beginning!  We nurtured the studio idea from conception, fed the obscure mass with plans and decisions, birthed the space at 7005 N Glenwood, and finally are constantly tending to the growth and maturation of our little guy.  And it requires beaucoups of awareness to comprehend that each baby, or studio rather (lest I digress into my allegory any further), is unique.  And let’s be frank, not everyone is going to like your baby.  Crap!  I can’t get away from the analogy.  Moving on.

It takes a lot of balls to do what we did and the response has been overwhelming from our friends, families, and neighborhood.  So there is that.  One reason I love yoga is that it teaches me to embrace patience and compassion.  Not only towards myself, but what is happening around me.  I am one of those people that needs to be reminded that we can’t always perform at our peak.  Sometimes we need gentleness.  I hope that I can continue to espouse these tendencies of grace and acceptance, even if it takes me a while to get there.

My Husband is no Superman…

But he sure is close.  Back off ladies he’s taken and he has the wedding band tan to prove it.  I know all women aren’t neurotic or impulsive or even risk takers.  But I suppose I am.  One would have to be in order to go into business for themselves with no experience, no business degree, and no serious financial backers.  No, I don’t have any of those alleged prerequisites for opening a small business.  But I do have one thing, Scott Olson.

Foolishly, I thought that opening a yoga studio would be relatively easy.  I kept telling friends, family and strangers that the good thing about choosing a yoga studio as a new business is that you don’t need very much stuff to open.  You just need bodies and a space to practice.  This is mostly true.  One also needs to market to the public to get those said bodies in the door!  When sitting down at the very start of my planning, I remember making my budget and estimating opening costs and coming up with a number that sounded reasonable.  Mind you, my guess included all licensing fees, decor, props, rent, and general office supplies one needs in order to operate on a very bare level.  After being open for a month and looking back all the Target trips and prop ordering, I realized my original guesstimate was laughable.  I think we spent close to it without even paying the first month’s rent and the security deposit.

Luckily, Scott had a good job and was very supportive.  Albeit, as much as one could be when working full time downtown.  But having Scott keep his job meant we would be able to maintain our current lifestyle while I tried to get the studio up and running.  Sure the start up costs were more than we thought, but hey, it’s all for the business!  Feeling settled and preparing to open the studio in a mere six days after signing our lease, I realized that I was about to be teaching twenty-two classes a week, become the studio and office manager, the front desk person, and still be expected to function as normal human.  We needed to hire someone and fast.  With an opening day of Monday, the Wednesday prior Scott and I started doing interviews to find that perfect person to be the face of our business.  We met some great ones.  None of them were exactly right, but they all had wonderful qualities that would contribute nicely to the vibe we wanted to create.  We wanted to be a family business, locally owned and operated and become a part of our community.

That’s when we realized that the face of our business needed to be us.  Scott and me.  I think the term is downshifting, and that’s what we did.  We decided to forgo trips to Whole Foods, dinners at Uncommon Ground, and settle for what we really cared about:  building something together.  Scott left his good job to become all the things I couldn’t at the studio.  He gave up his blossoming career doing web design for well known companies in order to man the desk and become a part of what we working to create.  Surprisingly, or not, he found that he loves it here.  At the studio, we get to directly interact with the people that we are working for.  Not only them.  But the people in the community, yogis and non-yogis, who are just happy to have a positive business open in our neighborhood.

As for our lifestyle, it’s definitely harder.  Every night at around 9:45 I hit a wall and fall straight to sleep.  Dinner is thrown together, usually by Scott who then usually does the clean up as well.  I’m asleep, remember?  Social life?  Not quite.  And then finally, our puppy.  Scott has become practically a single parent.  He does all of this with no complaints and no sour faces (that I can see).

So if you have a glass in front of you, raise it to good partners who support our crazy ideas completely and happily.

Cheers.

Why I do what I do…

As usual, I am late getting into the discussion.  But I thought I would weigh in with my two cents on the latest hot button controversy rocking the yoga world.

When I got in to yoga, it was by accident.  I wasn’t looking for a quick weight loss trick or even a way to get fit.  I honestly don’t remember what the exact reason I decided to get in on my office’s weekly yoga class was, but I think it had something to do with fun.  All the ladies said, “you’ll love it, it’s so fun!”  The next day, it was obvious that it was a work out because I was sore in places I didn’t know existed.  I never stopped going, but the way my body started to look was a bonus, not the reason I continued or even began practicing.

I don’t pretend to be a guru or a master or even a insider when it comes to yoga.  But I do know that there is something different about yoga that one doesn’t get from a elliptical or treadmill.  When people ask me why I do yoga, I tell them that it balances me through and through.  I can tell a difference when I don’t practice; anxiety runs higher and my body and mind feel less prepared to handle life.

I feel very removed from all of the yoga teacher celebrities and the glitz and glamour that surrounds an historically simplistic form of movement.  I like it that way.  Yes I could probably recognize one or two of the teachers who come out with videos set on a beach or in some exotic temple somewhere, but I really can’t relate to that and I have no desire to channel that form of yoga in my own practice or my studio.

My point is, I didn’t know who Tara Stiles was until three days ago.  But now I do and truth be told, if it wasn’t her it would be someone else stirring up this kind of revulsion, as one dork puts it, or inspiration as some others claim.  I’m not sure about you, but when I am practicing and working up a sweat doing chaturangas to upward dog, slim and sexy I am not.

I do not support exploiting something that I and millions others hold very dear, but I do know it’s a free country and capitalism is our middle name.  Don’t get me wrong, I disapprove of this watered down yoga and wish that more students were drawn to yoga for the feeling of euphoria associated with breathing and shutting off your brain for an hour and a half.  So yes, it is disappointing when a supposed champion of feeling yoga from the inside out trades all that in for a quick buck on a photo op on national TV.

Does it suck that someone that she would let herself be used as a marketing tool?  Yes.  But that’s all she is, a pretty face on a product that some suit in an office wants to make millions on.  Does it suck for those who really do care more about the visceral and intangible effects of yoga?  Yes.  It means for the rest of us that we have to work harder in our classes to encourage our students that they are great the way they are that we really do mean it when we say no judgement!

After all, that is one goal as a teacher, right?  Getting students to drop their ego at the door, not compare themselves to others, and quit competing with themselves is one of the most important takeaways a student can get!  It really isn’t about the way you look, it’s how you feel that I care about.  When students come in to my classroom, I want them to feel safe and peaceful.  A yoga studio should be a place where people can escape from all of the pressures of outward beauty.  Because honestly, that’s  bullshit anyway.  No offense to Swami BKS Iyengar, one of the greatest yogis of all time, but I doubt he would have won any modeling contracts.

Do More Yoga

An open letter to yogis and non-yogis alike.
I like yoga.  I opened a yoga studio, so liking yoga is a good thing.  Throughout this process, I have learned so many wonderful things about myself, my husband, and our communities.  Yes, we have several communities now.  Rogers Park, where we live and now work, small-business ownership, and the yoga community.  I have been in the latter community for a long time now, but my husband is a new inductee.  Slowly but surely he is beginning to understand what it is we all love about yoga.  Coming together in a room filled with other eager students, all there to better themselves and spread yogic energy, is a powerful feeling.  Moving together through a fluid sequence is like a dance, a beautiful dance that has no beginning and no end.
I believe that people like to be a part of something.  I also believe that giving a neighborhood something that they can grab onto and embrace is really cool.  My husband and I moved to the RP (Rogers Park) about a year ago.  What an eclectic and vibrant neighborhood!  There are people who were born and raised in the area and like to tell you stories about what they’ve seen and done in Rogers Park for the last fifty years.  Getting to know our fellow hoodies was one of the main reasons for opening locally.  We know that yoga isn’t the first thing Chicagoans think about when the imagine Rogers Park, but we are hoping to be a part of that thought now.
For us, doing and participating in yoga can make one feel more peaceful, balanced, healthy, and strong.  And for a thriving neighborhood, that can’t be a bad thing.  Sure there are other studios close to us, but we are trying to offer something different, an option, a homegrown studio.
Which brings me back to my point of liking yoga.  We just want more people to do and like yoga.  In class, teachers often encourage students to let go of the ego and embrace the body for what it is.  It doesn’t matter what others can do or even what you did yesterday.  What matters is this moment and what you can do today.  Competition has no place in yoga.  That being said, of course we want to be successful and continue to do business in our studio.  But the goal at Imagine, a Yoga Studio isn’t to usurp other studios who are doing a fine job of giving their students what they want.
Like we said, we are just an option, and a good one at that.  What makes us different is our philosophy, our style, and our localness.  At Imagine, we specialize in vinyasa flow, which means to link your movement with breath.  Our goal at Imagine, a Yoga Studio is to become a donation based studio.  We believe that yoga shouldn’t have a price tag, and belongs to everyone regardless of financial situation.
We are so excited to have opened our doors and have the opportunity to share the gift of yoga.
We are Rogers Park and we can’t wait to meet the rest of you.

Imagine

Millions of people at some time or another think to themselves, man I would love to own my own business.  But most people are clever enough to walk away from that idea right then and there.  Not that business ownership isn’t a worthy, character building, and empowering venture, but my God it’s difficult.

I have been in the process of trying to open a yoga studio in my neighborhood for almost six months now.  I remember when I first began this journey I strongly (and naively) believed I would be up in running in a few months time.  Ha.  At the three month mark, I would say I had completed 30% of the necessary amount of work and planning.  The loads of paperwork and licensing alone is enough to dissuade some entrepreneurs.  I have already spent over one thousand dollars and have nothing tangible to show for it.

But it’s ok.  Each day I know I am getting closer to opening the studio, and then I will have plenty to show for it.  Perhaps more than I am currently anticipating.  I have some friends incredulously whispering to other friends, “I don’t think she knows how much work it is actually going to be!”.  Well, of course not.  After a full year of working only part time, I am acutely aware that in a few weeks time I will be teaching 22 classes and running a small business.  I have made peace with the fact that I will likely not have much free time for the next six months.  Which is why for the past five days I have been luxuriating about as if I am on the last vacation I will ever take.  I take that back; because we are investing everything we have in the yoga studio, everything I have been doing has been a scaled back version of a vacation.  Going to the beach, watching endless Law and Order reruns, and reading every single Harry Potter book for the umpteenth time.  Side note, somehow I ended up reading the HP books in backwards order.  I recommend it.

But back to the studio.  I wouldn’t say it’s become a slight obsession, but I’m not far off from that point.  I go over the schedule with a fine-tooth comb almost daily to make sure it’s perfect and in the past two days I have walked by the space seven times.  Each time looking through the windows and visualizing my students, the paint, the ambiance, and the endless opportunities.  Though I know it will be crazy, I really cannot wait for it to open.

Part of my reason for starting this studio is pure defiance.  Classes and teachers in my neighborhood don’t teach yoga in the way that I am accustomed to being taught.  So I then reasoned that surely, there are others up here in Rogers Park that feel the same way.  I decided to do something about it.  Sure, I could have tried to teach at the other studios around here, but I didn’t want to chance them trying to change me, trying to mold me into their type of teacher.  I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times, not everyone wants vanilla.  Sometimes students want a little chocolate in their classes.  I’m a good teacher who can read her students and feel their energy.  I can’t stick to a format that is to be used in each class and never stray from that.  I once had a teacher say with her nose raised in the air, I don’t believe in starting off a vinyasa flow class with high energy.  Well, OK, but some of your students might and as a teacher you should be willing to compromise.

I’m excited and grateful that I have the chance to offer people what I consider to be one of the best gifts I have ever received.  Yoga.  Yoga is one of the only things in my life, outside of family, to which I have intentionally and continually devoted time.  Sure I have picked up a few traits and skills here and there that have served me well over the years, but nothing feels as natural or liberating for myself and others as practicing and teaching yoga.

So in the end, while it is true I have no formal training in business administration or business management, what I do have is hopefully just as valuable.  I have passion and determination.  As with the start of the studio, each day will bring a surprise and perhaps not always a good one.  But that’s life, and I’m just glad I get to run it.

Mac Down

My computer died.  It was awful.

One morning two weeks ago, I woke up, got a steaming cup of coffee and settled in my desk chair to read emails and catch up on news.  OK and to look at Facebook.  But for some reason, my computer wasn’t responding to me.  No matter, I can just restart.  Computers need a rest sometimes too, after all.  Zero response had happened before and I wasn’t worried.  But this time was different.  A grey screen popped up with a question mark flashing in the middle.  Talk about ominous.  Luckily, my husband is experienced in computers and was certain we could resolve the problem.  But he couldn’t.  The question mark just kept flashing, taunting me, daring me to question the safety of my data.

After several failed attempts to bring my computer back to life, Scott decided to take it to the repair shop.  I had never been without my computer before, and while that may seem strange, it felt like it was a part of me.  Over the past three years I have used this machine to do schoolwork, communicate with loved ones, nestle away all my favorite photos, and write my thoughts.  I never imagined all the data, music, and photos I had stored away, seemingly so safe, could somehow disappear.

Dropping it of at the shop didn’t do much to assuage my fears.  Signs directing people to data forensic recovery systems plastered the walls.  It was not looking good for my MacBook.  The kind gentleman who promised help called the next day to inform me that indeed my hard-drive had failed and would need to be replaced.  He told me that I could send my hard-drive to the recovery analysts if any of the data was critical, but warned it could cost upwards of several thousand dollars.

So, was anything critical?  What an odd question.  I had to decide, in a second, on the phone with a stranger if what I had done over the past few years was worth trying to save.  I managed a feeble, well it’s critical to me.  But that’s the way love goes, or computers at least.  Of course, my initial reaction was to blame technology and my over dependance on it.  But, I could have backed up, Scott backs his computer up all the time.  At the end of the day, the only preson to blame for my lost data was me.  Damn it.

Getting my “new” computer back was strange.  It was as if the past six months hadn’t occurred.  My wedding and honeymoon photos, new albums I had downloaded, and blog posts I had started and fiddled with were all gone.  Obviously the wedding and honeymoon photos were the most heartbreaking.  I know I have those moments and snapshots in my mind, but I loved looking back and seeing the tangible evidence that Scott and I had decided to wed.

I definitely won’t be making that mistake again.  Not backing up, I mean.  For me, it’s all about steps.  I don’t like to add steps.  I have my routines and feel pretty good about sticking to them.  Clearly, that has its irrevocable consequences.  So here I am, adding more steps into my life.  Seems like a pretty complex metaphor, which I am just going to go with.

Good lesson though.

Don’t forget to back up.