The first year.

One year ago, I met with Staci Allison and Shannon Gibbons inside of the very cute Acai Bowl spot in Historic Valley Junction. Shannon and I had been looking to expand and change locations, and we had found a place but had some hesitation, something just wasn’t fitting right. We invited Staci to come look at a room that she could rent and it started the conversation around the possibility of partnership and expansion. True Expansion. This wasn’t about getting bigger, this was about showing up with the knowledge and wisdom and saying; “this is my dream and I am ready, and worthy of shining”

Everything happened very quickly once we said “YES” to this adventure. I had already spent months looking at locations, and when Shannon and I went to look at this space with Staci, I was quite reserved because I had seen this listing, but it was way out of our budget, so I didn’t even entertain it. I stepped into the space and put my hands over my eyes because I didn’t want to even look at how perfect it was because how in the heck would we make this work? That was my financial wound coming through. I had never taken this big of a risk financially, but we came together to look at the possibilities, and it just made sense. We were going for it. We started the process of leasing, getting insurance, hiring contractors and architects. During this time of demo, our shadows were also being demolished.

I won’t speak on their experiences, but it opened me up in so many ways. I was forced to look in the mirror at all of my insecurities, and I knew that I needed to process and work through so much in order to really put myself out into the world and hold this space for practitioners and all of the beings that would be coming in to enjoy and find home in this space. It was a huge responsibility to open a space that so many people are going to walk into looking for support, deepening their spiritual connection, understanding and community. So, in order to fully show up, I had to work on all of the things that I had put in my own way. All of my doubts about myself were up front, my sisterhood wound, my financial wounding, my people pleasing, perfectionism and my blocks around creativity. I had no choice but to process. We had delay after delay with construction, which isn’t surprising, but it most definitely put pressure on us. Everything seemed to go in slow motion because one contractor couldn’t work until another was done, and so we waited, we worked on the background in our policies and procedures, but the real work was just around the corner. Our baby was crowning, and we knew that it was about to go so fast.

Once the floors were done, the pain went up, and the murals began. I sat in the space and meditated on what it wanted, what would match our collective energy and how I would design the space around each of our very different personalities and styles. I had made so many Pinterest boards and collages, started to tune in on the execution. I found inspiration in nature, in our unique styles, our astrology and in art. Once we all agreed on the design, I felt good about moving forward on putting it all together. I had been planning for months, and it was time to get dirty, and I dropped into my flow state. Every day and night I was at the space painting, doing what I could to get it ready for the day we would move in. As I was painting the murals, I really had a lot of time to think about why I stopped painting, about my creative blocks and the things I let stand in my way of doing one of the things that brings me the most joy. I thought about the words of my father and how my paintings made him think that “a child could have done it”, implying that I wasn’t good enough. I really let those words have a hold on me for so many years, and it crippled my creative flow. I was comparing myself to the other artist I was working with because our styles are different, he is more detailed and I am abstract and flowy. It was an interesting collaboration, and we often had conflicting ideas but, in the end, we came up with a design that was very cool, and most of all I broke through and had something I was proud of to show the world.

Once the inspection was done it was time to move in. We got it nearly done in 2 days. We had friends and family there to support and help us hang pictures, shelves and mirrors, to help us move furniture, and organize all of the things, they fed us and brought laughter and joy into the space. I was up and down off of the ladder so many times I now have calves of steel. We were hanging draping from a 10-foot ceiling, hanging lights and artwork. I made so many crafts that I no longer had fingerprints from the hot glue. But every moment of it was a joy, every second I got to be in the space creating, I was at peace and I knew my dream was coming true before my eyes. I had been dreaming of this for 22 years.

It has been 7 months since we officially opened our doors, and I have grown so much in that time. I feel settled into my routines, and I feel good about the work that I have put out. I walk into this space, and it feels like home. Now the challenge is shining bright enough for people to find us and come in! We have so many amazing practitioners and facilitators that are holding classes and workshops, so now we work to bring the people in. I really have had such a wonderful time creating this space with my partners and I hope that you come and experience what we have to offer; breathwork, crystal education, sound, art, therapy, yoga, dance, meditation, education and training, we have held graduation and birthday parties and we look forward to the many more creative classes these humans create. We are here to support the community, to be a container of safety and respect, a place where all are heard and seen, a place of inclusivity and most of all…a place where we can exhale and have some fun.