A Sanctuary for Myself
My personal association with Yoga Sanctuary started in late 2014. Lindsay and I had just rekindled our childhood romance and I began visiting Northampton regularly. “Self-care Friday” was a big part of Lindsay’s routine. She introduced me to the joys of a morning yoga class on the third floor of Thornes, followed by brunch at The Green Bean, and some meandering of the downtown retail scenes, especially the bookstores. From the very beginning, I knew that Yoga Sanctuary was a special place. The energy in the space was nourishing and the people were genuine. There was obviously a lot of intention behind the formation of the community and the culture that it collectively held.
In 2019, after a brief stint in the grandeurs of Texas (we were there for Lindsay’s doctoral studies), I began calling Western Mass my home. Practicing at Yoga Sanctuary became a part of my routine. It was a place that grounded me. But, more than that, it was a community of individuals and teachers who inspired me to be the best version of myself that I could be that day. With a regular practice in place, my voice became more confident and my actions more intentional.
At the time, I was working a fairly demanding job as the General Manager of PV Squared, a worker-owned cooperative based in Greenfield. I found that having a consistent practice at Yoga Sanctuary was as essential to my wellbeing as it was to my professional aptitude. I loved my job and colleagues, but, like many, my work life could be chaotic. So I built my weekly schedule around making sure I could attend the Wednesday morning class. The intention was to give myself a forced moment of pause and reflection in the middle of the work week. If I didn’t get it into my schedule the time would get filled with more meetings. Going to one class a week allowed me to show up for my co-workers in more meaningful ways. And, it allowed me to show up for myself!
There’ve been other instances in my professional life where a community or activity provided moments to pause, reflect, and re-center. Taking walks in the woods is usually at the top of that list. These moments of pause have held special places in my heart because I recognize the value they provide on a human level—they help me to navigate the world. As an activist-aligned entrepreneur, making a positive impact is a priority for me. Having an outlet for processing life’s challenges and becoming more embodied has always given me the best opportunity to achieve that aim.
I have a vivid memory of a moment in the studio in February 2020. We were in the middle of an asana flow and I was gazing steadily out those enchanting windows overlooking downtown. This sense of appreciation and gratitude for the teacher, and the community of students around me, was palpable. Life felt manageable, at least for me, in that moment. This was the gift the studio offered me—the gift of spaciousness and self-tenderness.
Much like for everyone else, the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 was a big gut punch for me physically, socially, and emotionally. I was responsible for the livelihoods, health, and safety of 50 employees (and their families). Everyone was in distress and it was my job to navigate the situation and determine a pathway for the business. My work responsibilities instantly became the biggest priority in my life. There was no time for my yoga practice. A few months went by in a flash. As is often the case, my body reminded me, in its own special way, that I needed to pause. I needed to ground and center myself. I needed to reflect on what had just happened. I needed to feel safe. And, it was at that moment that Yoga Sanctuary came to mind.
At that point, classes were exclusively on Zoom, just like every other social interaction in my life. Practicing online wasn’t the same, but it was something that helped me get back in my body. Eventually, I reached out to Sara Rose Page (the co-founder of the studio) to see how the business was doing. Being in the muck myself with PV Squared, I was well aware of the challenges the pandemic had created, and knew that it was a lonely time for business leaders. So I wanted to lend a listening ear and an empathetic heart. It was a meaningful chat for the both of us, but it was clear that the shift to a virtual platform had been a huge blow. At least 50% of Yoga Sanctuary’s monthly revenue had vanished overnight.
Shortly thereafter, Sara shared with a small group of folks that she couldn’t carry on. Nobody could blame her. It was an impossible situation. By then, Lindsay and I had seen enough of our social communities close–The Green Bean included–so the thought of losing Yoga Sanctuary was incredibly disappointing. In a moment of vulnerability and in an act of compassion, we decided to take responsibility for the future of the studio. Lindsay parted ways with academia and I took on responsibilities in addition to my day job. Within a period of four months, I went from being a student of Yoga Sanctuary to becoming one of its benefactors.
It's now been two and a half years since that transformation. A lot has changed for me. A lot has changed for Lindsay, for our teachers and students, and for the community at large. There is still a lot of unpacking to do, but here we are. I don’t need to get into all of the details about how my relationship with the studio has changed over that time, but I will say that one thing has remained constant: When I am physically in the studio, I feel more grounded, in tune, and aware of my surroundings. Whether I am there to do work or to take a class, I feel supported by the walls around me. The energy of the space is nourishing. It’s similar to the type of feeling I get when I take a walk through the woods. Nature has always been my place of refuge. It's where I most often go to pause, reflect, and center. It’s a sanctuary for me. Yoga Sanctuary may be the next closest thing I have to being in the woods, so I’m incredibly grateful that Lindsay and I made the decision to rescue it.
I know I’m not alone in these sentiments. So many of you have shared with us over the last two years how incredibly important the studio is to you. Whether it’s learning from a specific teacher, catching up with the friends you’ve made here, or just the opportunity to maintain your yoga practice throughout isolation, the studio has been a type of sanctuary for so many people in our community. Our decision to purchase Yoga Sanctuary from Sara during the darkest days of the pandemic was, at its core, made to preserve the kula (community) and ensure everyone had a safe place to go, be it virtual or in-person, whenever they needed it.
In addition to preservation, Lindsay and I had dreams of nurturing a community space that went beyond the philosophies and practice of yoga. Caring for oneself and being a good human takes a lot of work, and yoga is just one of many tools we know have helped ourselves. We envisioned supporting an expanded range of the healing arts services and facilitating more inclusive and transformative educational experiences. We’ve had to be patient, though. The studio needed to be stabilized before it could be expanded, and the pandemic has not made that easy for us. After approximately 18 months of operating solely through Zoom, we just completed the first full year of being back in the physical studio. A lot of students are just now feeling ready to be in the studio again. It's been such a difficult period to navigate, and it makes sense that regular self-care routines have been negatively impacted. But we’re happy to report that there’s finally a critical mass of students who have returned to support and sustain the studio. And so, it's in that spirit that we are ready to take the next steps towards crafting our original dreams. The rest of this blog series is meant to help communicate that vision and get us on track toward becoming a fuller version of ourselves.
In order to start, we must first go back. What was the original vision for Yoga Sanctuary? And how did it become such a special place to so many people? In a recent conversation, Sara shared with me some of the sentiments behind their motivations and what they intended to create:
Back when my friend Tara and I were planning to open our own studio, we tried to think of a name that embodied the community space we wanted to create. We wanted to create a yoga studio that was a place of healing and of community connection; a place that felt both safe and sacred. We wanted to create physical safety through excellent alignment teaching and respect for people’s boundaries and needs. We wanted to create an environment where individuals of all ages, levels, abilities, backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, etc., felt safe, seen, accepted, and welcome to learn, study, experience themselves more fully, and grow. We wanted the environment we created and held to be compassionate and kind, a place that could support each individual’s needs for healing. We wanted to share a yoga practice that was full of reverence toward the self, each other, embodiment, and life.
So, why did Sara and Tara choose the name “Yoga Sanctuary”?
The name “Sanctuary” was given to me one morning, when I was not yet awake and not fully asleep. I heard the name “Sanctuary” loud and clear and knew it was the name meant for our studio. When I shared it with Tara she also loved it.
Sara added that the word “Yoga” was later added to help communicate the service they were offering. Sanctuary was the root name, and more importantly, it was chosen because it most exemplified the spirit and intention behind the community that it sustains. When Lindsay and I started thinking about implementing our visions for an expanded community space we knew a name change was likely to happen. We considered keeping the name Yoga Sanctuary in place for the yoga operations, and adding a secondary business name with a broader scope of services. We also considered dropping the name Yoga Sanctuary entirely and starting from scratch. Neither felt entirely right. And then, in a fleeting moment of brainstorming, the notion to simply drop the word “Yoga” from the name came about. Sanctuary is the purest way to communicate what the studio means to us. And, what we hope it means to others!
Over the next three blog posts I will go into more detail about our visions for Sanctuary and how it will serve the various needs of our community. I will examine our business as a Sanctuary for Professionals, a Sanctuary for Individuals, and finally, a Sanctuary for Community. Everyone deserves a place that feels safe and supportive, a place that meets you where you are, and welcomes the whole of you. In sharing my personal history and relationship with the studio I hope I can showcase one way in which we hope to support others. Everyone will obviously have their own unique experience, but there are some core values and fundamental agreements that we trust can bring us together, as a collective.
More than ever, the Valley needs brave, increasingly safe spaces for personal healing, embodiment, awareness, and connection. Sanctuary is one of those spaces, and we are honored to share it with y’all. Will you join us?
