New Year, New Focus
Dear Meadowlark Community,
This is not a year when we get everything we want, but when we are grateful for everything we have. I write this as the studio owner and founding teacher of Meadowlark. Our team thought we'd share our plans ahead of the festive period to give our community some time to reflect over the holidays.
The truth has a way of emerging and showing itself, and it is up to us to see it for what it is and make the most of the circumstances. With that in mind, this is the truth I've seen emerging over the last few months: we are unable to offer In-studio Drop-in classes in the new year. I know you all know the reasons for this, but for clarity, our administrative ninja, Elise, has put it quite succinctly:
Reasons:
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It is already unsustainable to run reduced number of classes at such a severe financial loss indefinitely.
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The in-studio timetable requires considerable front desk staff for safety/smooth running.
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Multiplied workloads with additional timetables have been unsustainable since the start of lockdown nine months ago.
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50% of students say they won’t return to in-studio classes for a while, even if we are given the go-ahead to reopen.
The above points are the business reasons, but can I highlight the emotional toll that the lockdown limbo has placed on our team. The anxiety of waiting for every announcement, the hours of emergency admin time our team has to apply to get the timetable up and down with each new announcement, the huge number of emails and admin to deal with clients professionally, and the constant anxiety around maintaining a secure COVID studio that can just "pop up" at any moment to serve our in-studio classes. It was never sustainable, but we tried anyway!
We truly feel that our community of fellow yoga students and clients have weathered this storm with us. We could never have made it so far without the continuous support and feedback along the way. Well done to all of you for making the impossible happen.
Our intention is to focus on the positive, and we hope our community will join us in doing so.
Here's the plan for what MLY will be able to offer in-studio in 2021 when deemed safe:
- Our AM & PM Ashtanga Mysore programme will adapt to the tier system and open in-studio (as well as operating online).
- A selection of Workshops and Trainings will be offered in-studio.
- 1:1s and special community events.
We will be extending our Livestream Timetable along with our On-Demand class offering (launch date TBD), so there will be plenty of exciting ways to continue sharing our offering. And who knows, if the vaccine rollout goes well and we get to the summer with a clear indication of lockdowns and any social distancing as a thing of the past, we could very well revive the in-studio drop-in timetable in the future.
If you hold an active in-studio pass or block, these will remain valid for livestream classes, or alternatively you can email [email protected] to have the credit returned to your MBO account for use towards Mysore, workshops, trainings, 1:1s or vouchers. Please allow a couple of weeks for Front Desk to process your request over the holiday period.
Whatever happens, the soul of our community and the spirit of our offering is unchanged. We wish everyone a peaceful festive season as it is time to be grateful and celebrate coming through such an appalling year! Where possible, we come back to the first principles of yoga to always remember that contentment is a choice we can make in spite of all the chaos that seems to conspire against us. Let's continue our work together in yoga as a community as we wait out this pandemic, building character and learning how to be even more innovative along the way.
With much love and lots of positive vibes going out to everyone. I am astonished and humbled by all the support and encouragement we continuously receive.
In love and service,
Karen
Author
MLY Team
Authors
We are a very small team of yoga practitioners working together to keep our community informed. Please do comment, share, and let us know what you'd like to see more of on this blog!
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