Our STUDIO CULTURE

We believe yoga and meditation should be accessible for everyone who wants to practice.

It’s been proven that these supportive, regulating practices make a meaningful difference in how people process and handle stress, relate to each other, and grow as human beings.

About 12% of Oregonians - nearly 500,000 people - are living below the poverty line. An additional 700,000+ households are earning above the poverty line, but are still unable to consistently afford basic needs like housing, food, healthcare, and transportation.

63% of families report difficulty making ends meet each month and 48% are unable to cover a $500 emergency expense.

For many, the hierarchy of spending is clear: housing, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare.

This data shows: even when someone values yoga and meditation, it simply may not be accessible.

Over time, financial stress impacts more than just circumstances - it affects the nervous system as well as physical and mental health.

It can show up as chronic tension, fatigue, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, or a persistent sense of overwhelm.

Yoga and meditation don’t change external conditions - but they can offer meaningful support within them.

Through breath, movement, and stillness, these practices help regulate the nervous system - creating space for the body to soften and the mind to settle, even briefly. They can support better sleep, improve resilience to stress, and offer a sense of steadiness in the midst of uncertainty.

Just as importantly, the studio itself can be a place to land. A space where nothing is required beyond showing up.

While yoga and meditation are not a solution to systemic challenges, they can help people move through them with more elasticity and capacity.

Since our first year in business, we’ve been striving to make yoga more accessible to community members, regardless of their ability to pay.

Our Community Access Program works to support those who are unable to attend classes due to financial barriers, including (but not limited to):

Unemployment or unstable income

Difficulty covering rent, food, or utilities

Supporting dependents on limited income

Medical or caregiving expenses

Food or housing insecurity

Awards are made based on individual circumstances and the studio’s financial capacity. While applying does not guarantee an award, we do our best to extend support wherever we’re able.

We also host free and pay-what-you-can community classes and events as often as is sustainable.

We offer specially discounted studio memberships to teachers, veterans, first responders, healthcare and mental health professionals, social workers (as well as students) to acknowledge the care, service, and selfless energy these roles require.

Many of these paths involve long hours, emotional labor, and a deep commitment to supporting others - often without compensation that reflects that impact.

Across all of these roles, there’s a common thread: giving a lot of energy outward. Yoga and meditation offer a way to turn inward - supporting sustainability, preventing burnout, and creating moments of care that make it possible to continue showing up in meaningful ways.

Discounted access is one way we help make space for rest, regulation, and continued well-being for the people who serve our communities from the heart.

Yoga and meditation can be especially supportive for people in these roles because they help regulate the nervous system, process stress, and provide access to groundedness - both on and off the job.

For teachers, healthcare workers, mental health professionals, and social workers, the work often involves constant outward attention and emotional presence. Over time, that can lead to exhaustion, burnout, or compassion fatigue. Practices like breathwork, meditation, and yoga help create space to reset - expanding the ability to stay present without becoming overwhelmed.

For first responders and veterans, the nervous system is frequently exposed to high-alert or high-stress situations. Yoga and meditation can help shift the body out of a chronic “fight or flight” state, supporting downregulation, improved sleep, and a greater sense of safety in the body.

We want the studio to function as a true touchstone in the community - especially for those who spend their days giving so much of themselves to others. For teachers, caregivers, first responders, mental health care providers, and social workers, having a place to guide a gentle return to a regulated nervous system - through the breath and the body, through motion and stillness - is crucial.

There’s always a balance between honoring the bottom line and honoring the heart of the work. For us, this is one way we hold both: by making space for the people who are steadily supporting our broader community day after day to feel supported, too.

If you are a teacher, veteran, first responder, healthcare worker, mental healthcare worker, or social worker you may be eligible for a $25 discount each month on an unlimited membership. To inquire, send us an email.

If we are to fulfill our role as a community touchstone, we must acknowledge the full scope of what holding space as a yoga teacher means, and invest in our teachers as our most valuable asset.

Teaching a yoga or meditation class isn’t just an hour on the schedule. It’s time spent on preparation and sequencing. It’s emotional presence - holding space for a range of experiences, physical capabilities, temperaments, and energy levels. It’s the physical work of demonstrating and queuing asanas and breath, and the mental load of staying in tune and responsive to the room in real time.

Committed yoga teachers also pursue ongoing training, self study, and consistency in their own personal practice.

This work is not transactional, but relational, and it requires technical knowledge, developed skill, physical labor, deep self awareness, and genuine emotional investment.

Yoga and meditation can be deeply supportive for a community - but that impact is only as strong as the people holding the space.

When teachers feel resourced, they’re able to show up with clarity and steadiness, and can offer genuine connection to the community through their teaching.

When a team is treated as a yoga studio’s greatest asset, that studio becomes more than a place to take a yoga class - it becomes a living, functioning example of the very philosophy it was founded on. It operates as an ecosystem, deeply rooted within the community it serves.

We believe that caring for our teachers is inseparable from caring for our community. Without that foundation, the work loses its integrity.

We believe that how we do anything is how we do everything. Guided by Satya (truth), we strive to hold ourselves accountable to the values we ask our community to trust.

We’re intentional about how we support our teaching team.

Core teachers receive a reliable base rate, with bonuses tied to class attendance, so growth is shared. We encourage a sense of ownership over each teaching hour - supporting teachers in building community, developing their voice, and shaping classes based on their authentic connection to yoga.

We offer space for exploration through workshops and special events, actively supporting our teachers’ individual interests and passions. There’s a high degree of autonomy within collaboration.

Core teachers also receive class credits for their own use, along with access to discounted credit packs they can share with close friends and family.

We offer regular reviews with opportunities for increased base pay, and after one year of teaching, core teachers receive a week of paid vacation - something not often seen in spaces like this, but deeply important to us.