Shree Yoga Lives Through COVID
Donation protected
Beloved Students,
We miss seeing you, moving with you, and being together. Shree Yoga closed doors on March 13th and moved online soon thereafter to mitigate community spread of COVID-19 in Taos. Thank you to everyone who has participated in the online studio, thanks to Zoom for hosting us, and giant gratitude to our teachers and manager Liz Fox for learning a whole new skill set basically overnight to keep the yoga happening while we need it the most. Online yoga is different. And good. And weird.
The whole world is changing. We yearn to be off the screen and on the turf of our mats together again. The pandemic has and will continue to present us with many questions. For the past month Shree has been asking what the landscape of yoga studio culture of the future looks like. Not only when will we be able to get back on our mats, but how many of us can safely practice together, will masks be required, is that safe, and how will we pay our bills with limited traffic?
As the virus has spread and the global population has succumbed to the tests of a pandemic, our dear little yoga studio has suffered immensely alongside so many small businesses. The enterprise of yoga has never been a home run. It is an industry that has grown rapidly in the last decade and runs on small dollar transactions. We actively chose, again and again, to stay committed to the brick and mortar space of a small town studio with ultra-low prices rather than trying to expand, franchise, or make dollars at the expense of the quality of Shree’s offering. We made those choices out of love for what we already had going in Taos. We LOVE teaching classes to you! We LOVE witnessing our students move through life changes with the grace and wisdom that comes from dedicated practice. We've seen yoga work its magic in all of our lives.
The income from online classes has been helpful in the short term and we are paying teachers but this income won’t sustain the business. Rent has been deferred since the middle of April. When we open our doors again we will have to limit the amount of bodies in the room for everybody's safety. We know this will not enable us to pay the bills. We don’t know for how long we will have to limit class sizes but are committed to doing so until it is safe and ethical to gather in larger groups again, even if it is more of a challenge for the business.
Shree has been serving us all excellent yoga for nearly eleven years and we don't want to quit. It has been heartening to receive community feedback encouraging us to reinvent ourselves and maintain our sacred practice space; to have the space to be in and share in as we all move forward into the unknown future. We hear you.
We know it is valuable to pursue holding a space for practice and healing as we continue this journey in the unknown. We also know that the real and urgent financial challenges facing us make that pursuit worrisome, dare we say, terrifying. In order to make this journey with more faith and less fear we aim to raise 18 months of fixed costs; bolstering us up to do what we do best, teach yoga and nurture community, without the fear of not being able to pay the rent.
Going forward, we'll have a hybrid of in house and online classes to best serve everyBody and maintain truly safe space to practice together. You're here right now because we need your help to make Shree's future a reality.
Taos is populated by local, independently owned and operated businesses like Shree Yoga. This is a part of what makes Taos so special and why we all choose to live here. What kind of future Taos do you want to walk in? We believe that we can rework our yoga studio model to fit the new world standards and that it is more important than ever before to uphold our mission of making safe space for people to gather and gain awareness through movement. We can't do it alone.
Shree, the business is structured as such that after expenses, most (some months, all) of the dollars that come in go straight back to our teachers. This system has supported and continues to support many independent contractors and professional yoga teachers but it leaves very little for the studio bank account. We operate month to month and totally rely on you, our beloved students' attendance in classes to pay our teachers, and the rent.
We have applied for federal assistance in the form of the EIDL grant, state support for micro-businesses with the All Together New Mexico Fund, will apply for the Yoga Alliance Emergency Relief Fund as soon as it becomes available, and will continue to seek out any avenues that open. The lines are long and we are patiently waiting to hear if we are approved, but nothing is guaranteed and our expenses accumulate with each passing day.
Our bare bones expenses just to maintain the studio space for 18 months include:
Rent $27,000
Repair & Maintenance $1,268
Cleaning & Sanitizing $5,276
Utilities $6,670
Supplies $4,559
= $44,773
To stay in legal operation for the next year and a half including dues and subscriptions, taxes, management, advertising, licenses and insurance will cost over $100,000.00 Not to mention paying teachers...
We'll meet your generous gifts of support with an unbroken chain of superb yoga instruction - online until we can get back to the mats together and as soon as it is safe for us to gather, we'll open our doors again with strict and loving Covid-safe best practices in place for as long as it is necessary.
And in the spirit of reciprocity we also offer a suite of rewards in exchange for your donations:
Some donations can be gifted with some awards donated by our generous staff of teachers. The list is in no way complete, and availability is limited, but for starters:
$25 Shree greeting card by world-renowned photographer Zoë Zimmerman
$50 mask hand stitched by Liz Fox
$50 lavender filled eye pillow hand stitched by Sonya Luz
$100 Shree tee designed by Frankie Jane Love
$200 60 minute private instruction with Nadine Lollino - limit one available
$200 60 minute private instruction with Suki Dalury
$200 60 minute massage with Nadine Lollino - limit one available
$500 entry for Yoga In Times of Isolation and Rediscovery workshop with Reema Datta: limit one available
$500 Shree - Zoë Zimmerman photography book - images of the beauty of yoga and musings on practice by Suki Dalury
$1000 Shree Yoga gear bundle: the book, the shirt, the eye pillow, the mask, the card, and way more than $275 worth of our thanks
Premiums aside, any amount is welcome!
We know there are no certainties right now and we are taking things one step, one breath at a time.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. And take extra good care.
Love, Shree Yoga
We miss seeing you, moving with you, and being together. Shree Yoga closed doors on March 13th and moved online soon thereafter to mitigate community spread of COVID-19 in Taos. Thank you to everyone who has participated in the online studio, thanks to Zoom for hosting us, and giant gratitude to our teachers and manager Liz Fox for learning a whole new skill set basically overnight to keep the yoga happening while we need it the most. Online yoga is different. And good. And weird.
The whole world is changing. We yearn to be off the screen and on the turf of our mats together again. The pandemic has and will continue to present us with many questions. For the past month Shree has been asking what the landscape of yoga studio culture of the future looks like. Not only when will we be able to get back on our mats, but how many of us can safely practice together, will masks be required, is that safe, and how will we pay our bills with limited traffic?
As the virus has spread and the global population has succumbed to the tests of a pandemic, our dear little yoga studio has suffered immensely alongside so many small businesses. The enterprise of yoga has never been a home run. It is an industry that has grown rapidly in the last decade and runs on small dollar transactions. We actively chose, again and again, to stay committed to the brick and mortar space of a small town studio with ultra-low prices rather than trying to expand, franchise, or make dollars at the expense of the quality of Shree’s offering. We made those choices out of love for what we already had going in Taos. We LOVE teaching classes to you! We LOVE witnessing our students move through life changes with the grace and wisdom that comes from dedicated practice. We've seen yoga work its magic in all of our lives.
The income from online classes has been helpful in the short term and we are paying teachers but this income won’t sustain the business. Rent has been deferred since the middle of April. When we open our doors again we will have to limit the amount of bodies in the room for everybody's safety. We know this will not enable us to pay the bills. We don’t know for how long we will have to limit class sizes but are committed to doing so until it is safe and ethical to gather in larger groups again, even if it is more of a challenge for the business.
Shree has been serving us all excellent yoga for nearly eleven years and we don't want to quit. It has been heartening to receive community feedback encouraging us to reinvent ourselves and maintain our sacred practice space; to have the space to be in and share in as we all move forward into the unknown future. We hear you.
We know it is valuable to pursue holding a space for practice and healing as we continue this journey in the unknown. We also know that the real and urgent financial challenges facing us make that pursuit worrisome, dare we say, terrifying. In order to make this journey with more faith and less fear we aim to raise 18 months of fixed costs; bolstering us up to do what we do best, teach yoga and nurture community, without the fear of not being able to pay the rent.
Going forward, we'll have a hybrid of in house and online classes to best serve everyBody and maintain truly safe space to practice together. You're here right now because we need your help to make Shree's future a reality.
Taos is populated by local, independently owned and operated businesses like Shree Yoga. This is a part of what makes Taos so special and why we all choose to live here. What kind of future Taos do you want to walk in? We believe that we can rework our yoga studio model to fit the new world standards and that it is more important than ever before to uphold our mission of making safe space for people to gather and gain awareness through movement. We can't do it alone.
Shree, the business is structured as such that after expenses, most (some months, all) of the dollars that come in go straight back to our teachers. This system has supported and continues to support many independent contractors and professional yoga teachers but it leaves very little for the studio bank account. We operate month to month and totally rely on you, our beloved students' attendance in classes to pay our teachers, and the rent.
We have applied for federal assistance in the form of the EIDL grant, state support for micro-businesses with the All Together New Mexico Fund, will apply for the Yoga Alliance Emergency Relief Fund as soon as it becomes available, and will continue to seek out any avenues that open. The lines are long and we are patiently waiting to hear if we are approved, but nothing is guaranteed and our expenses accumulate with each passing day.
Our bare bones expenses just to maintain the studio space for 18 months include:
Rent $27,000
Repair & Maintenance $1,268
Cleaning & Sanitizing $5,276
Utilities $6,670
Supplies $4,559
= $44,773
To stay in legal operation for the next year and a half including dues and subscriptions, taxes, management, advertising, licenses and insurance will cost over $100,000.00 Not to mention paying teachers...
We'll meet your generous gifts of support with an unbroken chain of superb yoga instruction - online until we can get back to the mats together and as soon as it is safe for us to gather, we'll open our doors again with strict and loving Covid-safe best practices in place for as long as it is necessary.
And in the spirit of reciprocity we also offer a suite of rewards in exchange for your donations:
Some donations can be gifted with some awards donated by our generous staff of teachers. The list is in no way complete, and availability is limited, but for starters:
$25 Shree greeting card by world-renowned photographer Zoë Zimmerman
$50 mask hand stitched by Liz Fox
$50 lavender filled eye pillow hand stitched by Sonya Luz
$100 Shree tee designed by Frankie Jane Love
$200 60 minute private instruction with Nadine Lollino - limit one available
$200 60 minute private instruction with Suki Dalury
$200 60 minute massage with Nadine Lollino - limit one available
$500 entry for Yoga In Times of Isolation and Rediscovery workshop with Reema Datta: limit one available
$500 Shree - Zoë Zimmerman photography book - images of the beauty of yoga and musings on practice by Suki Dalury
$1000 Shree Yoga gear bundle: the book, the shirt, the eye pillow, the mask, the card, and way more than $275 worth of our thanks
Premiums aside, any amount is welcome!
We know there are no certainties right now and we are taking things one step, one breath at a time.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. And take extra good care.
Love, Shree Yoga
Organizer
Shree Yoga
Organizer
Taos, NM
