a circle of support

a few weeks ago, this email came in from knekoh fruge, owner of yoga circle downtown, a small yoga studio tucked away in a historic building in the old bank district.

Some of you have already caught wind of the drama unfolding behind the scenes at Yoga Circle.

Through the encouragement of several students who have insisted we should do so... I have decided to make public this drama so that if you are so inclined, you may help.

Our Landlord has sent a letter stating that if we do not pay them an unfounded astronomical sum of money in the next few days they will begin eviction proceedings. I have always paid all of our rent on time. It's just that now they want more than we ever agreed to. Obviously there is a lot more to the story than this. But I must be very careful what I say considering I may be about to be sued.

Here's how you can help... We are hoping that an outpouring of support from the community will convince our landlord that Yoga Circle Downtown is a good thing and should be supported instead of torn down... What is important is that they know you support the Yoga Circle, you love your teachers and that you are a viable member of the community...

i had considered dropping by to take a class and see how things were going, but my schedule prevented me from doing so. weeks went by without any word...

and just when i was starting to hope that "no news is good news", this email update brought that much-needed good news:

Finally, to dispel any rumors to the contrary, obviously WE ARE STILL HERE. I want to take a moment to thank you for your letters of support. We were overwhelmed by the content and sheer volume. Thanks for caring. AND Thanks to the generous support of many of our students, through gifts, loans and early “yearly” purchases, we were able to pay the back CAM bill our landlord presented. Ultimately though our rent has drastically increased in the form of those same monthly CAM (common area maintenance) charges. In order to survive, our class pricing must go up.

One thing in all this that will remain is that we are now and will always be a donation based studio. Money should never be an obstacle to a Yoga practice. We’d rather have you contributing what you can than not be here at all and (we) maintain faith that those who can will pay the higher rate.

To all of you, Thank You for your Support. And remember the best way to continue your support is attendance. Together we can build a Downtown institution, be there for us and we’ll always be there for you.

After all, without you there is no Yoga Circle Downtown.

Namaste
Knekoh Fruge