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.
Do More Yoga
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