dear now yoga community,
After three and a half years at 61 4th Avenue, in the space we lovingly made our own, Now Yoga will be moving on. This coming month will be our last in the studio, and as of March 1st, we’ll be operating as a virtual studio only.
This decision has not been easy to make, and it’s one I’ve only been able to fully arrive at after several months of being back in-person and entertaining various solutions for making our brick-and-mortar sustainable. For a confluence of reasons, including the inherent challenges within the yoga industry as it is (which existed long before Covid and about which I wrote a few months ago), the ongoing reality of Covid-related interruptions to in-person business, and my own personal need to move on from a full-time directorship role, closing our physical studio makes the most sense at this time.
Of course leaving our beloved Astor Place home is heartbreaking. And yet the vibrancy of our online community has been a bright spot over the last couple of years, and the continuation of our virtual programming is a comfort in the absence of a physical studio.
Likewise, my personal need to make space for something new is one that I’m embracing with mixed emotions. I have valued my role as owner and director of Now Yoga and consider it to have been a privilege to perform every aspect of this job—whether it was teaching a class, leading a staff meeting, managing the website, or cleaning the toilets.
Four years ago, when just beginning to dream about opening a yoga studio in Manhattan, I knew it would be the hardest thing I had ever done. It absolutely has been, and I’m in awe of those who have done it for far longer, namely Cyndi Lee, Barbara Verrochi, Kristin Leigh, and Terry Richardson, whose leadership I’ve admired and learned from. It’s also been the very best, most rewarding thing I’ve done professionally and something that has made me so proud. It’s been such a gift, and as hard as it’s been for me to admit that I need to move on, I know in every cell of my being that it’s time. I resisted for a while, but eventually had to surrender to what was becoming abundantly obvious. Not surprisingly, it was paying attention to my practice that ultimately made making a decision possible: feeling my breath, listening deeply to my physical body when my mind wasn’t clear, and making space for feelings to unfold and to meet them honestly; being okay with the concept of letting go and resting in the void; and allowing in the feedback and support from those closest to me.
I’m grateful to this community for giving me the honor of running Now Yoga and to all who have made it such a special place, unmatched I think by any other yoga center in the city. Our studio was forged out of a belief in this particular community of teachers and our shared approach to the practice of yoga. The physical space itself was designed to reflect our philosophy—no bells, whistles, or idols; a clean, quiet, and honest space in which to be, move, and breathe; a place to meet ourselves and our circumstances just as they are in any given, ordinary moment. Thank you to everyone who entered our space and appreciated it for exactly what it was meant to be.
Special thanks to Now Yoga’s founders, Edward Jones, Frank Mauro, and Joe Miller, for trusting me with our evolution into a physical studio. To Beth Beranbaum for giving freely of her expertise when we were first designing the studio pre-construction. To Jana Hicks for her steadfast support straight out of the gate, and for essentially living in the studio with me during the first two years. To Marijke Eliasberg for her loving care of the space from the very beginning through the most recent weeks, watering the plants, keeping it warm, and being there in a heartbeat when needed. To James Harper for doing so much to help, especially since reopening in June, and for being a dear friend to me and to Now Yoga at large. To Jennifer Deluca for her mentorship at every step of the way, and making space for me to dream at the beginning and at the end. To our brilliant, human, grounded teachers whose support I trust and rely upon and who have taught for Now Yoga purely out of love for what they do and whom they teach. To all of our work-exchange students over the last few years who helped us to run things on a shoestring budget and who added immeasurable value and heart. To our core base of regular students who carried us into our own space and have been there every day since. To the yogis, dancers, tai chi practitioners, musicians, meditators, and passers-through who populated our brick-lined loft since September 2018. And of course, thank you to the people who have helped me personally—my parents, family, and husband Edward—who thus had a hand in holding Now Yoga. The list goes on. It takes a village to run an operation like ours; it has been a labor of all of our love combined.
Thanks to each of you for breathing life into our space and for loving it as much as I have. All of the effort in opening and running the studio was made entirely worthwhile any time a single person remarked on feeling at home there. I will cherish every moment we have had in the studio together, and I’m grateful that our community will continue to meet online and wherever the future may take us.
I'll miss meeting you all in the living room, tremendously. And I hope to keep seeing you elsewhere, at least, for now.
With love and gratitude,
renata
PS: I will keep everyone posted throughout this transition with pertinent information but welcome questions in the meantime. Select in-person classes will continue through the end of the month, but we’ll keep you updated if things should change. If you have a question regarding your existing in-person class card, please email and I’ll be happy to assist.
If you have a mat at our studio, please plan to retrieve it by February 28th. We will have limited storage space beyond that point, so please do let us know in advance if you need extra time.
