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Five November Gratitudes as a Yoga Studio Owner

October 22, 2018 By admin Leave a Comment

by Ali Valdez

Anyone have unique traditions, or theme months? At our studio, one of our Sattvists does a Liquid-tober, where she and her spouse drink nothing but water. As November approaches, our studio does a Class Crawl and a Gratitude month. There is a practice I do called #simplegratitude, a plan to change my mental state each and every day regardless of life circumstances. I can find good in virtually all things, even the unsettling and confrontational ones.

November is my chance to share this love of practicing gratitude with my yoga community, and this blog is really dedicated to them. I would like to share with everyone why I am grateful for having my yoga studio, even in the midst of the highs and lows, the uncertainty, and sometimes transitory nature of our students, and the years of surrounding construction and in spite of such challenges, blessings remain ten-fold and continue to grow.

With gratitude and from the heart, here are my top five November studio gratitudes:

  • Sattvists helping Sattvists. One thing I can say definitively about Sattva teachers and community, is that we have each other’s backs. Having started with childcare during classes, many of our students entrusted us with the care of their children and we have seen many of them grow up. Our community binds together, becoming friends. We lean in and help out with our extended teachers’ community, helping watch kids, getting each other food, taking care of dogs (and cats!), subbing for one another when they go off to study, host retreats or go on holidays. When talking about this with our long-time studio manager, she concurred “no other studio on Earth does what our team does for one another.”

 

  • International Flair. In a world of increasing divisiveness, I love and honor the diversity of the members of our studio. Our teacher trainees are native in over a dozen languages and come from all corners of the world. They have spread the Sattva spirit throughout the country, across Asia and Europe. We even have Sattvists in New Zealand, Peru and Mexico. During advanced teacher trainings, we discuss global issues and there is no one-sided or myopic view of the topics most challenging in our current times. We debate, respectfully, unapologetically and discuss both sides of history, religion and conflict. In many courses, teachers are encouraged to share their vision statement in English and their nature language. In any given course, almost everyone shares twice. This means when people come through our doors, they feel welcome, because the place is comfortable and authentic.

 

  • The Cheers of Yoga. Anyone from 80’s television knows of the sitcom Cheers, and the infamous Norm. Whenever Norm stormed into Cheers bar every night, everyone shouted “Norm!” because it was the kind of place where everyone knows your name. We strive to make a personal connection with each student. Oftentimes, they are taken aback when they walk in and are greeted by name (and with a smile). I love that we stay connected to our students during their registrations, even though we have more technology at the front desk than a regional Microsoft sales office.

 

  • Cleanliness & our Karma Yogi crew. Time and time again, I see the same feedback. “This is the cleanest studio I’ve ever been in.” We have our incredible staff of Karma Yogis to thank for that. Sometimes I walk in, especially Tuesday evenings, and the place is sparkling, which lends itself to the magic and the experience on the practice. Our karma yogis are like family. We are so grateful for everything they do, each and every day.

 

  • Last, but not least… our students. As we approach our fourth year, many of our students have been there since the very beginning. We started in the shadow of another business closing down and abandoning ship. We evolved from one to three studios, from 52 classes and twelve styles and have had our share of dramatic moments. About 18 months ago, the building we occupy was sold. We waited to hear what would come next. Nothing came next as it so happened. The answer is we could very well be here for years to come. Everything around us is being tore down and rebuilt, but we still cling to our small corner of old Redmond and the esprit du corp of a local, community-centric yoga studio offering something for every body, every day. It’s so good to catch up weekly, to continue learning more about them and their lives, gradually meeting members of their family and seeing their children grow.

 

How blessed are we at Sattva? So blessed. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this yoga journey.

Filed Under: Business, Gadabout, General, Lifestyle Tagged With: Ali valdez, business owner, community, entrepreneur, gratitude, sattva, sattva yoga, Sattva yoga teacher training, simple gratitude, yoga, yoga community, yoga entrepreneur, yoga in redmond

Shaken, Not Deterred

April 22, 2017 By Ali Valdez

Grrrrrr…

The Anglicized Yoga world has got its hate on. It’s been hard seeing the slow devolution of social commentaries both catty and snide about the state of affairs in popularized yoga forms. Everyone seems to rebuking everyone else or still cocooning their jivas in the glistening gossamer seams of love and light.

Can’t we all just get along?

Furthermore, it is impossible to not speculate as the Washington Post reported last week, that perhaps the sleek urban appeal of yoga is starting to jump the shark, becoming the Norma Desmond of fitness chic.

Is yoga deluding itself when it’s heading down the staircase for its final close up?

Karen Heller’s Style piece states that between weed yoga (perfectly legal in the state of Washington, the “other” Washington), naked yoga, yoga with goats, dogs, etc. is now part of the social mores menagerie boarding at the house where spirituality and exercise now uncomfortably reside.

Twenty plus years ago, yoga was weird. Now, I cannot think of a single human being within a ten mile radius of my home not knowing a down dog.

Weed yoga, namastizzle.Yoga has gone and empowered millions to improve their lives; it has also become a big fate slice of pie Americana-style. No Barre studio or Zumba class can tout the sheer innovation around positioning of limbs like yoga can, and with each class contributing to a piece of the $17 billion industry that is straight-up “Namastizzle,” the article cites academic research that shows us, even validates the open “malleability” of the practice.

But how open do we in the extended yoga family really want to be?

Sadly, not much. Apparently not all of us want to share our toys. How can we be when there is so much to complain about? Here are a few issues around yoga making the social and newsfeed rounds:

Another hot topic around yoga is the incompetency of Yoga Alliance and its questionable overseeing of some vague notion of “accreditation” whereby if your check clears and you have been certified for at least six months from another program, you are qualified to teach others. That is coupled with the economic reality that most yoga studio with escalating urban rents can almost barely get by without a funnel of teacher trainings and constant merry go round of teacher workshops.

Oh, but why finish there, when we can rip a new asshole into all the glistening filteratis of Instagram.

And if you are a slender, white woman, well forget about it. In some yoga circles it is offensive that white women (and men- although we know their numbers are few) colonize yoga, a practice uniquely reserved for people of India apparently. I am Mexican and Lebanese and other stuff not Indian so not sure where that leaves me.

Here we see the veil of illusion, Maya, rearing its head. But none of those things are what the truth of yoga is in the studio, with a loving, caring and skilled teacher and their students. The clamoring outside noise becomes radio silence. Yoga still means something beautiful to millions of people and isn’t merely a trifle or en vogue ribaldry.


Grrrrr…

Svadyaya.But I haven’t always been open either. I have fallen into these types of limited thinking; it’s impossible not to take the bait and engage with rubes, Centrists and elites alike.

Many people are pursuing a deeper dive into yoga and Eastern Philosophy academically so they know it all. For the intellectually reluctant and morally-fluid, it’s all good and people are free to be themselves.

I’m the lonely island wedged awkwardly in the divide.

Let’s face it, many people still want to just get their sweat on. Others see yoga as a great place to socialize, feel good in their bodies and feel welcomed and loved in a community. At the end of the day does any of that really effect anything about my practice?

It doesn’t affect anything except when I allow these rants and riffs to begin to shake me up and rattle my cage.

It would be disingenuous for me to say that I am thrilled with the direction yoga is taking. But nonetheless I welcome the discourse as well as the debate. This is a captivating topic and the objective of my lifetime- yoga-yoga as one of my beloved teachers calls it. Some days I am troubled and ask myself why bother? On most days, I am up for the fight. Today was one of those days.

What I have realized is the fight is only ever within, and although at times it’s natural to feel shaken, the true yogi is laser-focused like the Jedi is and is seldom if ever deterred.

ResilienceThere are some days where I read commentaries and there is a gnawing in my gut or a pang in my heart. This isn’t the spirit of the practice. But none of us are thousands of years old within this one lifetime to really have a say in it. So when I say the spirit of the practice, I can only explain it through my interpretation of what that is. All I can do is the work, as I understand it to be. That type of sadhana is never a gimmick, nor does it pander to the masses. Either way, the resilience to stay the course is the Vajra, the diamond cultivated within.

And if you know me and my teachings, where there were once coals, by lunch will be diamonds.

No, my yoga hasn’t jumped the shark. It is more rewarding than ever, and try as I may, I could never quit teaching. My yoga won’t ever make it to the Style page of the Washington Post, but it’s forever etched on the book of my spirit.

In that way, yoga has taught me that we are one; just not page one.

What I do know is that I am passionate about the science of yoga. It moves me like a gentle breeze reminding me that spring is here. It would be impossible to reflect back on my naïve early start in yoga without expressing gratitude for my teaching and how it’s grown from the roots where it began. In that I can see how I have changed.

So why has it been so hard for me (and others) to allow other aspects of the practice to change too?

Insights and yoga cultureChange never feels natural although it is the most natural thing around us. It’s hard when you are locked on the way something should be and boldly like a stiff and angry tide, comes crashing down. Resilience allows you to acclimate to these changes without letting them wash you out to sea…

…or roll up and list your used mat on Craig’s List.

In the evolution of the science of yoga there are currents and many types of waves to catch. I just want people to be happy and healthy, and be less concerned with the ways in which they find that, even if it doesn’t match my experience. Our industry isn’t what it used to be twenty years ago, but finally, I am adapting and finding my sea legs. With each breath I steadily regain my balance and find that I remain resolved and resilient enough to weather the storm.

 

Filed Under: Gadabout, Health and Wellness, Lifestyle, Philosophy Tagged With: Ali valdez, change resilience, colonziation of yoga, culture, India, Indian culture, insights, misappropriation, resilience, sattva yoga, Sattva Yoga Online, self awareness, svadyaya, weed yoga, yoga, yoga community, yoga culture


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