End of an era: Goodbye Flagstaff YogaSix

I’d been meaning to write this post a few weeks ago, and add some “hey, if you’re around in Flagstaff, come check out my last class!” promotion on here.

But, every time I opened my computer and started to type, it just felt overwhelming. The denial is stroooong.

I’m sad to say YogaSix Flagstaff, my home yoga studio for the past four-plus years, permanently shut down this past weekend.

All of this is just one big, BIG exercise in aparigraha, the yogic principle of non-attachment, or letting go.

I keep reminding myself of that.

I know that it seems like it’s just a building, just one more business in the revolving door of Flagstaff businesses. Like, not even my full-time job, right? Just a part-time gig for some extra money?

But it just feels like a touch more that that.

I’ve spent every Wednesday night teaching at this studio. I’ve spent most Monday nights and Tuesday mornings here, and up until last weekend, I was teaching Friday mornings as well.

And that’s just the teaching — I’ve spent hours advancing my personal practice here as well.

I think most of us working at the studio kind of saw the writing on the wall a few months ago. Our studio owners removed several classes from the schedule (including my 6 a.m. Tuesday class), and then our lead teacher quit in favor of a new lead teacher job at a brand new gym. Classes attracted fewer and fewer students. My Wednesday evening class — which was drawing crowds of 20-plus yogis when we first opened — had been limping along with two-to-three students per class this year, and when I finally showed up to the studio only to realize nobody had registered for it, I kind of knew we were done for.

It honestly felt like a bit of a relief when I finally got the email about the closure… which hit my inbox, ironically, while I was in the middle of my sweet friend Nicole’s Sunday morning class last month.

Last weekend, I taught my last class (a 6 a.m. Friday power flow, using an updated version of the very first sequence I ever taught at the studio!) and took my last class (a 10:30 a.m. Sunday power flow, thank you Eden!) and then… said goodbye.

I was back that Sunday night to collect the things I wanted to take from the studio, like a few props for my personal practice, and to say my goodbyes to the space.

I’m sad, of course!, but luckily I’m not bitter.

Four years. FOUR years.

Four years is such a long time. I feel so very fortunate that I was able to ride out the entire tenure of the studio- from open to close.

What a truly special experience, to just be there for the whole ride, beginning to end.

I taught hundreds of classes and took hundreds of classes. I underwent my 300-hour advanced Yoga Teacher Training in India during my tenure at the studio, learned how to teach so many new styles of yoga (from restorative to power to slow flow) and became so much more confident and secure in my teaching.

I learned to let go, to stop trying to please every student and to stop trying to be every kind of teacher and to just be me, authentically and honestly. To stop forcing myself into the mold of “ideal yoga teacher” and to just do what feels natural.

These past four-plus years gave me such an incredible opportunity to evolve as a teacher, student and person.

I met so many incredible people. I formed all sorts of relationships, both fleeting and life-long.

Not only did I grow as a teacher, after teaching more than 500 classes in this space, I also grew as a student. My body aged and my practice changed. My mindset grew and shifted, and I became much more of myself.

I also got to share this practice, this thing that makes me so uniquely me, with my other half.

Yoga is much more than a space, a physical practice. It’s a community, a relationship, a lifestyle.

So, to answer the whole “what’s next?” question before you ask it —

I honestly don’t know.

I haven’t started to look for a new yoga teaching job quite yet. I’ve got a lot of my plate right now with fire season, wedding planning, home renovations — and a few more things I haven’t even mentioned here yet! — so I think it might be nice to take some time away from teaching yoga to just settle into my life away from the studio.

I’ll still be maintaining my fitness through my CycleBar membership, and a personal yoga practice at home.

It’s just that teaching for me is about so much more than guiding bodies into shapes and collecting a paycheck. It’s about finding a community. I’m wary of picking up a teaching job that leads to me showing up just for the pay. I want to find a new studio I can teach at and continue my personal practice at. A place that feels like home.

I definitely think I do need to do just a bit of soul-searching (and studio sampling) before I hop right back into it.

And, hey. Maybe it’ll be nice to get a Spotify Wrapped this year that isn’t just 12-minute handpan songs and every Beautiful Chorus track in existence.

I’ll see you on your mat again soon,