NEW HOME FOR THE SHALA IN A SOUTH LONDON VICTORIAN WAREHOUSE Finally…we are there… (or nearly) a new Shala yoga centre. A place to roll out your mat, practice yoga, be a community, share, laugh, heal and grow. As you probably have heard through the (efficient!) yoga grapevine, Ella and I have been working the last year on purchasing a warehouse in South London with the intention of building a new home for the Shala Yoga Community. Today we finally completed on the purchase. It hasn’t been an easy path to this day and there is a huge task in store for us in the next few months. The journey has been an arduous bureaucratic kafkaesque one involving countless financial advisers, various mortgage refusals, a remortgaging of our home, negotiating Lambeth planning complexities, months of legal wrangling, hundreds of meetings with builders, and endless headaches with fire and building regulations (which almost scuppered the whole venture). The stresses are not over but I hope that the hardest part is. Monday we start on the refurbishment to transform this shell of a warehouse into three studios, a therapy room, reception and changing facilities. The new location is in West Norwood (where?!!!), 537 Norwood Road SE27 9DL, just 2 minutes from the overground station. It is a stone’s throw from Brixton, Streatham, Dulwich, Tulse Hill and a short cycle ride from pretty much anywhere in South London. It is infact only two miles from Clapham. For me after nearly twenty years of running a yoga centre in London, I feel very privileged to have this opportunity to create my own yoga space and one that is truly in keeping with my vision. In 1997 I opened the Sangam yoga Centre in Clapham. It was a converted warehouse full or character. The space was unique, out of the ordinary, and just a bit quirky. For many it was a sanctuary, peaceful, but vibrant and always welcoming. You could come and practice in a dedicated yoga style and also feel part of a lovely community. No dogma, few rules, plenty of laughter and sometimes a few tears that needed letting go too. Our plans will incorporate the style and spirit of my first yoga centre but it will be more deluxe! The ethos will always be centred around forming a close personal touch on all that we do there. Being independent, sharing the great love of these practices, being safe and having a positive connection with like-minded people. There will be a lot of family friendly options, a varied and accessible schedule of yoga and pilates classes and a therapy room to indulge in. There will be three studios with beautiful solid wood floors underlayed with special material to give spring for those vinyasas. The larger “Mysore” studio will have underfloor heating and large windows. Showers and changing rooms are also being built. The front reception will have an area to sit and hang out in. No planning permission for a bar, but we will have healthy drinks and perhaps (when we can afford it) an expresso machine! We would really value any input, ideas and feedback you might have for us in the coming months so please give us your thoughts. Most importantly thank you so much to all of you for your continuing support and for making the Shala the special place that it is wherever it is. SO WATCH THIS SPOT! I will be posting images and updates throughout the next few months.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 22:53:57 +0000
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