A Tale as old as time

There comes a time in every boy’s life when he says “you know what? I think I’m gonna open a yoga studio.” 

Ok, maybe not every boy’s life. Thank goodness, cause that would be crazy. Just yoga studios everywhere, on every corner. Sheesh!

Well, there comes that time for some boys – this boy – at least.

My name is Justin. Maybe you know me, maybe you don’t. I’m a yoga practitioner and teacher living in Portland, OR and I’m on a journey to open a yoga studio here. I figured it might be kind of fun to talk about that; about why I’m doing it, how I’m doing it, who I’m doing it with…why I’m doing it. If I’m lucky, you’ll read this and decide you want to join me on this journey, and if nothing else, we’ll have something to look back on when all is said and done to say “wow, look how far we’ve come.”

I’ll get this out of the way early: this is kind of scary. I’m not not anxious about it, and there’s more than a little imposter syndrome floating around in my tummy these days. But maybe, if I just talk it out now, it’ll go away? Or, maybe it won’t – but maybe it’ll be easier to deal with. I think it’s ok to say that. It’s ok to acknowledge when we feel fear or discomfort or uncertainty. In fact, that’s a really big part of yoga. It’s very much about sitting with discomfort, accepting it, and moving past it. That’s how growth happens. Surely it can’t be comfortable to be a little seed buried in the dirt. If it were, they wouldn’t work so hard to grow their leaves up toward the sun. 

So yeah, I’m wrestling with the “what if I don’t make it?” and the “who the heck do I think I am, anyway?” of it all, and that’s ok. We all feel that from time to time. Someone much wiser than me, who’s on tv, calls that voice your Inner Sabateur. We’re not gonna listen to that voice. 

So…why am I opening a yoga studio in Portland? Surely we have enough of those here. I mean, “swing a dead cat*,” am I right? Well, first off, it’s ‘cause it’s where I live, so there’s definitely some proximity bias. But also, and this is the real reason, its cause we need it. 

Do we really need another yoga studio? Yes. Yes we do. In fact, we need many more. And not just yoga studios. We need more clubs, and knitting circles, and churches, and meditation centers, and libraries, and bowling alleys. We need more places where people can go to spend time together, to connect, to look each other in the eye and just BE together. I just happen to enjoy yoga, and teaching it, and spending time with other people who enjoy it, so it makes sense to me that this is what I would be doing with my life at this point.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t so sure at first. Quite a few people have asked me over the years if I thought I would ever open a studio and I always kinda brushed it off. But one person in particular kept asking, and kept telling me it's what she thought I should be doing. Her name is Michele. Many of you who come across this will know her. She’s actually my teacher – she’s taught me, quite literally, everything I know about yoga. She’s an amazing teacher, friend, and human being, and she’s touched so many people’s lives. Like…so many. And for some reason she seemed to see something in me that I didn’t yet see in myself. Or, at least that’s how she made me feel and at the end of the day that’s all that matters: how you make people feel. Anyway, I guess she said it enough times that I started to believe it and here we are.

The thing is, the kind of yoga studio I want to open doesn’t exist yet. Or, at least, I haven’t found it. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many amazing yoga studios in Portland. Each one is unique and special and does such a good job at creating an environment that is enriching and welcoming. So many people are sharing yoga in its many forms with practitioners from all walks of life, and I would never, ever want to diminish their work, or compare myself and my vision to them in any way. I am not here to compete, I’m here to create.

Here’s the truth: The yoga I teach, and that our instructors will teach, and that every instructor at every studio teaches…it's all pretty much the same. That's a feature, not a flaw. When you show up to one of our classes, there won’t be anything fundamentally different from what you would get from any other studio’s classes. We’re not reinventing the wheel because, well, this wheel is especially good at rolling. You’re always going to get a thoughtfully sequenced class featuring clear alignment cues for a handful of postures you’ve probably heard of already. That’s kind of the whole point. I’m not trying to diminish it whatsoever, I’m just being realistic. It’s intentional, and it is intentional because I, like almost every other teacher on the planet, was taught a lineage-based system that has been passed down through generations. We all learned that same system, and yes, there have been tweaks and changes, additions and subtractions, different branches and modalities that have come up over the years because yoga is a living practice, but still, in the end, it’s all the same. It’s just yoga. 

You’re gonna hear me say that a lot: It’s just yoga. Some of you might bristle because you’ll think it sounds trite or reductive. That’s fine, that’s your journey. You might hear “it’s just yoga” and think that I don’t take it seriously, but you’re wrong, I take yoga very seriously. Just maybe not the way you think I might. 

I’m not being flippant here; it really is just yoga. Part of the problem, as I see it, is that we have made yoga, and the practice of it, into something precious and self-serious and exclusive. It’s a billion-dollar industry for companies that make leggings and run “retreat centers” in the Global South. It’s an Instagram influencer’s dream to walk into a pristine studio, snap some photos of themselves doing a handstand with their fancy water bottle and call themselves a #yogi. Gurl, you’re not a yogi. I’m not even a yogi! I could never! Do you even know the kind of discipline it takes to be a real yogi? 

That attitude, that bougie snobbery? That’s not yoga. That’s exclusivity masquerading as holiness. We don’t do that here. You won’t find photos of our teachers or students posing for stunts on our Instagram. You won’t see perfect bodies with perfect lighting doing perfect backbends. If you come to one of your classes you’re gonna see a group of people practicing together. Some will be more practiced than others, but they’ll be smiling and laughing with each other (not at each other), as they sweat and breathe together. You’ll see them labor and you’ll see them rest. You’ll see them find the balance of hard and soft, stillness and strength. Most of all, you’ll see them connect; with themselves, with their bodies, and with their community.

So yeah, it’s just yoga.  

I’ve got a lot more to say, and I’ll keep expanding on this vision and this idea of what Eight Limbs is and is not. I’ll provide updates on how things are developing as we get closer and closer to opening, and I’ll share more thoughts and insights so you have a clearer picture of what this studio can and will become. I hope to introduce you to some of the instructors who will join me in this adventure, and some of the people who help make this all come together. So stay tuned. 

Oh, and one more thing: from here on out, it’s not “I,” it’s “we.” It’s a subtle distinction, but a meaningful one, I think. I can’t do this alone, and I am part of a community. We’re doing this together, near or far, whether you practice with us in the studio or not, you’re a part of this community. You’re welcome here and you get to help shape it. So yeah, it’s “we” from now on. Hopefully, over time, you’ll start to share in this vision and what it has to offer, and you’ll feel like part of the “we” as much as I do. Besides, we don’t fuck with no asmita up in here. 

*Please don’t swing dead cats.