PYP Downtown Update!
We are counting down the days until the opening of our Downtown location! Of course, construction projects are notoriously difficult to keep to a definite timeline. But we are on track for our November opening (actual day TBD once we get the permit we were told we didn’t need for the inspection required to get the next contractor in who started another project and, oh, the supplies you need are backordered, so let’s switch the timing of that other installation but then we’ll need to do it in two phases etc. iykyk).
We are SO excited. It’s always wild when a dream becomes a vision and then a reality. In the last nine months of minutia—pouring over contracts and budgets and pinterest boards—we’ve tried to remember to occasionally lift our heads up, take a step back, and marvel at the growth of our community. We are adding 30 classes to our schedule, we have 42 teachers on our payroll, we have over 300 members and 1000 people that come through our doors every week.
We’re growing in numbers but also in depth.
While Elizabeth and Jess have been spearheading the oversight of the buildout (hiring and managing contractors, tearing down walls, driving to Augusta to pick up glass blocks for a very cool wall between the prop room and the studio), I’ve been rebuilding our website, which takes me back to July 2020 when Elizabeth and Jess first asked me to come on as a part of the management team. My first big project was to build a website to host all of our online classes, to turn PYP into PYP online. It’s been wild to reflect on that first project four years ago, which was happening in the midst of another buildout—one that was postponed for 2 years because of the pandemic. You’ve heard the tale of teachers arriving in the dark, sweeping an inch of sawdust off the floor to make space for a mat in the back corner of the barre room, turning on the computer to greet you and create a space that felt like we were all together in the same place, even if it wasn’t a physical location.
We’ve come a long way in those four years. But when I step back I also see that not much has changed. At the core of our business are incredible, dedicated teachers showing up with their whole selves to create a sense of belonging. Our mission has always been and will always be to keep pushing the boundaries of what it means and looks like to belong, especially at a yoga studio. That is the expansion we are most committed to.
You know that at PYP we have a lot of fun. We laugh really (too?) hard. But like anything involving humans, it’s not always rosy or easy. We bicker and hurt each other’s feelings and show up sometimes as less than our best selves and get knocked down by grief, depression, and exhaustion. But what we are a part of is bigger than our egos, opinions, and life circumstances. We are a part of a community based project where whole people are welcome to show up and create their own sense of belonging. It’s not easy, but it’s beautiful, and it’s something that I am proud and grateful to be a part of.
You know, I’ve never asked Elizabeth and Jess how they came up with the name of our studio. But one thing is for damn sure…
IT’S A PROJECT.
Questions about the new space? Check out the FAQ’s on our new website (yes, we address parking!)
