director's note

may 2012

over the past few months, amrita staff and i have endeavored toward some exciting horizons in the field of yoga therapy. to move toward this magnetic pull, we undertook a business restructuring process to help better organize ourselves for a strong future in yoga therapy programs. one of our primary aims is to broaden our ability to create accessible yoga alternatives for people either less inclined to step into a yoga studio, less physically able to attend our regular weekly classes, and for those who face financial challenges that position yoga as a luxury item in their budget and prohibit them from attending classes.

there are several significant changes happening as a result of this business re-structuring. some of these changes will be apparent to you promptly, others may take time to be put into place.

the most tangible change is reflected in our class schedule:

in the spirit of pruning as a tool for creating more productive growth, the current amrita yoga schedule will be focused on the morning classes that we currently offer. while all of those classes will remain on our schedule, the evening classes, which have not been financially viable, will be pared back for the summer. new program offerings, including evening classes, will be available in the fall. summer is traditionally a much slower time for our evening classes at amrita, due to the beautiful outdoor weather.

bonnie’s thursday night 5:45pm class will have its last session on thursday, may 10th.

todd and i will be discussing his tuesday night class together next week.

a less tangible, but more potent, change is in our ownership:

we’re transitioning from a single-person-owned business to a community-supported entity. based on our financial history and the amount of responsibility placed on one individual (that is, myself), i’ve decided to position the business to be overseen by a new organization. the daya foundation is a burgeoning non-profit created to develop a bright and more sustainable future for our community offerings as well as our yoga therapy horizons. we have an exciting vision for this non-profit, and we’re excited to share it with you.

as the founder and program director, i’m inviting you to an “all community meeting” on sunday, may 20th from 12 – 1 pm so that i, and a few of our board members, can give you an overview of the daya foundation, its structure, its potential impact on and inspiration to you, and our strategy for the next 6 months, 12 months, and 2 years of operations.

for those who can attend the meeting, we’re enthusiastically interested in your questions, input, and ideas. we’ve been working for more than two months to bring this vision together. yet, we acknowledge that in a visioning process there are always a few blind spots. we’ll outline the mission, structure, and opportunities within the daya foundation; and we’ll be open to hearing from you about this new design.

this undertaking is my attempt to keep amrita’s current programs running, broaden into the horizons of yoga therapy, and to engage community in supporting the studio you’ve come to feel loyalty and sanctuary with. we’ll need community support, including volunteer positions, advisory positions, and fundraising. each of these areas will have details (aka job descriptions) to help people help us. i have found that clear guidelines preserve and build relationships and stronger futures for organizations! we’ll certainly talk about this at our all community meeting on the 20th, so please plan to join us!

a tangible change in space usage:

we’ll have rooms for rent. starting june 1st, we’ll have two offices for rent in the spaces that living yoga has been occupying. they’re relocating their office. the daya foundation is primarily interested in renters or businesses that would be compatible with our mission and vision. while we may not share businesses, literally, we are a community space and over the many years that we have had tenants, we’ve built interwoven relationships of mutual support. we’d love for that to continue! if you know someone who is looking for space to rent and would like to share space with us during this exciting growth period, please let us know.

may your gardens bloom, as well as your heart and mind!

may our community’s bright future be supported in all ways…

yours in community,

sarahjoy