Author Archives: Sarah

Coming back to the city and stepping into my office, I’m reminded, too, that my joy is also my job (lucky me!), and this gave me the chance to sit with the Business of Yoga in a new light. A conversation I’ve had simmering in my head for a long time is now ready to rise to the surface, and it’s a conversation I’d like to share with the Shambhala community as a whole: the idea of running a yoga studio.

Without a doubt, becoming the owner of Shambhala has been a most amazing experience, an opportunity to be creative, to be connected and to be called day after day to meet new challenges and step outside of my areas of ‘expertise’ (i.e. I have an M.S.Ed degree in Museum Education, not an MBA). The stickier part has been figuring out how to define the balance between my relationship to the spiritual/community-based, unquantifiable lightness and perks of my role and the gotta-pay-the-bills reality. It hasn’t been easy! I can easily be swayed and float from one side to the other of the Keep Classes Affordable vs. Make Sure You’re Not Losing Money debate. I love to say that we offer 23 By-Donation classes a week. (note: I prefer “By-Donation” to “Community” classes because I like to think that all of our classes are for our community, just that some are By-Donation, pay what you’re able. It’s a minor detail, but I think it’s an important distinction.) And I equally love to be able to do payroll and pay rent without crossing my fingers that the checks aren’t all cashed at once. Many advisors (smart, wonderful people who I love very much!) have encouraged me to take care with the number of By-Donation classes we have, that I’m running a business and that making a profit and having a fiscally-thriving yoga studio isn’t a bad thing. I completely agree. In fact, making decisions that keep in mind the long-term health of the studio is a responsibility that I embrace fully. However, last night a student said something to me that resonated well throughout my night (and is maybe why I was awake for most of it!). For weeks, this student has been inquiring about my newly added 6pm class on Wednesdays. I joked with him, “JUST COME! We go deep, we have fun, we sweat and restore… try it, already!” And he replied, “It’s a regularly-priced class, right? I can’t afford that.” Which brought me back to the first sentence of this paragraph – I love Shambhala for calling me to be more creative, more connected and more challenged.

Back to the mountains, to ten days of staring (while listening very carefully to my teachers, of course!) out into the lush green of the rainforest. The green was perfectly intoxicating, and I relished each moment surrounded by such abundant passion for life and living. I realize that that’s the green the guides me: the abundance of nature, the abundance that comes when your are arms wide open and you take giant leaps of faith. Within that embrace, I’ll trust that the pay-the-bills kind of green will find itself. It’s worked for me before and I’m going to stick with it.

So, to that end, effective immediately we’ll have 2 new By-Donation classes on the schedule: Wednesdays at 6pm and Fridays at noon. The suggested price for these, like our others, is the regular class price, but we welcome you to look at your budget and make donations based on what will equally support your steps towards good health while supporting our teachers (who receive a percentage of your donation) and our studio. With the exception of our Blossoming Teachers (who are a pretty awesome bunch), our By-Donation classes are taught by a collection of wonderful, passionate, very experienced and knowledgeable teachers who put their heart into these classes just the same as they do for the regularly-priced classes. To be perfectly candid, there’s not a true business-oriented rhyme or reason to why some classes are By-Donation and some aren’t. With the support of you (you can always use class cards towards By-Donation classes; a $13.50 (10 class card) or $12 (20 class card) 90 minute class is an excellent value in this city!!), we hope to be able to compensate our teachers well for their efforts and sustain the studio as it offers classes, workshops and events that will enrich the health and spirit of our community.

There; the conversation is no longer just in my mind, and I feel a little better already. As always, let me know what you think. My ears (heart and arms) are wide open…

big love,
sarah