Life without Vitalize
3 years ago I discovered Vitalize Studio. The yoga studio that I regularly attended classes at was shut down for a renovation and I needed to find somewhere else to go and attend yoga classes. In Salt Lake City there seems to be a yoga studio on every corner. Lucky for me there was a studio about a block away from my house. When I attended this new studio the first time, I was comforted by how beautiful it was. There’s a big mandala on the studio wall (and I love mandalas); additionally the studio was appointed with interesting pieces of art. One of my favorite pieces was a metal cutout of bodies in the poses of a yoga Surya Namaskar (sun salutation). Every time I stepped into the studio I could see this metal cutout - it hung above the entry desk to the studio. When I started going to the studio I was only attending one yoga class there, a Sunday 8:30 AM class. Attending this class I discovered the Buddhist Fellowship Gathering that was held right after the yoga class. As it turns out, this gathering has become a staple in my everyday life. I enjoyed the teachings and became connected with the fellowship members. I found a place of safety and comfort, as well as a place to learn more about the philosophies of life. Every Sunday when I attended yoga and then the fellowship gathering, I walked past the metal cutout. Some days I took notice of it and some days I just walked by.
About a year after I started attending the Sunday yoga class a good friend and yoga teacher started teaching at this studio. Now I was attending the studio 3 additional days a week, each time providing me with an opportunity to look at the cutout. After a few months another teacher friend started teaching there as well and now I was at the studio almost every day. When I finished my yoga teacher certification, I started teaching at the studio as well. I replaced the Sunday morning teacher - she had given up her practice there about 6 months earlier. Now I fulfilled the need for a Sunday morning class. I found yoga to be a great stretching of the body and the heart before settling in for the Fellowship Gathering. I felt like this studio, Vitalize, was my second home.
Then COVID happened. Suddenly no one was coming to Vitalize. Instead we were hunkered down at home, attending yoga and fellowship gatherings on Zoom. While I was grateful for the implementation of Zoom ,I was sad to miss my in person gatherings, and I missed the environment of Vitalize that held space for so many activities that were important to me.
With the social distancing of COVID, very little rental income was coming into Vitalize. So the owners of the studio made the sad decision to put the business on the market. I was initially crushed. “What! First we have to socially distance and now the space that held so much meaning for me is going away?! Where will yoga be held when the world opens back up? Where will our fellowship connect? What about that metal cutout, that anchor that represented so much of my heart and connection? Where will that go?”
My friend the yoga teacher assured me I shouldn’t worry. She said we could certainly find another studio to teach in once we were ready to go back to the studio. I couldn’t imagine it; Vitalize was the only studio I had ever taught in. My mind went back 30+ years to my first job in my IT career. I remember when the business leadership changed. I remember how nervous I was about having to prove myself all over again to a different set of leadership. What if they thought my job was unnecessary? What would happen then? Over the course of my career I saw many leadership changes, many geographic changes, starts and stops to my employment, and co-worker changes. I navigated it all and survived. Most of the time I thrived. So changing yoga studios shouldn’t be so traumatic.
The folks at Buddhist Fellowship didn’t seem too worried either. They had followed Vitalize to its current location; they had been located in a different space only 4 years prior. The fellowship took this change as an opportunity to find a new space and perhaps start to raise funds to build their own building. Still I was saddened. I loved the space and it was so convenient for me! I never had to drive. I walked through heatwaves and snowstorms. I got to see the changes in the seasons through my foot journey to Vitalize multiple times a week.
I wondered about the metal cutout. What would happen when the owners left the studio? I reached out to one of the owners and asked if she would be selling any of the art that sat in the studio. She told me no, but she was curious which piece I was interested in. I told her about my attachment to the metal cutout of the yoga poses. I told her how much it meant to me and how it connected me to the studio. Did she know where I could buy one? She said she had purchased it almost 20 years earlier and she would look into that for me. I was hopeful.
The next day she texted me back. She said felt moved to gift me the metal cutout. I was so touched and grateful! I was excited to have this piece of my heart and personal history to hang in my own home, to remind me of how important the space was to me . I would also be reminded of the kindness of the owner who had become my friend over the past few years.
I am working through dealing with the impermanence of Vitalize in my life. While I let go, it is nice to have this memento of my time there to help me move on through the transience of life.