06/10/2020
To each of you lovely folks who have graced Fine Spirit Studio with your presence:
I am writing to update you regarding Fine Spirit Studio. Although I had hoped that we could reopen again once it is permitted, my understanding of what reopening would involve logistically, economically, and energetically has brought me to the realization that I cannot sustain this studio and meet the many other personal and professional challenges of these times. I must permanently close down Fine Spirit Studio.
As you each know, the nature of this virus makes indoor group activities risky. Governor Cuomo reported on June 6 that the virus stays airborne for three hours, and the risk of transmission increases with being indoors, and with longer periods of exposure (such as the length of time of most of our classes). The NYS and CDC’s mandated guidelines that are listed as attempts to keep us teachers and also our clients safe are extensive, and would involve many changes of protocol and compliance by each of the studio instructors, as well as clients. With many people using the space for diverse purposes, and me not being a constant on-site presence, I’d not be able to guarantee either your safety or that the protocols were being met. The requirements for reopening do not feel sustainable or possible for me to implement with sufficient certainty.
You might look at other studios and their plans to reopen and wonder why I am not. Some studio owners might face the required logistical & financial adaptations with ease. I have now come to accept that this is simply not where I am in this moment. I am also accepting that, as many of you know, I am just one year out from brain surgery and I must hold my healing & well-being as my first priority.
Fortunately, in these past three months I, and many of the Fine Spirit Studio instructors, have been able to successfully pivot our teaching offerings online. I find teaching online classes to be engaging and full of potential in a way that I didn’t anticipate. I look forward to continuing to build my new business model online, and hope that you will join me there.
There are so many “unknowns” for each of us and for our world at large. We do not know for how long different aspects of this pandemic will last, or in what ways our actions will need to continue to adapt (or can return to what once was). Hindsight will be interesting.
In this moment, I am making the wisest choice I can, with the information available to me now. Yes, this choice brings me sadness. Fine Spirit Studio has been a dream for me. I notice these moments of sadness and doubt. And yet my decision is also very clear, as is the knowledge that this is a choice. I can contain and be present with my sadness and any future regret, knowing that I have been extremely thorough with my decision-making process. And I am developing more clarity, which leads me to feel greater faith, trust, and gratitude. I am grateful for the opportunity of having Fine Spirit Studio in my life, and for the vibrancy & community spirit that each of you brought to the studio. It’s been a wonderful decade-long chapter. This is not my first experience with studio ownership & management, and I won’t be surprised if it’s not my last. I am excited for the future to evolve, unfold, and to see what I (and perhaps “we?”) might create together.
Now for two pieces of closing logistics:
I am selling the studio props. You may wish to consider which pieces of yoga equipment might be very useful for your home practice, and potentially in the future for bringing your own props (BYOP!) to an in-person class somewhere. Once I have the process & details organized (which will be very soon), I will send out the information. It will include online ordering & payment and a contact-free pick-up. The yoga mats were cleaned at the beginning of April, and none of the props have been used since mid-March.
Do you know of anyone who might be willing & able to take over the lease for the remainder of 2020? It could make a great broadcasting studio, if someone wanted to set it up with live-streaming and recording equipment. In the past the studio was an excellent artist’s space; it could even be a space for several artists to share. Please pass the word!
Please let me know if you have any questions or wish to communicate with me directly.
Thank you for everything. My heart is open and with you, and I wish for you health, happiness, and peace.
With warm regards,
Diane
Pema Chodron ~
Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.
