As you may know, I was scheduled to travel to India last Thursday to begin the second module of my Yoga Therapy Program.
Publicly, I hadn't said much about my upcoming trip because of all the Coronavirus news and the uncertainty around international travel. I found myself telling students, friends, and family, that I was scheduled to travel on March 5th, unless something happened to prevent me from traveling.
And at the last minute (on Thursday morning), I made the difficult decision to cancel my trip. The deciding factor was, with the way the number of infections was escalating on a daily basis (and still is), I had no way to know what the situation might be on April 6th, when I was scheduled to fly back. Would I be allowed to fly to the US? Would I be quarantined? I have young children and couldn't risk a potential delayed return after having been away for a month already.
I have been in contact with my teachers in India and we will figure out a plan so that I (and four other classmates who were unable to travel) can make up our work.
So, I just wanted to let you know that I'm safely still here in town. I'd organized teachers to sub my classes during my absence, and as much as possible I'm going to request that they teach as planned so I can use this time to study my Yoga Therapy materials, and also so I can polish up our Yoga Teacher Training program which begins on April 18th.
I look forward to seeing you soon. Please practice good hand washing!
Accessibility for People with Disabilities + We're Hiring!
I hope you're having a great week! We're so happy to see more and more people getting back into their yoga groove and coming into class the past couple of weeks. It's always so nice to see familiar faces we haven't seen in a while. If we haven't seen you in a little bit, come back and see us! :)
We have quite a few things going on at the studio right now!
ADA Compliance
We felt a responsibility to make our space fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Accessible after learning about the many challenges people with disabilities face when trying to navigate public spaces. While it's the law that all public spaces must be ADA compliant, the law is not widely enforced. A big thank you to Accessible Yoga, and Ryan McGrawin particular, for bringing this to our attention.
Just yesterday we completed all the requirements to claim full ADA compliance for our studio. We were already easily wheelchair accessible, with handicap parking, ramps from the parking lot to the building, and an elevator in the building. When we designed our space back in 2013, we planned doorways wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, a wide hallway, big bathrooms, grab bars, accessible sinks, and lever-style doorknobs. And of course our platforms makes all kinds of sitting and lying postures accessible for people who have a hard time getting down on the floor.
All we needed to do to become fully compliant was to add the required room signage with braille for both studio rooms and both bathrooms, which is now done. It took just a little awareness and a little effort to make our space fully accessible to anyone who'd like to come in and practice yoga with us, and as you know, we want EveryBody to feel welcome at The Yoga Room.
We're Hiring!
Are you interested in working part time at The Yoga Room? We're looking for one or two friendly people to run our front desk on weekday mornings from 8:00 - 12:00. If you'd like to join our team (or know someone perfect who might), please click here to read more about what the job entails. We're accepting applications through Wednesday, June 19th!
Going to India
On a personal note, I wanted to let you know that I'm heading back to India on July 4 to begin the 500+ hour Yoga Therapy program at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. This is the same school where I completed the 500+ hour Yoga Teacher Training Program in August of last year. I'm really honored to have been selected to attend the training and I'm looking forward to formally learning about how to use the tools of yoga for individualized therapeutic applications.
I'll keep you updated about my travel and my learnings through this newsletter and through our Facebook page. Please feel welcome to reach out at any time if there's a particular topic you'd like me to discuss or address.
See you soon!
