06/14/2020
Dear Friends,
If you are receiving this letter it is because you have been either part of the FLY family or a guest at our flagship studio located in North Adams in the Beaver Mill. Our studio has been a home and sanctuary for many over 18 years, a place where literally thousands have come to practice yoga, bodywork, meditation, chanting, dance, prayer, and celebration. The studio has not only served the local community but has hosted national and international students and guests over the years. We take full pride in the space and opportunities we have created for learning, growing, and more so, creating and connecting in community!
As the practice of Yoga teaches us the tenant of non-attachment, it is with equally a heavy and a full heart that I share that Frog Lotus Yoga will not be reopening. In light of the global pandemic, it has forced me, as the studio owner, to face the unknown and accept the financial reality of the situation as well as presently living far from the studio in Boston. After thoroughly considering all possible options and reluctantly aligning with the forces that be, I have to make the heart-wrenching decision to release our beautiful yoga space.
This excruciating process of letting go and trusting has revealed my deep internal attachments to the actual space of the yoga studio, which has held, nurtured, and supported me in my personal quest of Yoga (Union) and for so many others. Deep in the core of my being I know all the healing and transformation that has taken place there. I am aware of all of the offerings spoken out loud or silently….
“May anything that no longer serves you melt away from your being, down through these floor boards, down through the layers of this building, to the earth to be recycled for love and light.”
This reflection of gratitude for all the studio has literally offered has helped me see my attachments and consuming commitment to keep the studio open all these years to be a sanctuary for all who enter. I have also been doing the best I can from afar the last few years, at times to my own detriment. The combination of the pandemic and my own personal upheavals recently have revealed the suffering I am perpetuating by trying to keep the studio afloat during these times. It is difficult to accept the studio closing even as I write this, but I trust that this sacrifice of letting go is necessary for transformation to take place.
As much as I am with a heavy heart at this decision, I would like to continue to cultivate gratitude, honor, and celebration. First, I would love to honor Vidya Jacqueline Heisel, who was the creator & founder of the studio, for her vision of personal spiritual development and cultivation of community through the practice of yoga. I would like to thank all the present studio teachers and those over the years who have shown up selflessly to be of service to our students. I thank all of our local students who have come to share your practice and be an integral part of our FLY family whether you came daily to class or once in awhile. And, to all the yoga teacher trainees and Thai Massage students over the years who have traveled from afar and entrusted me to impart these sacred lineages.
My heartfelt gratitude for you all! I am truly grateful for all who have graced the studio with commitment, devotion and support over the years. Thank you to those who have poured yourselves wholeheartedly into this space and this experience. It would not have been the same without you! I am humbled by the magnetism of our sacred space!
As we close the yoga studio in North Adams, our Frog Lotus Yoga classes, International Yoga Teacher Trainings, and events will still carry on. The Triple Gem School of Thai Massage will also continue to offer courses. These will simply not take place at the studio. Our website, newsletter and social media will be updated as these offerings unfold.
As a gesture of connecting with our members and past students, we will be offering several weeks of online classes beginning this month. This is especially for our members who have active class blocks as an opportunity to use them up. Others will be able to join classes by paying for a drop-in class, weekly, or monthly pass where all income will go directly to the debt accrued over the last few months. If you would like to make a donation towards the debt of the business, you are welcome to send to this PayPal account: froglotusstudio@gmail.com
If these online classes prove to be successful and requested by our students to continue, we may consider extending the online platform after the initial 4 weeks. For now, it is simply our way of connecting to our community. Please see below for the upcoming yoga schedule. Be sure to check the schedule page on our website, as classes will be updated weekly and are subject to change.
Lastly, please kindly help us to celebrate and honor the studio and our teachers by sharing your photos & videos within the studio, any poetry, well-wishes etc either on our page, Instagram, or by emailing to us so we can post on social media or in a newsletter: froglotusdesk@gmail.com
All of our teachers are on social media for you to connect with. However, if you are not on social media and would like to be connected with one of our teachers, please email: froglotusdesk@gmail.com and per the teacher’s consent we will share their contact information.
I am entrusting that as this door closes another will open. Myself and the FLY staff & teachers share our love and gratitude with you! We look forward to seeing you on-line or in-person soon!
“May the fruits of our practice be an offering to all sentient beings; an offering of love, light, Truth, and compassion.”
Jennifer Yarro, Frog Lotus Yoga, owner & director
