Yoga’s Latest Position Helps the Planet
“Green isn’t always something you can seeâÂ?¦at first,” said Erin Wade.
At Breathe Studio, surrounded by concrete and other less earthly goods, staff concentrates more on action to make up for the fact that the facility is in a one-room atmosphere hedged in a strip mall.
“This is Texas, not the East or West Coast, so it’s about small changes, not about perfection,” said owner Gemma Hobbs. “It’s about stepping out and identifying yourself as a green business.”
Hobbs decided to expand her eight years of yoga experience into green friendly living when she heard about an organization in California that was doing the same – the Green Yoga Association.
‘The teachings of yoga have always talked about having a relationship with the planet through nonviolence,” says Samantha Ostergaard, Green Studio program coordinator at the Association. “We ask the studios to partner with their local environmental organizations to throw fund-raising events together and bring speakers into their studio.”
While the organization has always implemented green living it started a pilot program last year to teach yoga studios how to give back more to the earth in daily operations.
Do other studios who aren’t members understand the connection to the earth, too?
Ostergaard said when the Association reaches out to other studios many of them are already doing a lot.
“When they hear about our program, they say it makes so much sense to bring it into the business,” she stated.
Dallas Yoga Center sells eco-friendly mats and cleaners though they are not affiliated with any association related to this type of interest.
Another studio known for being earth-conscious is Move Studio.
Breathe Studio uses natural light as one way of reducing the toll on the earth. Hardwood floors cover the surface while fans blow a cool breeze.
Hobbs said she makes her own mat spray, sells organic-cotton yoga clothes and recently bought some Himalayan salt rock lamps that are said to be nurturing to the earth.
Despite all her efforts, her main focus, however, is on the client and she does so by inviting them to eco-friendly outings.
As for incentives, Breathe Studio recently offered a contest for clients to earn points while contributing to saving the earth in various ways.
