Evolution from Mary Beth

Dear Desert Song Community member,
 
This letter is one of the hardest letters I have ever written. My heart swells with gratitude and my eyes fill with tears.
 
For 38 years, Desert Song has been both my passion and my work. I count myself among the fortunate to have been able to follow my passion and build the wonderful community of Desert Song. Throughout these years, you have been my support and encouragement. We have grown together and have experienced a depth of relationship that has surpassed my dreams and vision. Now, the time has come for me to explore new possibilities in my life.
 
As an industry, yoga has changed dramatically since I first opened the doors to Desert Song. However, the past year brought the biggest changes and the hardest challenges. In contemplating how, when and where to bring back in-person classes, I realized I don’t have the resources, financial or personal, to bring back what we once shared.  
 
The yoga world is a living, evolving and very competitive industry. The last few years were difficult, but when the pandemic forced us to close our doors, we lost over two thirds of our client base, our ability to provide bodywork services and ultimately some of our staff. We survived on the dedication of our remaining clientele, incredibly generous donations, a PPP loan and grants from both the City of Phoenix and Local First Arizona. We couldn’t have come this far without your support and resiliency. We are deeply grateful for this support.  
 
But, just surviving is not enough to rebuild. Effective May 31st, Desert Song Yoga and Healing Arts will close. I will be taking a sabbatical through the summer to explore options. I believe there is more for me to do and accomplish in the yoga world. I need the space to nourish my creativity and ultimately to chart my next course.  I will retain the Desert Song website and will share my progress and developments with you. The website will allow you to continue to connect to your teachers and therapists with their individual contact information.

Having just shared this information with our staff, we will be discussing the specifics with each of them on how they would like to proceed. We will support them in their efforts to build their own business and remain connected with you. As we work through the closing process we promise to keep you informed of developments and what to expect.

I thought building the amazing business and community I dreamed of, would be the hardest task. But I know now closing the business is the hardest part. And, I remind myself it is just the business closing. The community will continue to be my community, my friends, my supporters, in reality, my family.

It is truly my honor to have been a part of your life, our practices and our shared community. Thank you for your support and caring, we couldn’t have done it without you.

I am not leaving you, merely changing course. I look forward to new experiences as we share more of our life journey.

With deep love and respect,
Mary Beth