Breathe for BREATHE

BREATHE Cambridge  is not a yoga studio. It's a yoga HOME.

This GoFundMe campaign of $100,000 is to ensure BREATHE can remain viable through these uncertain times. Your contribution will go towards the rent, building taxes and utilities for the studio as well as helping with the operational expenses as we reopen...accounting for reduced number of classes and drastically smaller class sizes. For context, we plan to initially open classes to 9 students at a time, as opposed to the 65 we regularly fit...and had(!) Any donation amount, no matter how big or small, does not stop there. For every $1,000 that is raised, we will be donating a 20-class package to an essential worker in the greater Boston/Cambridge area, including grocery store workers, post office employees, scientists and medical analysts, healthcare workers, first responders, and any other person whose job is required to keep the rest of us safe, fed, and moving forward. These people are family, and family shows up for each other.

Pablo and I are committed to keeping the studio open and will do whatever it takes for that to happen, whether it's second jobs or more personal loans. However, the more you can help us bridge the gap, the more time and energy we can dedicate to reinvesting into the studio as we slowly reopen. We simply refuse to let this unique and wonderful place, which we call home, come to an end on our watch.


BREATHE Cambridge is a home away from home...

Yes, there is yoga. Yes, there is Pilates. Yes, there are cardio workouts that will leave you in a pool of sweat and spent on your mat. But more importantly, BREATHE has been here to support all those who enter in their own individual journeys. Students have become teachers. The frazzled have become centered. The "too weak, too injured, too out of shape" have found strength and acceptance. Joy has been spread. We are a community overflowing with strength, determination, resilience, diversity, and love. We are a family and when we come together, in and outside of the hotroom, we provide a supportive environment in which we face and overcome our greatest challenges as one.

Our family has a history...

There has been a yoga studio in our space for over 15 years, and in many ways has become an institution of Harvard Square. In the fall of 2018 the studio was facing permanent closure due to financial hardship. Knowing how devastating this would be for so many in the community, Pablo and I decided to take a leap of faith and purchase the studio. This was a complete pivot for our lives and career paths, and came with an enormous financial commitment. From this decision BREATHE Cambridge was born, and became the center of our lives.

We directed all of our energies and personal resources towards our mission: "To provide a safe space for Everybody and Every Body", regardless of fitness level or socio-economic status. And while the rent, property taxes, and utilities absorbed a significant percentage of our operating costs, we worked our tails off and took little to no pay in order to offer the most affordable classes in town. Months later our studio was packed shoulder to shoulder, with the most unique, loving, inspiring people you'll meet anywhere.  The love, pride and support of our extended family that makes up BREATHE is palpable when you walk through the doors. Thanks to our incredible instructors, Karma-Badass-Adors, and students who show up day after day to move, work sweat, laugh, cry, and breathe together...the ability to connect with such wonderful people has enriched our lives.

Like so many other small businesses, we were hit hard when we had to close due to COVID19. Without skipping a beat, we took our classes online for free. Thanks to our amazing community, we've raised over $7,000 for the Greater Boston Food Bank and have provided over 500 FREE handmade masks by the Merry Mask-Makers of Mystic (if you need a mask, let us know here !) While we've been doing everything in our power to keep our community thriving from afar, we've also been busy behind-the-scenes attempting to negotiate rent relief from our landlords, given the inability to have any revenue the past 70+ days. To our disappointment, we were denied this request and have been asked to pay our rent in full for the months we have been closed and in full going forward. This lack of flexibility is sadly astonishing, given how much small businesses everywhere are struggling, but it's a reality we need to face.

Though we all look forward to our beloved BREATHE coming back healthy and strong,  it must be done safely and in small steps, adhering to the safety guidelines provided by both the state and the city of Cambridge. We also need to plan for the uncertainty of another potential spike in the fall/winter and the possibility of having to shut down again.

Whatever you can afford to help us out will be most appreciated. And whether you can donate or not, please tune into our online classes (on our FB  page AND on our website !). They are wonderfully inspiring, fun, challenging, and Free. 
;)

See you on your mat!
S+P+F
xo