Today was an Exciting Day
When we first decided to open Eight Limbs, we thought a lot about how to fund it and came to the conclusion that trying to sell a limited number of Founding Memberships — prepaid, unlimited memberships — felt the most in line with our values and intentions for the space we wanted to create. We’ll talk a little more about what that means and why we chose that route in a moment, but first: Today is an exciting day. Today, we received our first Founding Membership purchase and wanted to take a moment to commemorate and reflect a bit on that, and to talk a little bit more about the process of building this studio.
It's not easy to open a business in these here United States. They call it “the American Dream,” but sometimes it feels more like an “American Fantasy.” Have you ever tried it? It’s hard, y’all! They don’t teach this stuff in school (well, they might, actually). There’s a lot of little steps, and it costs a…not insignificant amount of money. There’s fees and deposits and rent and buildout and various software and tech and paying your staff and marketing and, and, and. It's not like we didn’t know that going into this, but once the ball starts rolling, you realize it's a bit steeper of an incline than it looked like it was gonna be. But people do this all the time, so it’s not impossible. And if other people can do it, surely we can do it — we’re people!
Confession time. We’re not rich people. Like, not even a little bit. We can get into the hoarding of wealth, the inaccessibility of resources for people of marginalized backgrounds, the hurdles of personal debt, and how the systems in place make it so much harder for folks to achieve things like this another time, but for now, we’ll leave it at this: the folks behind the scene here at Eight Limbs weren’t just sitting on a fat chunk of change waiting for a reason to spend it. Instead, we had an idea, a passion, a certain set of skills and experiences and decided to just run with it. We trust that things will fall into place and the universe will provide — or it won’t, but we’re willing to give it a shot anyway. Which is exactly why we’ve chosen this approach, and why we’re inviting the community to help bring this space to life.
The number one thing we want this studio to be is a community. More than a big room where you can stretch your hamstrings, it's meant to be a space where people can come together to connect and be in community. That word — community — gets bandied about a lot these days, and sometimes it can feel a little overused or diluted. For us, the idea of community is centered on a feeling of belonging, and a sense that you can rely on the people around you, and they can rely on you. You’re safe. Safe to exist, to show up, to make mistakes, to struggle, and to succeed. A space where people see you for who you are and accept you because of it, not in spite of it. A place where you can celebrate life’s wins or mourn life’s tragedies, and a place where you can have your needs met without expectation of something asked in return. In the yoga world, we might refer to this kind of space as a shala which is a Sanskrit word meaning "home;" a safe, sacred space, which is exactly what we’re trying to build here.
And so, with that as our foundation, we wanted to try funding this little endeavour through Founding Memberships. Sure, it might be easier to get a loan and just do it that way, but we’d rather build this with integrity and values that align with our community, and not be beholden to a bank and its motives. We’d rather be able to look you in the eye and say “we’re here because you want and need us to be, and we uphold shared values and commitments because of that” rather than “we owe a bank some money so we have to be here to pay off the debt.” That’s a tall order. It’s certainly not the easier way to do it, but it is the way that feels right, feels aligned.
So, today is an exciting day. Today, we received our first Founding Membership purchase. (And it wasn’t even from a blood relative or anything! Lol.) That feels so exciting. It feels like we’re on the right path. That, for as much as we believe in this vision, others do too, and that’s so encouraging.
Confession Number Two. Asking for money is really hard to do. It’s kinda embarrassing. Even asking your closest friends and family members to help with something like this is hard, let alone asking folks who barely know you, especially when you don’t yet have something concrete to show them. There’s no location yet. There’s no schedule, no bolsters or blocks or mats. There’s a pretty nice website, but that’s kinda it. A website and a dream. And as much as we can, we try to explain that dream and the intention behind it and hope that’s enough. But even still, it’s awkward to have these conversations. “Hey, person who we know likes yoga, would you like to invest in our new studio that hasn’t opened yet for the low, low price of a few hundred dollars?” In this economy?! It’s a lot to ask, we know that. But we also know that this space needs to exist, and that people need to have it in their lives. We need this kind of shala, now more than ever. It's tough out there right now, and this place is specifically being designed so you won’t have to be out there alone. If that’s something that’s important to you, then we’d love to invite you to become a Founding Member.
Ok, so what is a Founding Membership? Well, basically it’s an unlimited yoga membership, just like you’d get at most studios, but you pay for it upfront so the funds can go directly toward our startup costs, like securing our lease, purchasing props and mats, and building out the space so it feels like home the moment you walk in. They’re intentionally priced to be the lowest we’ll ever offer, so you’re getting a good deal, and they’ll come with a bunch of perks and bonuses (and possibly a t-shirt or something), and you’ll get bragging rights to tell all your friends you were here before it was cool. We’re only offering a limited number of them, just enough so we can get things up and running, so once they’re gone, they’re gone. We are offering two levels: a 6-month and a 12-month membership, and both come with unlimited classes, discounts on workshops and events, guest passes for friends, and early access to everything we have to offer once we get our doors open. We’ll even throw on an extra month of unlimited classes if you bring a friend who signs up for a Founding Membership! Heck, you could even pay it forward and donate a Founding Membership to someone else.
It's still gonna take a minute to get our doors open, so Founding Memberships won’t actually activate until Day One. There’s a direct connection between the timeline to opening and how quickly we’re able to secure Founding Memberships, and as things shift and evolve, you can trust that we’ll keep you updated at every step along the way. Since we aren’t backed by big investors or loans, this studio only exists if our community wants it to exist, so Founding Members aren’t just customers — they’re the reason Eight Limbs gets to open at all.
We’re not asking for handouts or donations, we’re asking for investments in this community. It’s your chance to get on board early and help us shape what it ultimately becomes. If this resonates with you, becoming a Founding Member is the most meaningful way to bring it to life and we’d love to have you along for the ride. But even if you can’t right now, just know you’re still invited to be a part of this, to join our community, to come in out of the cold and connect with good people, through smart movement. Tight hamstrings welcome.