Yogala Studios

Finding a Yoga Studio where you feel safe, loved, nurtured, and free of judgement is a rare find. You can easily find some of those attributes, but to find all of them is truly a blessing.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I deeply missed my Brooklyn Yoga Studio. Every few months, I would go to a class at a new studio, but they never felt right. It felt a bit like Goldilocks. Always searching, but never finding the one that was just right. In March 2011 that all changed. I learned a Yoga Studio was opening up 7 houses away! I was shocked and excited and overly hopeful. Had this been the place I had been waiting for? Would it be exactly what I was craving in my life? Opening weekend, I went to a class each day, and from the very first moment that I walked into the space, I was in love. This was the space that I was searching for. This is where I would find my community, my home away from home.

And, for the next decade, it was my home. It is where I experienced the first rush of going up into handstand. It is where I learned proper alignment. It is where I was unexpectedly nurtured into teaching, and where I taught for five years. I healed from break ups in their classes, from the loss of a beloved partner, from the loss of a parent. It is where I first shared my Reiki practice, where I shared my love of crystals. I learned so much within the walls, far more than I could have ever expected.

I have grown a lot of the last 10 years. I have learned to become a happy, softer human. Having a space that supported and nurtured me with love, helped push me to shift and change. Countless friendships have been made over the years purely from talking to people after class or after a workshop. My heart was always full the moment I would walk in the door. It was a place to go to fill up, to recharge, and to return to myself and what I needed in that very moment.

It’s where I heard my first Soundbath. It’s where I met the woman who would support my through energy healing whilst going through break ups and deep grief from losses. It is where I met my Reiki Teacher. So many beautiful pivotal moments. I still retain vivid memories of specific moments from classes. Moments where I felt so loved and safe that I would leave the space after a class as if I was walking on air.

A few weeks ago, I learned this space that I loved so dearly would be transitioning to something new, something yet to be determined. And in that moment, I remember how deeply we can grieve a space. I began to grieve for it in a way that I had not grieved for some time. This physical space that I so deeply treasured will be no more.

This morning, I went by the space early to help sort out the crystals and to spend some time with dear Sam and with the space itself. I said good bye to the walls that held me, more times than I can count. And shared one final moment of magic, with some dear friends who happened to show up as I was preparing to depart. It was a beautiful ending – a full circle of experiences from my very first class to my very last visit.

I am so excited for all that is to come for Yogala in the future, because I know that anything Sam touches will be special and unique, and most of all, filled with love. I am so deeply grateful from the bottom of my heart for all that Sam created over this past decade. My 30s were brighter, because Yogala and all the wonderful teachers and students were a part of my life.