"The Love Coop"

The creation of Love Yoga Co-Op is unfolding daily. So too is the reality of the time/energy output involved to get the project started (and to help it flourish). Truth is I'm not interested in running or managing a yoga studio. I am interested in sheparding a space where driven yoga teachers can grow, flourish, build a community and get paid a living wage. But, as a dear friend and yoga studio owner recently shared with me, "like it or not, Lauran, you will be a small business owner as soon as you sign your name on the lease. This means that part of your day will be spent tangled in the nitty gritty of cash flow, teacher management, marketing and promotion and rental space up-keep."

The rising sun of responsibilities is at first daunting -- enough to make me wonder if the day to day operations involved in the co-op will throw off my life-work balance. What I am saying? Of course this project is going to dramatically change the flow of my day, especially during the early stages of the co-op when my understanding of "how to make it work" is more like a gravel road than a super highway. But, still, part of me knows that diving into this will be an amazing learning experience. It already has been. And more than anything I've learned just how many people want to help make it work! I've had friends come out of the woodwork to help with the lease negotiations, website development, logo/graphic design, prop/mat donation, insurance quotes, financial flow charts, and non-profit education resources. Though, yes, I am managing the process, I also feel very much like nurturinig the growth of an already living organism..."It takes a village."

Really the next step, as I see it, is to continue to educate and empower teachers about how the co-op works and why the co-op might be a sweet addition to a studio setting.