“I heard Shiva came down on your yoga studio, “ my friend said, after hearing that my yoga studio had burned down in a fire.  ‘”What a positive perspective,” I thought to myself. With all the tragedy surrounding the studio fire, I hadn’t stopped to think of it as a positive sign of transformation and rebirth.

Three years ago, I co-owned a yoga studio in Kansas City, MO, that burned up, literally, overnight at the height of its’ success.  At the time of the fire, in February 2002, the studio offered four classes a day, with an average of 400 students per week. This was amazing, considering the awareness of yoga in the midwest, was fairly limited at that time.

What I didn’t realize at the time of the fire, or during the months leading up to it, was that my business partner and I really weren’t congruent with our approach and philosophies in teaching yoga and running the studio. In turn, the fire did for us, what we weren’t capable of doing for ourselves, it dissolved our partnership.

After the fire, I went to Los Angeles, believing that God truly did not want me to be teaching yoga anymore.  After all, the fire had eerily been contained to just the yoga studio space, without burning the spaces that were above, below, or on either side of the studio. (The studio resided on the 4th floor of an old warehouse.)

In addition, investigators never determined the cause of the fire, which really made me wonder, “Is spontaneous combustion a possibility?”  Looking back now I believe that when God is in charge, anything is possible!  I felt divine intervention was telling me to pursue a different path other than teaching yoga.   How little did I know at the time, however, that the Universe was actually nudging me to open a yoga studio of my own.

After a week- long visit in Los Angeles and much soul searching and weighing my options about what to do next, I found myself feeling very lost and distraught. I looked at my friend and said, “Do you think I’m supposed to go back to Kansas City and open my own yoga studio?”  She nodded her head, “yes,” like she had known all along that is what I would end up doing.  It is interesting that the thought of opening my own studio had never entered my mind, until that defining moment.

During the flight back to Kansas City, I wrote in my journal for three hours about what I wanted in a new yoga studio space, including rent price, square footage, view and the type of landlord I desired.  I knew I wanted a very urban and raw space with lots of character and history.

My best friend picked me up from the airport and I asked her to drive me downtown to the art gallery district, where my old studio was located.  Immediately, I saw a big canvas banner that said, “Lofts for Rent,” attached to a warehouse known as the “Art’s Incubator Building.”  I went inside to see what types of spaces were available to rent.

The friendly landlord walked me up to the top floor of a 100 -year- old warehouse and showed me 10,0 00 square feet of extremely raw space that hadn’t been used in 14 years.  I took one look out the front windows, which overlooked the Kansas City downtown skyline, and I thought, “This is exactly what I have been journaling about all the way home on the plane.’”

“This is it,” I exclaimed with joy, “this is going to be the home for Maya Yoga!”  I started jumping up and down and hugging my potential landlord and thanking him for being the answer to my prayers.  ( I’m surprised my enthusiasm didn’t scare the poor guy away, but thank goodness he believed in me and my intentions for spreading the word of yoga and he rented me the raw space of my dreams.)

The space of my dreams, however, needed a lot of work, as it had been abandoned for the last fourteen years.  I was unemployed at the time, due to the fire, so I did not have an income, nor did I have any savings, and to tops things off, the insurance company never gave my business partner and me a dime on the $100, 000 fire insurance policy.  It claimed that it was “liability only,” which would cover the spaces next to the studio, just not the studio space itself- go figure.  (A note to all studio owners: PLEASE make sure you have a supplemental fire insurance policy in addition to your yoga studio liability insurance.)

Through the grace of God, good friends and good credit, the new space was refurbished in two months and Maya Yoga, Kansas City, specializing in ashtanga and vinyasa yoga,  opened on April 28th, 2002, just three months after the fire had occurred.  ( A statue of Shiva sits tall on the altar at the studio as a symbol of the transformative cycle of death and rebirth.)

Maya Yoga is still rising above the ashes almost three years later, thanks to an incredible staff of instructors and an amazing and loyal student base.  My deepest gratitude goes out to my wonderful yoga family for supporting and loving me through all the the trials, tribulations and joys of being a yoga studio owner.

Featured in Yoga Magazine May 2005

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