Let’s talk about kids, y’all. WE LOVE THEM. So much. We have them, too. Really good ones. I have one who is four and I like her so much that I decided to make another one, which I am currently doing right now as I write this. That’s right, I like kids so much I am hosting one in my body as we speak. We want to see your kids, too. First day of school photos, pics of them with your cute dogs, pics of them just generally being amazing, pics of them being not so amazing, we are here for it. And we want to meet them and hug them and if you have a baby I will come over and hold your baby so that you can pee by yourself. Really, I will. And we want you to know all of this because, even though we love kids SO much, and in fact kind of BECAUSE we love kids so much, we won’t be offering childcare at Embody. And we want you to know that so much thought and care and a deep understanding of what it is to be a parent went into our process in making this decision. We think we have made the right choice for all of us, and we think you will agree. 

You see, as much as we love your babies, as your yoga teachers and fellow mamas, and in the context of our yoga studio, it is our job to mostly care about YOU. We understand so so well that a huge part of your yoga practice when you have the small people is carving out time and space that is just for YOU. This is HUGE. We mean it each time we say “Do YOU here.” That is exactly what we dream of and hope for when you enter our space. We are striving to create a space where your mind, body, and spirit are wholly and completely your own. A space where you can connect on the deepest level to your embodiment and who you are at your core. We know that when your babies, or anyone’s babies for that matter, are around, it immediately changes things for you. You are thinking about them, and worrying about them, and listening for them, and that makes it so much harder to think about YOU, worry about YOU, listen to YOU. 

If you have kids, you also know that silence is golden. Silence is sacred. Silence is increasingly rare, often so rare that we become immune to how surrounded by noise we are until we find a moment of silence. A place to practice yoga, a quiet place where you can be uninterrupted and fully connected, with minimal ambient noise and minimal distraction has been our dream and vision from the start. We don’t expect kids to honor the sacred nature of quiet, because it isn’t in their nature to do so. We could not offer childcare and be able to ensure that we could create this space and this experience for our students, and it means so much to us to do that. 

We named our studio Embody because in our hearts and souls, that is what yoga and pilates mean to us. These practices are about coming into our embodiment as fully as we can in this life and about exploring that embodiment in the fullest way we can. The beautiful thing about kids is that they are in an entirely different place in their embodiment than we are as adults. We honor that so much and we LOVE that and have a deep respect for the yoga that kids have inherently without being taught a thing. And the beautiful blessing is that there are spaces and classes that exist right here in Somerset for kids to explore their embodiment and be free to do exactly the things that feel natural to them. Those spaces exist and those teachers are incredible. We will link to those classes in this post, and continue to share those classes with you because we are so so grateful for them. 

For many of the same reasons that we will not have childcare, we will also have age restrictions in place for regular classes at Embody (the exception being Community Yoga, which will have no age restriction). Embody is a space for grown ups to be grown ups. The kind of yoga that we are called to teach is about more than just stretching your hamstrings, although we will surely do that too, it’s about connection and vulnerability and exploring themes that are not always easy or simple to talk about or practice around. Real talk. Real practice. Real ideas. Because we feel so strongly about creating this space for grown ups, where no one feels that they need to filter or edit themselves, we ask that our youngest students be at least 14 years old. We also ask that you practice discretion about whether you think your teen is mature enough to attend a yoga class with adults where they will be expected to behave accordingly. We expect all of our students to be thoughtful, considerate, and respectful of each other and of the practices and spaces of those around them. If you feel like your 14+ teen is ready to be that kind of yoga student, then by all means, bring em with ya! 

We have created a space dedicated thoughtfully and intentionally to yoga and pilates, and to the idea that if we create a beautiful sacred space, you will feel more free to find the best version of your practice in it. We know that finding childcare can be hard, and for that reason we are so grateful for the gyms that do provide childcare and the teachers who are teaching yoga for kids. We will tell you all about them, because they are wonderful and necessary. Here at Embody we will focus on creating the space for you to be YOU, because we also know how hard that is. But it is also absolutely vital. Because you are incredible, and we bet you don’t spend enough time with yourself. Let’s work on that. We can’t wait to practice with you.