~ YOGA and the MATTERS of KEEPING OUR DOORS OPEN ~

YM as a business is clearly operating on a micro level.  Set up to propagate Bikram Yoga and ensure a consistent and guaranteed place of practice by 2 lovers of this Yoga for other lovers of this Yoga on a small landmass with limited population with the added hope of providing a ‘living’ for the dedicated proprietors that will enable them to continue to operate indefinitely.  We did not set up to innovate or shake up the Yoga world; what we do is something pristine and eternal and isn’t subject to the changes of fashion. We did not set up to take over the Yoga world; we never seek to ‘take more’ than our ‘jersey living’.

A ‘business’ such as ours seeking to have a positive impact on those who use it must operate in a manner at all times that is compatible with what we say we are.  As the owners we must walk the talk and continuously examine our modus operendi to make sure we do not cross any boundaries into area that conflicts with our personal ideas of how we want to be in the world which is, to be more specific, Yogis AND THEREFORE our business MUST NOT conflict with what a ‘Yogi’ actually IS (as that would not be setting a very good example for potential Yogis of the future or for those like minded people we would like to come to our studio!).  It is hard to do what we do and operate in a manner that transcends the majority view of what it means to ‘be in business’ i.e. the traditional system: profit is queen (cash/king). We are not out to maximize profit, we feel ours is more a spiritual effort/journey, but long term it needs to be sustainable or YM will cease to exist.

Every decision we make in relation to the business is carefully examined as to potential impact on our practitioners and us in the long term; we never seek short term gain, we do not believe that to be sustainable for your/our needs and so such decisions are mulled over for the longest time and looked at from every angle, not made on a whim; whims are transitory and we want to make the right choices that has the right outcome in this commitment of ours. WE ARE VERY CONSCIOUS that every decision we make will manifest something in one way or another and we will not always predict/see the ‘manifest’.  This is really important because we don’t want to have a negative impact on any of our practitioners OR the Yoga that we propagate or indeed on anyone remotely connected to or interested in what we do.  So no decision is a ‘minor’ decision where our Yoga school is concerned.  This is scary responsibility and harder than many think because let us face it; we are Yoga instructors running a business. Not business people running a Yoga studio.

WE BELIEVE WE HAVE A HIGHER PURPOSE  We remain loyal to it and our business choices need to fit in with that, namely:

• practice Bikram Yoga/Yoga
• share Bikram Yoga/Yoga
• draw people to join us on our Bikram Yoga journey
• help those who find the joy in Bikram Yoga evolve and reap maximum benefits from their regular practice

WE WANT TO BE PART OF WHAT ‘MADE THE DIFFERENCE’ IN BIKRAM PRACTITIONERS’ LIVES

WE MUST NOT have a negative impact on others who are genuinely on the Yoga practitioner/instructor path/journey and so we consider those around us (e.g. when we opened Yoga Matters there had been no Bikram Yoga in town for 6.5 years and in fact to our knowledge there was no completely static and ‘dedicated’ solely to propagation of Yoga’ studio anywhere in St Helier (others perhaps coming later). Our location was chosen and YM was deliberately established far enough away from all the other Yoga teachers to have no impact whatsoever on their business; THIS WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO US as Yogi aspirants. We built our practitioner base from 0, 1, 2, 3 people…

All choices in relation to the studio since have been considered to the tiniest detail always examining impact on others and proper Yogi conduct even where we could have done otherwise despite what was going on around us.  We have observed others have come to us and told untruths but whilst we may not have always revealed early days our future plans (that is: some of our business is simply private and personal (business and personal intertwined in what we do) we have never told an untruth in relation to our business although we have sometimes avoided conversations about our business with others as it just didn’t feel right or comfortable in certain settings. We LOVE clear conscience.  We have also had to be austere for the longest time in order to stay in business (this is part of our responsibility to our practitioners: to be here).  We believe we have been austere far beyond what many would have been prepared to be or endured (if people truly knew what running a Yoga studio can entail). Compassion is a mantra although I confess this one has been VERY tricky at times (and of course it is those times when compassion becomes highest sadhana!) which means I need to amplify that particular mantra track!!! Practice; swadyaya and consciousness helps.

THE CRUX OF THIS YOGA MATTER

Since 2016 we have increasingly been struggling to operate. We have taken a lot of advice over that time from many different quarters including having personal conversations with practitioners to seek a variety of opinions.  We have made ‘firm’ decisions and then overnight done 90/360/180degree turns. It has been really hard havving ongoing circular ‘worry’ conversations in our household.  WORRY EMPTIES TODAY OF ITS STRENGTH and we want to keep our head on the important stuff, how to facilitate our students evolving practice. Obviously, we do not know what the outcome of any of our decisions will be; who truly does in business. Over this time we have made decisions re price increase that seemed to have helped for a short period. New people are definitely the future of any Yoga studio but we are at a loss at how to attract them having exhausted all our limited abilities on this front. We are not and never have been ‘business people’; we cannot ‘hustle’ (which seems to be the big requirement now if you want to be in this sector); additionally, it was never our dream to be on social media as much as we have had to be and we are being told we need to do even more on there and.we.just.can’t.do.that. it takes much of the pleasure out of what we do being forced on to sm constantly.  If you know anyone who might benefit from the mind body spirit therapy that is our practice please do suggest they give Bikram Yoga at Yoga Matters a try out; we would appreciate that; it gives them a chance at acquiring a tool to help them sustain, it gives the class they attend a dose of new person energy (always good) and it helps secure your little Yoga school sanctuary.

YOURS IS A DEDICATED YOGA STUDIO!

People don’t always think about this but we are not just renting a room for 90 minutes (we don’t just rock up for class and turn out carefree immediately afterwards) and our specialised discipline is not a Yoga that travels into the great outdoors of beach and park where there are gloriously no overheads; but we are here come hail, rain or shine to meet ‘dedicated Bikram Yogi’s’ practice needs.  Most of a class fee goes towards business costs/keeping the doors open. We take the most basic salary. We remain COMMITTED TO THE PRACTITIONERS who like to come to our studio regularly; we LOVE the way they LOVE their Yoga practice and we WANT to be here for them and want to ensure that they can expect to have a nice, safe place to practice and indeed, that THEY WILL have a place to practice. We think our practitioners DESERVE to have the comfort of this knowledge as a bare MINimum.

We will continue to maintain the environment that you are practicing in (which we hope practitioners are happy with already). Your investment helps us do this. We THANK YOU all for your continued investment in Yoga Matters and for helping to make every class that happens at YM HAPPEN and for making every class at YM a special event.

Thank you for reading.

Om Om Om In Pursuit of Stillness

Darren & Trisha

1 September 2018 {updated 2023}

Reference YM Price Increase History:

July 2011 all class fees were £7

January 2013 (JEC increase cost 11% forcing first increase £8 drop in and ‘10 x class pack’ £75

January 2015 drop in fee £9 discount pack remain same £75

November 2016 drop in fee £9.50 discount pack £80 (.50p)

October 2018 drop in fee £11 discount pack £90 and change of validity period

October 2020 drop in fee £12 dicount pack £95

October 2022 drop in ffee £15 discount pack £100