Coaching with Gretchen

Movement, Mindfulness & Self-Care Coaching with Gretchen Schock

yoga studio

Even during a pandemic, we are a Community!

Movement

My mission when I created Bee Yoga Fusion 12 years ago was and continues to be, to create a place where everyone feels welcome regardless of age, size, physical ability, gender, race, political affiliations, sexual identity, or financial status.

Yoga students at Bee Yoga Fusion

WHY? Because I want to feel the joy of human connection when we step beyond the labels that are created for us and belong to a community.

This picture is my reminder of this mission. It sits framed on my desk to remind me and anchor me to my goal. When I feel like I can’t do it anymore and this year has been a year ya’ll! I’m about to come upon 1 year of being forced to be closed due to the size of my studio with the COVID mandates in our county. This picture has been my anchor. In it, you see there are various ages from the 60s to mid-20s, various races, various genders, one person in the picture is blind and one is pregnant.

What do we see on all their faces? JOY for being a part of this COMMUNITY!

Want to join us for virtual classes and be apart of this amazing community? Click here

Living in Uncertainty During COVID

Behind the Scenes, Small Business, Yoga

Here in Maryland, we are still living in uncertainty and it’s a hard place to be in while running a business. I’m watching what other studios are doing in other states that have lifted the Stay-at-Home orders. I’m thinking ahead of what the class schedule at Bee Yoga Fusion, my boutique yoga studio in Greenbelt, MD could look like while implementing new rules that will be put in place.

Rules that we must follow, for health and safety reasons. For example, we won’t be able to have back-to-back classes because one of the rules in the other states is that you have to disinfect the entire studio including the floors after each class. Everyone who works at Bee Yoga Fusion is an independent contractor which means those cleaning duties fall on my shoulders.

I want to be transparent with you, whether you are a yoga student at Bee Yoga Fusion or a coaching client that I meet with over zoom, I want you to understand the hard decisions I am having to make and the balls that I am juggling to keep the community thriving while also making sure that I don’t run myself into the ground.

Right now it is still uncertain when we will be allowed to open. The number of COVID cases in Prince George’s County is still rising. What I do know is that we will forever, going forward have live in-studio classes and live zoom classes. The response from folks taking zoom classes has been incredible! People have fallen in love with the convenience of being able to sign up last minute and the ability to do the class anywhere (home/office/work trip). Sure there are parts of the experience of taking a class at the studio that is missing, no doubt about that! But keeping zoom classes even after we are allowed to have classes at the studio like we use to, will be an added benefit. And I am super excited about growing this portion of the business.

Gretchen Schock standing next to a wall in the Bee Yoga Fusion studio holding a yoga mat

It’s pretty cool that you can take a class in your home or at the studio in Greenbelt while your BFF in Colorado takes the exact same class and you’ll can video chat afterward to catch up. That’s a pretty cool development in our relationships that allow us to live a much healthier life!

I’m trying to focus on the positive during a time when there doesn’t feel like a lot of positivity available. So all this is to say- I’m excited about the growth of Bee Yoga Fusion with zoom classes continuing into the future while also sitting in uncertainty.