A Letter from André: 3 Pillar Programme Changes.

I remember going to my first yoga class back in 2023. I was invited by Regine and Pippa who were going to try out a studio they'd heard about in Sheffield. Pippa is an experienced yogi, and Regine was a newbie just like me.

The class was a mixture of both the expected and unexpected. Was it predominantly female? Yes. Did I feel slightly awkward and seek a spot in the corner to be invisible? Yes. Did it make me wish I was more flexible? Yes. Was it just another type of fitness class? Absolutely not.

Whereas I was expecting lots of bendy postures, twisting, and a bit of sweat, what I absolutely was not expecting was the almost blissful sense of presence and clarity that I left with after class.

At the time it really felt like a gift from the universe. You see, at the time I was in the midst of struggling to recover from burnout. My mind raced at times uncontrollably. My anxiety could be triggered by the smallest of things. I was plagued by self doubt. And the woes of the world sometimes seemed to lay heavy on my shoulders. Some mental calm and peace was exactly what I needed, and what I surprisingly found on that mat.

That feeling of calm was so striking that I went again the following week. And again the week after that. Each time I was rewarded by that same feeling of calm. That same hour of presence that lasted well after I got off the mat. I can say without doubt that it was a foundation of my healing.

So when it came to planning what to offer in the upstairs space at Open House, the answer seemed obvious. We wanted to offer yoga. We wanted to offer not an exercise class, but a way to give people a little bit of mental peace in a world that otherwise can seem so overwhelming.

But we didn't know whether it would work. We didn't know if there was appetite. Surely if a yoga studio could work in the valley someone else would already have done it?

So we took a chance. We decided that we wanted to make our classes as accessible as possible. We wanted to make sure that there was almost no financial barrier at all to people giving it a go. We thought that the impact of it on people's wholebeing was that important. And so the 3 Pillar Programme was formed. A programme based around body, mind and soul that had yoga at its core, along with other healing practices that had had an impact on us such as breathwork and  meditation. And all potentially available for less than a cup of coffee.

The response was immediate. The feedback was effusive. We saw people pick up yoga for the first time. We saw people come back to it after a long break. We heard over and over again how much the programme was appreciated and loved. We made a difference to peoples' lives, little by little. And now almost 2 years later, it's amazing to imagine that there was a time where yoga wasn't a regular part of life in the valley.

Alas, times change and financial reality sometimes comes and bites you in the bum.

The 3 Pillar Programme has always been a bit of a financial gamble for us. Not only do we care about accessible pricing, but we also care deeply about our teachers. We made the choice from the beginning to make sure we paid our teachers fairly - a flat rate no matter how many people booked a class. And to be totally transparent, even a full class at accessible pricing does not cover the teachers fee, not to mention any contribution to the costs of maintaining this wonderful space, our yoga equipment or the staffing required to organise the class schedule.

And so we've made the difficult decision to re-look at our class pricing. We know it won't be easy for everyone, but we will do our best to keep prices fair and accessible wherever possible. This is needed to ensure the long term health and vitality of the programme. We know how much it means to you, and it's our responsibility to find a way to make it sustainable from here on out.

And yes - I'm sure many of you have guessed, but that yoga teacher that inspired us so much that we had to create the 3 Pillar Programme in its entirety was none other than the wonderful Emily Kaye who you will already know from her classes at Open House, and who I'm so happy to announce has officially joined our team to help lead and grow the wholebeing program into the future.

As Emily would say:

"We believe Yoga can change the world"

Namaste x