And then I had a Yoga Studio

“Allow the stars to align on your behalf rather than trying to align them yourself”

— Martha Beck, PhD

If you had asked me 3 years ago if I would ever own a yoga studio, I would have vehemently shook my head and told you ABSOLUTELY NOT! The story of how I went from absolutely not to having my own practice space is a story of going against my habit of saying NO and saying YES every time an opportunity came along.  

Two years ago, my friend Ellie Burke, who is a life coach and yoga instructor, told me she was looking for an office to house her new life-coaching business.  Meanwhile, I was happily practicing coaching from my home, and teaching at the local studio.  

Soon after, my husband rented a huge space for his own business.  As it turned out, he had too much room - an entire upstairs with 4 offices. I light heartedly asked if Ellie and I could move in upstairs not intending to actually do it - I was happy coaching from home.  But the more he thought about it, the better the situation sounded and suddenly he said "Yes" (as he often does).

Ellie and I each took a personal office and we started moving in.  I still didn't really believe I needed the office, but there it was waiting for me.

A first change came when Ellie suggested making one of the extra rooms into a small studio for teaching yoga privates.

Yes.

It was a small cosmetic change and I really didn't use it much.  But the big shift came a few months in when Ellie suggested knocking down the wall between the back room and my office to create a large studio - one for group classes.  It sounded like too much for me. After all, I was settled at the studio where I'd been teaching for a decade. And I'd lose my office. But she offered to share her office and something in my gut told me to go for it.

Yes!

Down came the wall, in went floors and lights, and ceiling fans and all of a sudden we had a yoga studio.  Which was timely because soon after, Ellie decided to leave the big studio, and a few months later, so did I.  Instead of having a big interruption in my classes, I simply showed up in a new place the next week -- and, thank goodness, so did many students.

The Apiary - that's what we call it -  has proven to be a huge gift. I held my 200-hour teacher training there without having to pay extra rent or worry about scheduling around anyone else. I schedule classes and workshops whenever I want to hold them. And I mostly feel 100% comfortable in my own skin to teach exactly how I want to teach, without worry about class size or studio policy.  This gift is one I would never have received without saying YES to Ellie each step along the way. I don't know that I could have held the vision of being a studio owner for myself, and I certainly wouldn't have done it by myself,  but to do it with her made a big difference.

The latest development is that in the first part of this year, Ellie decided to move to a new location.  And so, with very little stress and almost no planning, and the simple decisions to say YES, I have received a yoga space all my own, to use exactly as I please.  It is delightful.

Occasionally I wonder if I ever put in an order with the Universe for a yoga studio, but I don't remember ever doing so.  I think the Universe just had plans for me and knew I could only do it in this soft and gentle way. So you must remember:  SAY YES! As often as you can. You never know what the Universe has in store for you. If you're too busy saying NO for some unknown reason, you will miss out on the life that is trying to come your way.  And the Universe always has better plans than you could dream for yourself.

Are you stuck saying NO like me?  I'm happy to connect around the shift from NO to YES  - it is a much bigger shift than it might seem.  Leave a comment below, shoot me an email: sarahfischer@sarahfischer.life  or let's connect for a coaching session to support you!