August

 Man, August was a crazy month... 

In my business, there are ebbs and flows, feast and famine, down times and up times, but August was epic. Well, truthfully, so was July.. and June wasn't so great either. We always see some fluctuation, people go on vacation, kids get out of school, teachers get uninspired with low numbers, it just happens. But this summer we saw numbers we haven't seen for 15 years. Seriously. 

Everyone kept saying "it's just summer, it'll get better." Usually the ones that say "it's just winter, it's just nice weather, it's just bad weather, it's just spring, summer, fall, etc." And there is some truth to that. However, I've been doing this a long time. I've seen the numbers rise and fall for 20 years. I know when people are getting bored and it's time to shake things up.

I also know when I shake things up, there are going to be some cranky people. Sigh. This makes the shaking up hard. But when a class only has 1 person coming... oy. 

I always send out a rough calendar a month before the next month starts. I encourage my teachers to think about the next month and decide what is working, what isn't working and what needs changed. Especially in September. There are a few months a year where we have an opportunity to get re-established on our schedules:  September. January. April. June. The worst months are always December. May. August.  So I sent the September schedule early.

Crickets.

Seriously. Did not hear from one teacher. Eek. Some teachers had dropped some long running classes. Put them on "hiatus". Guys, hiatus is over LOL. Anyways, I hate to nag, beg, or badger so I set about trying to figure out what everyone wanted. 

What. Everyone. Wanted. 

Impossible.

Barry & I have talked and talked and talked. Is this a sign that our beloved Imagine is done? How do you even BE done? Like, what do we do with the stuff? The people? Ourselves? Oh dear. Do I need to go back to doing my classes and appointments in my house? Say it isn't so...do you know how much dog hair is in my house on a daily basis? Oy... I decided to start praying.

And YAY! Stuff started happening. People started showing up. The chess game started aligning. I even heard from some of my teachers. Some. LOL. A beautiful angel showed up with a great spirit wanting to teach IN our studio. Experienced. Friendly. YaY! Some of my teachers came up with new/old events and classes they wanted to try. Even Barry decided he missed teaching and took back his old Thursday night spot! So that made me take back my Thursday slot. And made my Thursday yogis verrrrry happy. 

So, we'll see. After 3 days of re-aligning the website, mindbody, facebook et al, I have announced the changes. Knowing some people will be mad, glad, sad... sigh. The minute I pressed send the thought came to my mind loud and clear:

                   SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD

I have. I have done what I could. Now it's up to the Universe, the teachers, the students and the blessed internet gods. Not going to lie, I'm kinda excited! Fingers and toes crossed and what not!

Guys. Come to yoga. It will make you feel MUCH better.