Tag: Yoga

breathing – stretching – living

On Yoga Studio Ownership

This is not a new year’s resolution

by ErinLeave a Comment on This is not a new year’s resolution

Posting on Frozen Spaghetti on the 1st of the year comes with no proclamations of anything I am going to “try to do” or attempt in 2026. This post simply comes from my couch while Starships by Nicki Minaj is played by a marching band (via the Rose Bowl) and my husband breaks down the graveyard of Amazon boxes that have been at the foot of our steps since Christmas… you know… that holiday we celebrate the existence of divinity and everlasting peace with cardboard.

I just got home from the studio (slash yoga clubhouse) that I own here in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. Smack dab in the middle of the continental US for my non US readers. Hi, by the way. Love that you’re here. I started the day off teaching a little bit of a butt kicker to a groovy little playlist and with gingerbread incense threaded throughout the hour. I knew all the students by name, even to where I got excited when I peeked at the roster last night: these are “my people” and I was genuinely excited to see each one of them in the new year.

Because I am all about gear shifting as little as possible, especially on holidays, I kept the studio open for an open house. We had my friend Anna up giving IV hydrations and IM shots. I got my usual IV hydration with glutathione, zinc, Vitamin C and B 12. The tri-immune glutathione, zinc and Vitamin C mix I absolutely swear by and highly recommend to all of you attempting to avoid or get over the flu.

It was about 4 or 5 of us that stayed throughout the day, working on individual creative projects, getting IVs or watching me and my friend Cindy work on “an intuitive painting”. We are turning the front room of the studio / yoga clubhouse into a dwelling space… meditation room… treatment room… quiet room and it needed art. I really truly love what we came up with but it seems a little “floaty”. The blankets I bought for the room do not go with the painting at all. And though I love a good clashing of things – I need this room to be less march to the beat of your own drum and more held by universal love and spirit. Though I could go into how those are the same, there is an aesthetic difference I am trying to reconcile in the space.

But, like all things, I know it is something I don’t actually have to think about to figure out. My mode of operation with this is to wait and listen, pay attention to the energetic quality of things, take it step by step, notice what is used, what is needed and when and what naturally comes about. This is the practice I started that I call “being consistently inconsistent”.

The afternoon ended with the painting getting cleaned up and a small group of us staying in the studio to work through the Fruits of the Spirit and their definitions and create a spectrum of our opposites as we head into the new year. It is a workshop practice I teach that I refer to as “Finding Your Positive Opposites”. I noticed this year that my opposites were getting more fine-tuned. It’s not that I feel disconnected, it’s that I feel misunderstood. I thank the work of Internal Family Systems therapy and a whole lot of yoga, philosophy, rest, stillness and listening to the things that come out of my mouth when I am feeling certain ways.

The dogs are barking asking to come in and I am ready for the next round of new year’s day… I hope that if you are reading this you have a word for 2026 in mind, better yet – maybe even a Fruit of the Spirit you are going to commune with in this first part of the year. Love? Joy? Peace? This year, I am starting with Gentleness although Self Control, Goodness, Kindness were all runners up. Faithfulness, always as a part of the practice and Patience is a must when dealing with…. these dogs barking.

On that note… Happy New Year!! Tell me your word or fruit! I would love love love love love LOVE to know!

Also – what do you think of the painting???

On Yoga Studio Ownership

Looking out the window of my urban retreat…

by ErinLeave a Comment on Looking out the window of my urban retreat…

A couple of weeks ago, I felt stress related to “the yoga studio”. It put me into a little bit of soul searching – was this what I wanted to do when I was happily daydreaming & writing my business plan last year? The work being asked of me felt different than I imagined it. There was pressure, uncertainty and a little bit of confusion. That is not how I want to operate. I left corporate America to experience creative freedom, I had to bring back that feeling of fluidity – trust – and inspiration.

Luckily this investigation coincided with the end of summer and the cosmic energy of “back to school” where even the most unorganized of us feel some sort of reboot with the potential of a fresh notebook or organized binder. The gearing up for fall was the perfect time to reframe and loop back to that original vision that had me so inspired to set out on my own yoga business: retreats, restorative yoga, making opportunities for business women and parents and friends and caretakers and tired people to downshift more than the routine 60 minute yoga class or sporadic sound bath.

Over the past two weeks, I have met one on one with every single one of the teachers and providers out of OM to brainstorm their classes, special events and retreats – all focused in on the question of who we want to serve. The guiding principles?

Does it feel simple? Does it feel life-giving? Is it relational?

And the final motif: “everything must feed everything”.

It’s now a Wednesday morning and I got to the studio pretty early… before 7a, and saw the sunrise from our balcony. The studio was open for silence and that 30 minutes is some of my favorite time in the studio each week. I sit on the mat, with others, and let myself just review what is on my heart and mind without the laptop to multi-task or the phone to Google or the chat to GPT. I feel it out.

Studio silence breaks at 8 with a little small group share:

How are we showing up today?

What is our intention?

Then we proceed with toning the chakras – chanting – and the blessing: lokah samastah sukhino bhavntu.

Everybody’s story starts somewhere and, in reflection of this vision (which is coming to fruition) for retreat and time to feel like yourself, I realize OM Old Orchard is what I always wanted my whole life. You know, there are not a ton of places that allow you to truly show up as you are with reduced pressure to spend, to be and to commit.

As a business woman, I am taking some calculated risks experimenting with pricing and programming – so that everything about this place feels supportive. As my therapist says, “the highest form of respect you can show another person is the power of choice.”

I want the business I run to respect you. If that makes sense.

I know that in a few years, some of the questions I am working through will be answered. The methods I am experimenting with will show me what to run with and what to let die on the vine. I am aware this place of growth I am in is because of the growth I did because of a previous season of growth which I was in because I had grown, and so on….

Isn’t it funny how our edges are constant invitations into present moment acceptance? And – ultimately – into the future that is aligned with the seed of who we have always been…

On September 7th, I’ll be offering a free Fall Intention Setting Workshop from my yoga studio & urban retreat… available in person and via recording. The workshop will present a guiding sutra and inspired text. The programming for fall will be themed on a “pre new year’s new year”, as we lay the groundwork for our desired habit changes, health goals and mental peace.

There is still so much work to do to truly articulate how to maximize what we are creating at OM in support of your personal life. It is not about “going to yoga” but about truly giving yourself the reprieve, the break.

I suppose all of this is to say – to my past self, thank you for growing to this place. To my future self, thank you for your patience.

And to my present self: get to work 🙃 ❤️ ✌🏽erin

On Yoga Studio Ownership

My life owning a yoga studio. 🪷

by Erin2 Comments on My life owning a yoga studio. 🪷

It’s been about three weeks that I have been owner of OM Old Orchard, a boutique (read: small, stylish) yoga studio in a thriving lifestyle (dining, shopping) district in Webster Groves, Missouri.

My vision for owning a yoga studio has always been to have a clubhouse, more or less. Yes, some quality mind + body practices that make you feel strong and centered and connected but also like – time to be yourself, in community with other people being themselves, with opportunity to create, offer your gifts, contribute your ideas, pray.

I want to say I am fascinated with how “cut throat” the studio world is – but I’m not. I am not surprised by the competition and the ferocity of wellness providers wanting to seed another tangent to their offers. I don’t mean to sound whiny or ungrateful for people interested in hosting their offers here, but navigating the new loneliness I feel “as an owner” while at the same time being some what sought after is a key part of this season of shifting. By the way, if you are also experiencing a lot of shifting in your life – you are not alone.

Yesterday was particularly hard for me. I teared up a little bit on a drive home from dropping off a casserole in my sister’s fridge. (A demonstration of the type of community I want to lead, foster and encourage.) There is so much to do and my life is a little unorganized at the moment. I need to merge calendars and put away some papers and settle into a new routine.

I felt stress in my body that was not normal. If there is one thing I know, it’s that stress or anxiety are invitations to the present moment. The present moment shows you what is really right in front of you. The present moment is your place for clarity.

I left my house and headed up to the place that has changed my life. Like a tired mother of a newborn who loves their baby but wants to sleep, I went to the studio tenderly, like how that same tired mother is when changing the diaper – looking at baby’s eyes and sweet face – and remembering how delicate these days really are…

As I settled into the studio, I felt the nudge to breakdown the massage table, clear the front room with the windows and lay on the floor. I did. I opened the windows. I laid out a mat. I lit a candle. And right there, a domino of my life shifted and I felt the room become something new. It’s a place for prayer. An intimate place holding. A floor for conversation.

About an hour later, Jules arrived to the studio before her chanting night was to begin and we sat on the floor in this grounding room and had a conversation about our ancestors, the power of prayer and the depth of our practices came through.

Any competition in the yoga world is rooted in money, in fear, in left brain analytics to make ends meet. And though a successful small business needs numbers to matter, when I settled into the energy of the present moment I remembered the seeds of OM: my belief that self care is spiritual, that partnering with the breath is essential, that your body is the first gift given in this life and that community is wellness.

I feel good today, better than ever. Remembering that this yoga studio is not meant to be what you know, but a place for you to be known. To give generously and receive thoughtfully. For your gifts to have a place to thrive, connect and grow. And for all of us to experience when things come full circle.

And with all that being said… I have a spring calendar of events to figure out. If you’re in Saint Louis, find me on the socials or come by the new studio and say hi! http://www.omoldorchard.com