06/29/2020
Often the hardest decision is the right decision ❤️
First and foremost, I want to say that together we built a community and a community doesn’t exist in a space, but in our hearts.
I wish I could look into the eyes of every person who has contributed to the beautiful spaces we got to learn and grow together in as I deliver the news that we will not be reopening our location at Victoria Square.
We will continue to honour all unexpired passes and packages towards online classes. If you have any questions regarding your account please contact us by EMAIL at Joanne@FlourishVitality.com
Please forgive the long post, but I have so much I would like to say to everyone who has supported us in this labour of love over the past five and a half years...
I wish we could stand together in the studio and reminisce about all the people we have shared that space with, and also our very first space on Collier St. With an overflowing heart (and more than a few tears) I remember all the laughter and the tears we shared, the “aha” moments and moments of clarity, and the many times we muddled through just doing the best we could in that moment. I wish I could give you a hug (if you’re a hugger) and reassure you that what we built together will live on, because it will. Of that I have no doubt.
Since the pandemic began and we closed the door for in person classes, Ian and I have had many, many long soul searching conversations about how to move forward in this strange new world we all find ourselves in. We’ve devoured all the information we could find and digested it over the past weeks. We consulted and commiserated with other yoga studio owners all over the world facing the same difficult decisions. We talked to lawyers and doctors and accountants and anyone else who could give us an honest opinion and informed advice. And then we looked inside and asked ourselves the BIG question- what is the right thing to do? - because our hearts always know the truth.
The difficult truth is, we do not believe that gathering the teachers and students that we care for so much into a room to move and breathe together is a safe, sustainable business model in the time of COVID-19. What we miss most right now is being together. We miss seeing your smile at the front desk and hearing about your day. We miss watching friends sitting on their mats before class to catch up or lingering on the bench in the doorway chatting about life. We miss moving, laughing, playing, and breathing together in a room full of loved ones and friends we’ve not yet met. This is no longer our reality. In person, indoor yoga will be a very different experience for the foreseeable future.
I can’t imagine asking people to sign four page waivers, to wear face masks during class, or to hustle out the door as soon as class is over without coming near anyone else. I’m a clean freak, but I couldn’t face the disinfectant protocols and constant cleaning and constant worry that someone came to class and then got sick. I want to be able to bring you a blanket when you’re cold, show you how a gazillion props help you make the pose suit your body so you can learn to love what you can do or how props help you really, truly, deeply relax. I want to drop kleenex next to your mat for those days when the tears just come out in savasana. I’ve been a yoga student for most of my life and it means the world to me when my teacher gives me those little gifts. And to live with all that for limited classes with very limited capacity and significant price increases? It would feel to us like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Instead of wishing for the past, we must live in the present and look to the future.
We also no longer have the financial resources available to continue to pay the many expenses on an unused space while we wait for an effective treatment or vaccine which is likely to be many months away. When the opportunity to have someone take over our lease arose, it was obviously the right decision. We are grateful to our landlord for helping us in this difficult time, because if this had not been possible and we had been forced to continue to run the studio, we would have been faced with the impossible reconciliation of our beliefs and a huge financial commitment. As heartbreaking as all of this feels, I am grateful that is not the case because that is not who we are. The financial and emotional impact of months of closure is already overwhelming and that would have been too big of a burden for us to bear.
There is another way forward. We don’t yet know exactly what it looks like, but we never really do, do we? We do know the power of our community and its ability to transcend time, space and imperfect technology. The community we’ve been building for all these years is not going away. The teachings of yoga and the teachers that share them are not going away. For now, we will “Flourish” without a brick and mortar space. I know we have the opportunity to learn and grow through this and emerge better than we were before, and find new and wonderful opportunities, because life and our yoga practice has prepared us for that!
I also know that we will continue to offer online classes and opportunities to stay connected and to practice together apart. We will continue to offer pre-recorded classes through the calendar on the Flourish website for those who wish to subscribe to a monthly membership there or to use a class pass they purchased previously. We have cancelled all automatically renewing memberships and if you wish you can visit the website to subscribe for website access at our new lower monthly rate. We will also be re-creating our teacher training program for online and small group settings. I can't explain how much it means to me that you have supported us financially through this difficult time and I know that you continued to support us because you valued what we created together enough to help us try and make it through.
Carole and Katie and I have also been working on our own online social media channels and other ways of continuing to connect with you and we are individually creating opportunities for everyone to continue and deepen their practice in a time when a practice has never been more essential! To follow Carole or Katie please send them a friend request or subscribe to their social media pages.
I will continue to record new classes which will be posted on my YouTube channel and new website that will debut in the fall. Over the summer, I will be recording new classes for several new online programs and taking some time to study with my teachers. I'm excited for this new opportunity learn and explore, and to reach even more people with accessible classes for every body!
When we find ourselves on the other side of COVID-19, perhaps there will be another building to call home or perhaps we will have found a new way that allows us to reach even more people with this practice that offers us so much. The community we have built together is not a building. The community and teachings are transitioning and we are adapting to the reality of this new time in the best and most sustainable way that we can. This is the practice of yoga. A wise teacher I know, when faced with the same decision, said “We cannot live in the past. There is no going back. We must move forward, expand, create, grow, innovate. Growth spurts of any kind are painful. Change is not easy. And yet I know that we will be better for it.”
I recognize that the tremendous grief that I am feeling right now is part of my growth and another opportunity to practice yoga. It is for many of us. Yoga is SO much more than the poses, and this new way of life is allowing me to use everything I know about cultivating clear perspective and wise discernment to accept what is and move forward to what can and will be. Practicing yoga increases our capacity to handle what we don’t like, to breathe deeply into fear and discomfort and sit with it, and to accept whatever life brings us with a least a little grace. The only way to learn to do this is the hard way. I know this because I’ve been between a rock and a hard place more than once before, and so I know this too shall pass. This season of sadness and sorrow will give way to hope and joy. Things will come together and they will fall apart again. This is life. It’s messy and raw and crazy sometimes, and the only way to really LIVE is to accept this and do the best that you can, with the resources you have, in the situation you’re in. It's time for me to "walk the talk".
This news is likely to have evoked some emotions for many of you too. I hope that you will take the time to sit with them, to feel them all, remember the joy you’ve felt in your practice and the times it broke your heart open. I hope that you will let the storm pass through and wash away what no longer serves you so that you too can expand and open to the curiosity of just where this river will take us. We are being called to adapt and lead. We are answering the call.
These past 5 and a half years and all we learned together represent a huge piece of my life’s work. At the same time, I am grateful for this season of change that is delivering new lessons to guide us closer to the True Self that has always been our destination. I am surrounded by a community of beautiful, brilliant, powerful, committed, and inspiring students and teachers. I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude for the time we spent together in those wonderful spaces, and since this "note" is already very long I'll leave you with one of my favourite quotes...
Ram Dass famously said “we’re all just walking each other home”. We hope that you will join us as we turn this corner and see what lies ahead!
With Much Love & Gratitude- Joanne
