It has been almost two years since we closed our studio to in-person classes at the beginning of the pandemic. What was expected to be a short pause became a world-changing event that affected most aspects of our lives.

Our studio immediately began offering classes online and created a video library, both of which were much more successful than we had anticipated. After vaccines became widely available in May 2021, we began holding in-person classes again. We started with a small number of classes, and although attendance was low, our hope was to add more classes in the fall and eventually reinstate our regular sessions. However, with the Delta variant, that plan had to be postponed. We anticipated increasing our schedule again at the beginning of 2022. Unfortunately, the Omicron variant, which was just a mention in the news one day, became the top story in less than forty-eight hours. As COVID-19 cases climbed again, attendance understandably declined. Now, uncertainty about other possible variants makes planning for the future difficult.

Currently, we have ten in-person classes each week, and class sizes are small overall. This is a big difference than the fifty-seven weekly classes we were holding before the pandemic. Though our landlord has been very good to us, we have 6,000 square feet of space that we are barely using. Given our numbers, I do not believe that we will be able to grow back to our pre-pandemic in-studio capacity again.

Because of this, I have decided to move our classes fully online on April 16 and close our studio space on April 30.

This has been a difficult decision. When I started taking classes at HAYC in 1994, we had a smaller Green Room, a Peach Room with two steps in the middle where the Purple Room is now, and a narrow Blue Room that was about the size of the hallway leading to the current Blue Room. The spaces where the Rose Room and the Blue Room are now were owned by other companies. We have grown so much since then!

I remember my nervousness and excitement when I taught my first class in the Green Room in 1997. This was the room where I took my first HAYC class and where yoga finally “clicked” for me after five years of yoga classes at other locations. After I bought the studio in 2001, it became as familiar as my own home as I learned how to replace dimmer switches and thermostats, repair toilets and holes in walls, and run stereo wires through the attic.

When I think of the studio though, I picture those who came to fill it: the teachers, most of whom I’ve known for at least a decade; our staff, who have provided excellent behind the scenes support; and, of course, the students. In my classes, I have seen faces soften as the stress from a difficult day is replaced with calm by the end of class; frustration turn into acceptance as bodies change with injuries and age; the incremental but noticeable improvements to posture and ranges of motion; and the growth of confidence and smiles of victory when poses once thought impossible became attainable.

Most of all, I enjoyed watching friendships form as students came to class week after week and year after year. People met those on the mats around them, and, as classes became established, those friendships deepened, and classmates would share in life events from births of children and grandchildren to losses of loved ones. I have met hundreds of people with whom I probably would not otherwise have crossed paths, and I am grateful to have been part of so many lives.

Although the online classes are not the same, I am seeing connections form as we all have become more comfortable chatting through Zoom. We plan to continue to offer classes online and hope you will be joining us there and maybe at our next annual Mexico retreat! We also intend to maintain the video library as long as there is interest.

Thank you for your loyalty and support over the years and for being part of our wonderful community.

Susan