04/06/2024
The end of an era! Our director Meaghan Collins made the announcement this weekend that Evolve Airlie will soon be closing its doors. You can read about how Meaghan came to the decision to close the studio and take a sabbatical from teaching below. For those of who what attend any other the other awesome offerings at the studio rest assured that all of out other current facilitators are going to continue to share their gifts and classes in the community. We will continue to use the Evolve Airlie socials and website to let you know where you can find their classes from June 24th onwards. Each and every one of us is passionate about what we bring into the world, and so grateful for the connections made at the studio. So while Evolve Airlie is put to rest, we know there is so much more to look forward to. If you have any questions about this please reach out via PM or directly to the person running your favourite classes. With love always the team at Evolve. x
An invitation to a celebration of love.....
'Find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible' - Deepak Chopra
For those of you who have been with me since the 'Yoga Therapies' days, you might remember this quote adorning the signage at the front of the studio. At the time, that quote reminded me to believe in myself and to know that nothing was impossible if it was meant for me. Today those words hit differently. Today those words encourage me to find the place inside myself where I can accept what I never thought possible.
As many of you know I recently took on a new role working in mental health. During the first month of this role I have continued to teach, work one-on-one with private yoga therapy clients, continue my counselling practice, plan my retreats, run the studio and of course fumble my way through the journey of motherhood.
I have been so blessed in life to know clearly how I want to work and what I bring into the world. I was 19 when I started practising Yoga and I knew very early on that I wanted to teach. During my first teacher training in my early 20's I knew I wanted to support people around the journey of death. And now in my 40's I am motivated to help people be less at war with themselves and bring more peace into their lives. Truly I do feel that it is a blessing to have such clarity and the desire to support people in these ways.
However it has become clear to me that while love & passion & curiosity & the potential for growth are infinite, to exist in a human body means that time & energy are not. And while I love my life and my work I know that it is untenable for me to continue to work in so many roles and be a present mother and have my sanity and a stable sense of health and wellbeing.
Something has to give, and it's quite rare to be given the gift of foresight to know that if I don't make some changes the thing that will give is me.
And so I have come to the decision that it is time to close the doors of the studio. Some of you reading this might think 'it's no big deal, just another business that's closing'. But those of you who truly know me will know and understand how big a decision this is for me.
Please know that this is the hardest decision I have ever made in my life. I am fully aware and feel the weight of this decision and understand the impact it will have on my life and those of you who are a part of the community that shares the space.
I have been in that space for over 14 years. The studio shaped me as a teacher, a human, it brought me my closest friends, it brought me my daughter and she has grown up there. But more than all of that, the studio made us into a community. And a community we truly are, there is something really unique and special that exists within those four walls. Something not seen in many studios. I see genuine connection, loving and true care. And the thought of closing the doors takes my breath away and it is a decision I never believed I would ever make. Believe me if I could clone myself and keep doing all the things I love I would.
For those of you who have been practising with me for a while you have witnessed me experience many a broken heart, as I have witnessed yours. And now I find myself in a position where I have to break my own heart in order to ensure I am not a victim of professional burn-out. But also to ensure I am able to fully commit to and explore my new commitments.
"I am going out into the unknown, the real unknown, and am, I believe, following the clear path of my fate. Always to be pushing out like this, beyond, what I know cannot be the limits - what else should a mans life be?
What else should our life be but a continual series of beginnings, of painful settlings into the unknown, pushing off from the edges of consciousness into the mystery of what we have not yet become...." - David Malouf, An Imaginary Life
Is this the right decision to make for my future? I don't know. Is it the decision that is going to make me happy? I don't know. Will my new job be worth what I am walking away from? I don't know. But I do know, I can not apply myself fully to any of my endeavours while I am spreading myself so thin. And I also know I took on this new role to better the life I share with my daughter and she deserves to have a mother who has time and energy to share with her.
There isn't a part of me that loves teaching Yoga any less than I ever had. It is my first professional love and I do believe as I always have that I will be teaching well past my 'retirement'. Teaching Yoga still lights me up and brings me joy. But after the studio doors close I will be taking a sabbatical from teaching. I am going to give myself some time to process & grieve these changes and the time to adjust to my new role. Once I have a better understanding of the energy I have available I will return to teaching in some capacity in the hope of providing us the opportunity to move and breathe and laugh and cry as a community again. I am open to and invite suggestions on spaces that we can use for this, perhaps in the form of monthly practices.
I will continue to run my retreats. I have a couple of spaces still available for Thailand this November AND I already have dates set for Japan next year. So watch this space! I will also continue to work with my private clients and existing counselling clients. But will only be taking on new clients in the end-of-life/grief and loss space.
Always a special time for the studio the upcoming Winter Solstice provides the perfect opportunity for us to share one last opportunity to share practice as a community in the studio and it will mark my last classes at the studio. In return for the true gift and privilege it has been to share practice with you for so many years I will be offering two free Winter Solstice practices. If the studio, my classes and the community have ever held a place in your heart I invite you to join me. Even if it's been awhile since you have been on the mat with me, please come and share this with us. Let's call these practices a 'Celebration of Love'.
I will share more info on these soon. But save the dates. If you prefer a slower paced more introspective practice I will be teaching a candlelit practice on Friday evening June 21st. If you would like to join me for one last dynamic and uplifting practice I will also be teaching on Saturday morning June 22nd. This practise will be followed by some food and a get together somewhere lovely. RSVP's are essential as the studio has a maximum capacity and I will also be organising some catering for the 22nd. As I said, more info to follow on this, but please save the dates and express your interest early! (If you would like to attend both and there is space to do so I will try to accommodate that).
On a very practical note, if you have brought a class pass from me within the last 6 months and believe you won't be able to use all your classes before June 22nd please reach out and I will return your unused pass money to you. I will also be reaching out from my end to make this happen.
Before I sign off, it is important for me to thank some people who have shared and supported this journey with me.
For the Yoga Therapies days. A huge thank you to the teachers that shared that space with me. Ashleigh Clarke, Issy Diebold, Margaux Lovett, Anita Perryman, Jenny Thompson, Bec Russell, Polly Muller, Michelle Smail, Monica Reagan, Sophie, Renee Kelly, Tiggy Garner, Kelly Ryan & Micheal Blades. Some of these teachers continue to teach in the area and you are in good, kind-hearted hands if you attend their classes.
For the Evolve days, thank you to these facilitators who were consistently present in the space. Justine Singleton, Carl & Laura, Kara Lodders, Marina Murphy, Melinda Louise, Ella Anderson, Sarah Cipollone. Again many of these guys continue to share their gifts with the community and I will continue to use the Evolve socials to share what they are up to so you can keep up to date with them.
I could not go without thanking Jade Korosec from Slinkylinks for building me many a beautiful website for the studios and for being a great sounding board for ideas I've had for the space for the past 14 years. And thanks to Mark Henry for his guidance around running a business and for being a good ear to turn to while I've been trying to figure it all out.
Thanks to my friends/colleagues/mentors Julie Smerdon & Jules Bergmann for leading the way on letting go of beautiful things with such grace. For showing me there is life after loss. For giving me hope about what life after running a studio will look like for me. For proving to me this is survivable.
Special mentions also to Josh Payne who first let me use his space at 76 Shute Harbour Rd and my landlords for many many years Claire & Eddie Caruana for allowing me to run the studio and call such a beautiful space my second home. AND special mentions to Kerrin Andrews from the Fitness Venue and Julie & Glenn from Intuitive Massage all of whom gave me the opportunity to teach in Airlie after I first moved up from Sydney.
14 years ago I opened the first Yoga studio in the Whitsundays and for that I am immensely proud. There were many times where the studio was bursting at the seams and also many times where I would be teaching just one student. I am grateful for every single opportunity I have had to share practice and develop and hone my skills as a teacher. Anyone who is or has been in business will know that over the course of 14 years there will be many ups and downs. I'm grateful the studio made it through covid and that it has made it through the growth and expansion of the greater community. It has been my love and passion for Yoga that helped get me through those ups and downs, but more than that what has gotten me through 14 years in business has been the genuine love and care I have for you.
So to each and every one of you I owe HUGE thanks. Thank you for your love and support. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for the love and care you have shown each other. Together we created something truly magical and wonderful and I will remember how it felt to share that space with you, to move and breathe with you, to laugh with you until my dying days. Thank you thank you thank you I couldn't have done any of this without you.
And so as I sign off I wanted to share one last quote, my favourite from the Bhagavad Gita, to remind myself and you that this is not goodbye....
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be." B.G 2.12.
If it lives in your heart, it lives forever....... as does my love for you.....
From my heart to yours,
Megs x
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