OWY State of the Union
Happy September from OWY! We miss you and cannot wait to do some yoga with you in person again. We are writing today with an update about what has been going on behind the scenes with us at OWY and some information about the road ahead.
ReOpening…at some point
This time has been difficult for everyone and we understand so many of us are longing to have things as they were, but based on current scientific understanding (which we also understand will change as more studies are released) we feel yoga, with its intensive breathing practices is best practiced outside or online at this time. In addition, while we understand and support the science around masks and COVID prevention, wearing a mask while doing yoga negatively impacts the yoga experience for both teachers and students. Also, we personally know people who have lost loved ones to this disease and we have several high-risk friends and family members. So, brick-and-mortar OWY we will be remaining closed for public classes until we are more clear on these risks.
The Yoga Business
Over the past two years we poured our hearts into expanding OWY into Sandusky and Norwalk. As you can imagine, it was very disheartening to see this expansion wash away with no return. We were not able to maintain overhead on three different locations when they have not been generating revenue, so, now we are back where we started two years ago… one studio in Huron. We have every reason to think we will reopen in Huron, either later this fall or by next spring. And as things settle we hope to maintain a presence in Sandusky and Norwalk through outreach programming or studio spaces… we’ll see what we can create!
Yoga is a canary-in-the-coal-mine business in this new COVID world. We’ve been sorry to see sooo very many of our studio-owning peers losing their businesses. It is happening all over the world, but the US seems to be seeing the worst of it. All fitness industries have been hit brutally hard. Because gyms and studios are mostly low-profit-margin businesses it is very challenging or impossible, as was the case with our Sandusky studio, to cover costs while also following COVID protocol, especially distancing.
Gratitude
We are still in business because of local support!
First, thanks to the committed “COVID Crew” of yogis who have continued to attend our Zoom classes, often paying more than the price of the class. We are incredibly grateful for your support and it is because of you that we are still here.
Also we’d like to thank Fred and Dianne Church (New Directions Design) our Norwalk landlords and Joel and Jen Hagy (Lucky Stone Promotions) our Huron landlords. Both expressed statements to the effect that “we rise or fall as a community” and they generously worked with us to help us stabilize. If it weren’t for them we’d be writing a going out of business letter right now! We are very grateful. Please support their businesses as a way of saying thanks.
We are also grateful for our local business community… we have partnered with a few local organizations to bring wellness programming to clients and staff and these contracts have helped us financially stabilize, so we know OWY can last the winter.
Lastly we are so grateful to our communities! The City of Sandusky, The City of Norwalk and RISE/ECEDC all offered generous grant support, which helped us purchase some of the equipment and training we needed to make pivots and stabilize our business.
Forward Plans
We don’t foresee being fully open in person until spring, although we will continually be monitoring to see if it seems wise to open sooner. When conditions seem right, we may begin to add select in-person classes before we return to a full schedule. In the mean time… the online schedule will run through at least the end of December. We are making a few changes - Senior Stretch will be back on Tuesdays at 10:00 AM with Bev, prodigal Erin has returned and is taking over Brian’s 9:00 AM Wednesday class, and finally Brian will be introducing a new meditation and breathing class on Tuesdays at 7AM starting Sept 22. We’ll see what else comes up as the fall moves forward!
If you want to see us in person, a few of our teachers (* Shannon, Brian, Andrea and Erin) are available in the studio for privates or small group privates. (6 people or less.)
Hope you are all spending lots of time outside and practicing lots of self- care. These last months have been mentally and emotionally difficult for all of us and it looks like we have a way to travel on this road before the journey is done. Join us online or book a private if you need some movement or nervous system support! Stay in touch and we look forward to seeing you soon.
With Love,
Shannon & Brian