Christine Burke is just one among many small studio owners who do not see their studios as distinct from the community.
Located in the middle of a block crowded with shops and restaurants, Liberation Yoga in Hollywood offers a respite not only for students and yoga practitioners, but also for the local neighborhood. Christine Burke, co-owner/director with husband Gary McCleery, explains that, “from the very beginning, part of our mission has been to promote the connection of community so that there is a feeling of togetherness and unity.” Burke continues to say that, “though not listed as one of the eight limbs, unity is at the heart of the practice.”
When the pair realized a group of people were still left out even though they offer a wide range of classes and events, the studio started a scholarship program for those in emotional, physical and/or financial need. Offered twice yearly, this comprehensive package includes regular yoga classes, personal guidance in meditation, mantra practice, books and supplies. Only in its second year, fifty-six recipients have already benefited, and each scholarship recipient does community service, or seva at a local organization.
To connect with neighbors on the street, Burke personally invited each store-owner and their employees to attend classes. “We have a neighborhood discount, so if you work on the street there are special prices because I really want to encourage the work-a-day community to be united in some way. We’re all working to create a better environment here, whether it’s a retail store or restaurant.”
Skyler Myers opened Yoganic Studio, the only “green studio” in San Diego, in a lower- to middle - class area of the city because she wanted to offer yoga to a community that did not have yoga. Known as “the yoga lady” on her street, Myers says, “My vision
was to create a community center where people could come to be nourished.” Not one to let lack of experience limit her students’ understanding of yoga, Myers integrates yoga philosophy into many classes, emphasizing how to practice these concepts in daily life.
“In a lot of classes, I will ask, ‘what is your dharma?’ And we reflect on: what am I here for, what do I have to offer?” Besides yoga classes, Yoganic offers special events aimed at appealing to the community at-large such as yoga/dance nights and trips to a local organic farm to learn about food from an Ayurvedic perspective. At a recent movie night, Myers screened a documentary about the plight of children in Uganda; participants donated money to the cause.
When Cheryl Moss and Corine Whitman opened Goda Yoga in Culver City five years ago, they also wanted to create a “sanctuary” in a neighborhood that was not already saturated with yoga. Their backgrounds, as therapist and painter respectively, infuse the studio with a warm and creative sensibility. Before class, you might get a friendly visit from Whitman’s dog or take time out to chat with a classmate.
“Our feeling is that yoga itself is a service” Moss says, adding that, “for the American mindset and the Los Angeles lifestyle, yoga offers a way to shift to an internal focus.” In addition to classes designed to meet the needs
"If I can provide a way for somebody to feel better, that's what the studio is here for."
of many different levels of students, Goda Yoga offers classes in Spanish and a free community satsang each weekend with the local meditation center. “We feel a dedication to healing in a larger sense,” Moss continues.
Yoga at the Village strives to bring small town familiarity to the city of Glendale. Owner Elyse Briggs fosters a light-hearted, accepting environment where members of the diverse community can practice yoga together and hopefully get to know one another in a new way. Briggs happily expresses that, “it’s lovely to see people who might complain about one another in traffic come to the studio and practice together.”
Inspired by her background in theater, Briggs started the Barefoot Cabaret at Yoga at the Village to showcase local talent and provide another opportunity for students and neighbors to interact in a positive space. Behind opening the
doors to the community for all of these performances, fundraisers and classes for kids, teens, people with MS and more, lies a bigger vision. Says Briggs, “if I can provide a way for somebody to feel better, that’s what the studio is here for.”
Inspiration and staying power for small studios who choose to remain dedicated to a community’s sensibilities can be found through the work of Juliette Kurth and Jonathan Emerson, co-owners of Silverlake Yoga since 1995. “After eleven years, we are just now expanding!” Kurth exclaims enthusiastically. Kurth and Emerson asked students what they wanted in the new space; the schedule is a reflection of those requests, such as yoga later in the evenings for those who work
long hours, mommy-and-me classes on weekends for working mothers, as well as more variety. What their expansion process does not include is a store or a registrar’s office. The mom-n-pop yoga studio has done without it so far, and made a conscious decision to continue in that way. For this husband and wife team, a store is extraneous, even distracting, to their purpose to create a safe, quiet, neighborhood space.
“What we’re here to do,” Kurth explains, “is to turn people on to this practice that does many different things. And it connects people.” “From the beginning,” she continues, “what inspired us really were the people that were coming into our studio space. This started to become a community and we saw this incredibly beautiful range of people that touched us very deeply in a way that I think is where the spiritual aspect of yoga comes from, seva. This is really what yoga is about: union and reaching out – connecting.”
