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When one door closes,
another door opens.
Dearest friends and fellow yogis, as you know, Sweet Heat has been faced with unimaginable challenges due to the extended closure of fitness-related businesses in Monterey County. I have done my very best to serve you in meaningful ways, and your GoFundMe donations have been the key to our lasting as long as we have. Thank you!COVID-19 has been a formidable opponent, and I honestly thought we could survive through it, but our lease expires at the end of this month, and our landlady has asked us to vacate. I simply can’t
afford to pay what she is asking. Our last day of occupancy at 170 Central Avenue in Pacific Grove will be November 30, and the studio space will be permanently closed. But let’s not be sad for long.When the time is right, when Covid-19 has passed, we will relocate, rebuild, and reopen! And it will be better than before. It will take time, but it will happen. If you know me and my husband, Mike, you know that when we say we will do something, it gets done. All of our beloved teachers are
still on board, and we are determined to keep the flame alive!
Sweet Heat Hot Yoga is not “going out of business.”I want everyone to understand that even though we no longer have a physical home, the business itself will remain operational. The classes on your account are valid indefinitely, and you will still be able to access your Sweet Heat account on the Tula app. The website will remain up and running, and you’ll always be able to contact me by email at leslieg@sweetheathotyoga.com. I will be here as long as it takes to provide information and answer your questions. Please continue reading for messages of love from the Sweet Heat staff.
I write this with the deepest gratitude, and my heart has broken open, my beloved Sweet Heat Family, to honor the sacred space we shared and cultivated together. Since January 2009, this studio offered a haven for me to transform and heal, as we breathed together, moved together, sweated together with a common focus in the hot room. As a student and a teacher, this practice, this community, this space consistently lifted me and was always a high point in my day. I bow deeply to all the yogis who have shared this space, each one a beautifully unique expression of Life. May we cultivate a clear and strong vision for our future together – that we rise like the magical, mighty phoenix from the COVID ashes! I miss
you all terribly and look forward to many shared Trikonasana (one of my faves!) in a beautiful and fresh location!
Dear Sweet Heat Family, I’ve been teaching Bikram for over 16 years. I’ve been teaching yoga in Monterey County for more than ten years. It wasn’t until Leslie bought Sweet Heat and invited me to work for her that I found my yoga home on the Peninsula. A home is a special place. Every time you enter through the door, you know this is where you belong. It doesn’t matter how your day’s going; the next three hours will be magical. Turn on heat, set up the podium, put out a sign-in sheet, turn on the computer, open the door. Then the family arrives, and you talk about health, animals, Texas, Carmel, jobs, breathing, travel, food, wine, clothing, hair, dating, sports, weather, and sometimes yoga. The family chats as they
prepare for class, and together in the hot room for 90 minutes, the magic happens, the energy shifts, we all feel like we belong, we’re family, we’re home. I didn’t realize when I locked the door on Silent Sunday, March 15, that I was closing it for my last time. I thought I’d be back (and I was for a few classes) and that the studio would have a full schedule by now. I am sad! I miss all of you, especially in my 4:00 pm class, Silent Sunday (my favorite), the hot room, my yoga sisters, and Leslie. I will not say goodbye. I know everything happens for a reason, for our highest good, and I know that the Sweet Heat team will be back together soon, in a beautiful new HOT room. I miss you; feel free to contact
me and say hi: carmelspinone@gmail.com. I LOVE you all! Big HUG! Namaste.
Dear beauty-full yogis and friends, My heart is overjoyed in reflecting on the opportunity and growth that Sweet Heat offered this tremendously strong and hearty community with GREAT hugs, laughter, sweat, and even tears! I look forward to continuing this foundation in a new space and building stronger with you! Until then, I send you resilience, ease, joy and abundance, and a full arm’s embrace! Remember your light, and may our shared light bring you peace. Namaste.
I see a safe journey and a safe return. Namaste, yogis.
Dear Sweet Heat community, these are my secret tips for happiness: stay strong(er), continue your self-care, honor your feelings, and be gentle with yourself. I miss you all, and I will see you soon in a different capacity.
Dear yoga family, if anyone had told me back in March that we would still be at the mercy of this COVID-thing in November, I’d have said you were crazy! But here we are. Over the past nine months, I’ve often felt rudderless, irritated, queasy, and way out of my comfort zone. Being without a home for hot yoga isn’t the outcome I’d hoped for, but I can honestly say I’m OK now, and I’ve let go. Just as our bodies are a vessel that temporarily holds our spirit, a building is just a vessel that temporarily holds the
souls of those who inhabit it. Plato said, “What’s important is not the character OF a place, rather the characters IN the place.” We will find a new place, and our souls and spirits will thrive again.
Armfuls of love to everyone Leslie, Mike, Ashley, Janie, Judy, Frances, Teri, Melinda, and May.
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