Studio Manager Postion available

Wilmington Yoga Center (WYC) is looking for an inspired, responsible, friendly, hard-working professional with management and/or business experience, who wishes to work with a growing company in a rewarding, mindful environment. The position available is for the General Studio Manager with interviews & hiring beginning now.

Interviews will start the week of Nov 9th

We will greatly miss our Stephanie "Goo" Mckenzie in the role of General Manager as she has been a valuable asset to the WYC vision, students and staff. She will be moving forward with her new business endeavors with her husband Scott, facilitating the expansion of the Cape Fear Serpentarium (www.capefearserpentarium.com) to a second location in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They will also be working to establish a green, eco-research facility on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. She will continue to be a part of the WYC yoga teaching schedule, and Coordinator of Teacher Training Programs.

The studio manager serves at the heart of our growing yoga community and supports a safe, nurturing and spiritual environment in a wide array of responsibilities related to successful operation of a community centered, eco-friendly venture. This includes providing a warm welcome and smooth interaction with students, clients, practitioners, teachers and staff members.


We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate who:

• Feels passionate about yoga, service, and creativity.
• Strives to be part of a growing, flexible, positive business environment.
• Is committed to supporting other’s on their spiritual and yogic path.
• Is committed to helping others realize the benefits of yoga, regular practice and incorporating other healing modalities.
• Demonstrates ability to builds strong relationships and mentorship with staff and students.
• Feels strongly about assisting others in a safe and nurturing manner.
• Possesses a positive, outgoing, and friendly attitude.
• Demonstrates willingness to incorporate and convey studio values (compassion, mindfulness, community, integrity, purpose, passion, creativity, initiative) in their daily work and in relationships with staff and customers.
• Enjoys brainstorming ideas and visionary work for the company.
• Takes initiative as creative “big picture” and strategic thinker.
• Assists with researching and developing new ideas to grow and add value to the studio.

The ideal candidate shows:

• Ability to strong initiative and problem solving.
• Dependability and ability to follow-through.
• Gracefully handles yogi’s needs and demonstrates amazing attitude toward supporting students on their spiritual and yogic path.
• Resourcefulness with ability to make decisions.
• Ability to accept direction, and be accountable for one’s work outcomes, completing projects or responsibilities with a sense of ownership and ability to exhibit grace under pressure and multi-tasking.
• Ability to be a team player, recognizing that the studio manager’s work and outcomes affects all other on the team and the students.
• Eager to contribute other duties to be mutually determined as one grows into the role.

Position Requires:

• Proficiency w/ Microsoft Word, Excel & Web browsers
• Strong Marketing Skills (copy writing, graphic design eye, campaign management)
• Strong Organizational & Prioritizing Skills
• Excellent Verbal & Writing Skills
• MindBody Online (Omsoft) & Constant Contact knowledge is helpful

This position includes:

Events Management

• Directing and developing innovative yoga programs: Yoga Teacher Trainings, Workshops, Service Retreats and more.
• Planning and coordinating weekly class schedule, workshop schedule, retreats and venue organization.
• Adding new services and products to our current line of business
• Creating and maintaining relationships with other companies and organization

Human Resources

• Supervising and managing studio staff, incl. teachers, studio assistant managers, weekend managers, cleaning team.
• Training and supervising volunteers and Studio Assistants, this includes prioritizing and delegating tasks and shifts to ensure smooth business operation.
• Preparing agendas and support materials for meetings.
• Interviewing, contracting, supervising, evaluating staff.
• Coordinating job application process (interviews, materials ect).
• Delegating and completing projects with guest instructors and presenters.
• Coordinating and preparing staff meeting agendas and materials.

Promotions & Marketing

• Scheduling events, arranging logistics, and helping with successful event execution from a-z.
• Website & Software updating and upkeep.
• Design and production of brochures, forms, flyers, posters, signs.
• Online marketing, promotions and email newsletter.

Customer Service

• Supervising the front desk: welcoming and orientation of new students, registration and class operation.
• Provide thorough customer service and develop excellent rapport with customers.
• Proactive selling of memberships, services and products, including invoicing.

Accounting

• Bookkeeping and filing of expenses, revenue, refunds, invoices.
• Payroll for staff members.
• Auditing yoga memberships and following up with accounts outstanding.
• Auditing and checking all front desk deposits, client information, and attendance records.

Boutique & Retail

• Researching yoga and meditation products, vendors; contributing with creative ideas.
• Organizing yoga boutique items and keeping studio supplies stocked.
• Overseeing service and retail operations.
• Studio Maintenance and ensuring studio space is conducive to daily yoga practice. This may include running last minute errands to copier, local resources, post office and smooth functioning of computers, printers, wireless, stereo, studio signs, studio facility and props.

Compensation

• Payment: Hourly Payment based on experience with increase after 3 months to include profit sharing.
• Benefits: Vacation days, sick days as mutually agreed. Unlimited complimentary yoga, 30% discount on workshops/events, and retreats, boutique merchandise.
• Hours: Full Time 40-50 (10-20 ‘floating hours’) - To be discussed-flexible hours on weekdays, weekends and nights.

Please send cover letters and resumes to:
jobs_at_wilmingtonyogacenter.com
(replace "_at_" with "@" when emailing)
No phone inquiries please.

Earthroom for rent!

We are looking for an alternative-health therapist to complement our yoga & massage offerings. Beautiful, sunlit 200 sqft treatment room available immediately for subletting at $900/mo, including all utilities below, usage of 2 bathrooms and common lobby area. Situated within the Wilmington Yoga Center, there are 1500 potential clients who would walk by your door every month, and Tidal Creek Foods Co-op is located downstairs.

The room is roughly 14’ x 14’ fully carpeted. Electric, water, & wireless internet are all included with rent (phone is separate).


Wilmington Yoga Center is an established healing center and teacher training school, with a large community of friendly faces and dedicated students. We have a 9 year history and approximately 60+ yoga classes a week, and our clients are continually asking for referrals for acupuncturists, chiropractors, counselors, mind-body therapists, etc.

Our intention with opening up our space to subleasees is to maintain a safe environment for our clients and our staff, create a positive relationship between the businesses, & establish clear guidelines for business conduct. Even though you would be operating as a separate business entity, you are conducting business within WYC and clients will associate WYC with the quality & integrity of you, your staff & services. It's taken quite a while to develop our space and community, and we are only interested in bringing on folks who are committed and offer their services from a genuine place of the client's/student's well-being first.

If you are interested in subletting the room, we will send you more information about the subleasing arrangement. Please contact us at staff@wilmingtonyogacenter.com and include the following:

1
Name, Business & current contact info

2
Your “elevator speech” about your business and why you feel that you'd be a good fit

3
The contact info for at least 4 references that can comment on your business history (previous landlords, associates, etc.)

Videos clips of life in India

New video clips form our service retreat to Kerala, India have been posted on our YouTube channel.

Two ways to lend a helping hand...

On a national level...
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For more information, visit:
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On a local level...

Yoga Lifestyle & Teacher Training

We are getting close to the start of our Yoga Alliance certified Yoga Lifestyle & Teacher Training... but there is still time left to register! This program is for Aspiring Teachers & Students looking to deepen their own practice. Learn skills for “living yoga” both on and off the mat while working towards your 200hr Yoga Alliance national certification. This is a Kunga Yoga program that is centered around using yoga to help.

A dedication to “Kunga”…
“Kunga” - to help or serve. Kunga trainings teach students skills for “living yoga” both on and off the mat while working towards their 200 and/or 500 hr certifications. All Kunga, Wilmington Yoga Center, and Affiliate studio programs meet or exceed the standards set forth by the national Yoga Alliance. If you’ve felt that tug to share the practice you love, or to move deeper into your personal understanding of yoga practices that you’ve only had the chance to touch on in group classes, then our program is for you.

My first experience with the Mizero Rwandan Orphans, children who lost their families in the Rwandan genocide, truly solidified for me the understanding of yoga as a life practice, yoga “off the mat”, yoga as service, yoga as living love. These children continually practice yoga today, by forgiving those that killed their families, remembering that we are truly connected. The experience touring with these children inspired many whirlpools of projects, ideas, and work dedicated to karma yoga as service for those most in need. “Kunga” is the kinyarwandan word for “help or service” and I chose this word so that the spirit of these kids would be carried on in all of our trainings and retreats, as a special reminder.

It is a sacred honor for all of us to be able to contribute in even the smallest of ways, and it is my hope that within our global yoga community we may continue to use the great abundance of resources, wealth, knowledge, and tools that we have (especially in the West) to help others. It is my deepest desire that all who take on the practices of yoga as a serious path of study and self-inquiry will ultimately live for the means of serving others, and creating continuous small and large ripples of peace throughout their own communities and beyond. May we be bold and love without limits!

~Kristin

Visit our website for detailed info about the Yoga Lifestyle & Teacher Training and download your Teacher Training application.

All levels are welcome.
Registration ends March 15th
Program does fill up... reserve your spot now!

A stroll through the park...

On Sunday, we had our outing with the girls… an afternoon at the Subhash Bose Park. Everyone piled into the school bus with smiles, laughter & singing. The whole trip to the park was filled with rounds of Malyalam songs (and probably some Bollywood hits) and dancing in the isles.

(Just a side note about school buses in India… unlike U.S. school buses where windows could rarely be opened without some sort of knuckle-busting feat of strength and assigned seating prevailed, Indian schools buses have no windows, or rather, no glass in the windows, with very relaxed seating plans. They are open-air rides with children sitting or standing wherever they could… in the isles, on the steps to the door, in Americans’ laps, etc. The relief from hyper-safety concerns and excitement from the girls going on a field trip made for a truly joyful experience)

Before unloading at the park, Sister Sophie laid down the rules or the afternoon (she was the one with The Whistle around her neck). The Buddy system was in effect… the each older girl was responsible for one of the younger girls on arrival & departure. And when the whistle is blown, it is time to come back to the bus.

The park was filled with tons of Indian families enjoying a Sunday afternoon together. And as a group of Westerners palling around with nuns with little Indian girls dragging us around by the hand from swing-set to jungle gym, we did get some curious looks and questions from the locals.

The afternoon was filled with playing & laughing and swinging & sliding. There was also an international exchange of group hand games (i.e. Miss Mary Mack, Tip-Top and some sort of Eye-Spy game). Some of the girls enjoyed a change to grab some of our cameras and play photographer for the afternoon as well.

Giving gifts and connecting communities

On Sunday before going taking the girls to the park, our group presented the girls and the Sisters with all of the gifts & donated items collected. With Sister Sophie providing translation, we passed out all of the gifts and goodies with an explanation of where they came from, who they were from and why we were giving them these gifts. We presented the decorated wall hanging from the Friends School and the photo album scrapbook to the girls to a buzz of excitement to see & learn about American students.

Without a doubt, the gifts that received the most laughs were the Disney costumes donated by Danielle Cooper. The girls especially loved dark skinned Kaliyani wearing the blonde Cinderella wig. They adored the dresses and jewelry of Snow White, Little Mermaid, and Beauty (from Beauty & the Beast). Since there weren’t enough dresses for all of the girls to have one, the Sisters decided to save them in the special closet and brought out only for school plays.

The other major hit were the baby dolls that were donated by the WYC Community. Wow. This was the true tearjerker. Upon receiving the dolls, every girl seemed to go into her own world, immediately creating a special relationship with their “baby” and immediately reverting into a mothering role, cradling and cooing at their baby. This was very bittersweet to watch, because it seemed to highlight the desire they have for being nurtured. It was so beautiful to see how much they appreciated these. Thank you so much to Christina Enneking for spearheading and organizing this idea b/c it was a real hit. This is probably the only toy that they each own as an individual, so these dolls will be very special to them for years to come. As for the jewelry, hair barrettes, etc…girls will be girls! They love decorating themselves and immediately adorned themselves for the rest of the week with their new goodies.

Thank you to everyone from Wilmington Yoga Center & beyond for donating medicines, jewelry, mats, dolls, photo albums, and much more. The girls were truly grateful from their heart and felt so special receiving. We wish that you all could have heard the hundreds of “thank you auntie” and “thank you uncle” statements that we enjoyed during the rest of our stay.

Decorating With Love… “After”

Having finished the painting project during the holiday break, we were fortunate enough to be there when the children had their first look at rooms when school started back up in Monday. Both the students and teachers were so gracious and excited to see the improvements. The LKG teacher started off getting the children’s minds back in learning “gear” by running them through the newly painted alphabet and corresponding colors.

Yoga with the girls

Within an hour of arrival on the first day, the girls began immediately asking “Yoga? Yoga” with huge smiles and nodding faces, they couldn’t wait to practice again since it had been a year since our last classes with them. Kristin taught the girls that had nowhere to go for “holiday”, and Noelle taught the biggest class yet with all of the girls of the orphanage-ages 5-18. Sister Valsa helped to translate, and the girls would often erupt in fits of laughter at their own lace of flexibility, and the partner work. Noelle couldn’t have been a better yoga ambassador with her “Peace” t-shirt and perma-grin at the front of the room. We also donated the yoga mats that we had been collecting in the states. After visiting Kaliyani’s mother’s home, and seeing the coconut tree leaves for her roof, we decided it would be best to donate the yoga mats to her mother to best use for her hut/home to somehow help during monsoon season.

Homebase at the ABAD Plaza

The staff of Hotel ABAD was incredible, and we couldn’t have been more grateful to have the Ayurveda “hospital” on the top floor. Many of us got daily Ayurveda treatments, along with free consultations from the doctor. The staff had been through intensive Ayurvedic schooling, and many of us received prescriptions for ayurvedic medicines (oils) for everything from tennis elbow to congestion. The ayurvedic pharmacy was also a walk-able distance away and it was such a treat to be able to purchase all of the medicinal oils at such inexpensive prices (these oils are very pricey in the states.) We fell in love with our therapists and the herbs have been incredibly healing.

Decorating With Love… “During”

What a way to bring in the New Year. The painting project got underway with a definite “bang”. The Sisters had the girls help get the room ready by moving the benches out into the halls to make room for the painting the walls. And the girls got into the action, too! They were so excited to be able to help… they take such pride in their home and school and loved being involved in this project. The “team” broke up into two groups. One group prepped & painted the rooms a beautiful blue with pictures to act a teaching aids and the other group sanded & painted the desks & benches.

Decorating With Love… “Before”

The main service project for the retreat was to add to the ongoing improvements happening around the orphanage. The new building is getting the finishing touches put on it and should be ready shortly for the girls to move in. The new dorm building is so beautiful and spectacular that the girls nicknamed it the “Taj Mahal”. Where the Sisters needed our help was in improving the schoolrooms for the youngest children in the Lower & Upper Kindergarten classes. Sister Tresia gave us a tour of the two rooms needing the most work. The walls had become dirty & marked over the years making for very dingy learning environment. The desks and benches were also showing signs of wear and could use a little fresh coat of paint to brighten the rooms.

Getting grounded...

Our first group yoga practice on the terrace, early AM before the heat, with one intention... getting grounded in the sea of India.

Home of Hugs

Our cheeks were hurting from the grins we had as we pulled into those familiar gates of the orphanage and started seeing all of these cute little heads popping out from around the corners of doors. We were excited to see "our" girls again, and more importantly, to share the experience with the other on the retreat who traveled so far to help.

Some of the girls were actually away visiting with extended family during the holidays, so the girls that were left at the orphanage (~30 of them) enjoyed having visitors come specifically to spend time with them. And they were eager to have their first yoga class that day!

Trickling In

We have arrived! And are still arriving... one by one. Seems like the holiday weather in the States gave everyone an opportunity to practice santosha, the practice of contentment with the present. All of the canceled & delayed flights, lost luggage & mixed navigation in a foreign land... Everyone has a travel story with the happy ending of "We're here!".

Where is here?
For those not familiar with the layout of India and where the orphanage is in relation to... say... Mumbia... here is a link to a map of the overall country with a "pin" on the Home of Hope. For the record, we have felt totally safe here and have been received with nothing courtesy and bobbling smiles.

Next stop... the orphanage!

Interesting cultural awareness photo:
Photo of the Flight info "channel" on our transatlantic flight to Dubia... along with air speed, trip duration, and esstimated time of arrival.

Pack it up, pack it in...

The night before a foreign flight out is always an exciting time. Do we have all of the packing lists that were started? What's our clothing strategy for going from the frosty States to tropic India? And best part... where do we put all of the goods our community donated to the orphanage.

Digging into the bags & boxes of what people brought to WYC was sort of like opening up presents a day early. Boxes & boxes of first aid supplies, bandages, bottles & ointments. Hair bands, barrettes, & jewelry as gift for the girls. And a small village worth of dolls.

Thank you to every one who donated to items for the orphanage. Everything will go to good use & make the girls so happy!

With a little help from our Friends

We had an amazing experience to start off our next Kunga Yoga trek out into the world. Students of the Friends School of Wilmington heard about our service retreat to India to help the Home of Hope Orphanage and they wanted to create a relationship between the two organizations.

The children asked how/what they could contribute, and since the theme of this year's trip was "Decorate with Love" we suggested that they create wall art on a sheet that we could easily fold up and take over. We knew that this would be perfect to help beautify the girls new dorm!! They presented us with the most beautiful "Peace Sheet" painted with their own artwork, iron on photos symbolizing peace, and iron on photos of themselves. The Friends Children also made a beautiful photo album scrapbook filled with inspirational quotes. The girls will be so excited to have a "sister classroom" in NC!

Part of the morning with at the school involved a show and tell of items and clothing from India along with a slide show of pictures from previous trips to the orphanage. Kristin told stories to the Friends Kids about the life of children in India and a typical day for the girls and students at the orphanage. Loren showing a couple of the fellas in the class how to wear a traditional Indian "lunghi". This was a real crowd-pleaser.

Thank you Friends School of Wilmington for caring about the Home of Hope girls and contributing!

Beautifully at Blue Lotus

What an amazing weekend with the Blue Lotus community in Raleigh. Beautiful vibe, people & space.

...More to come from guest bloggers & assistants extraordinaires, Tara & Noelle!

Rhythmic Flow website is up!

The new Rhythmic Flow Yoga website is now live and ready for visitors!

www.RhythmicFlowYoga.com

The URL has been waiting in the wings for a year or two needing some attention to make it more than just a placeholder. This is the first stage of what we are hoping the site can be. We got the motivation to get it together and posted after our amazing weekend with Tamal & Victoria (thanks for the kick-start!)

Please check it out and give us some feedback...
For right now, my URL, www.kristinyoga.com, also links to the Rhythmic Flow yoga website.

Enjoy!!

Earth Day Closing Kirtan

What a treat to come right from the Earth Day celebration earlier in the day to such a grounding, centering evening of kirtan. We hosted a kirtan led by Sangita Devi at the yoga center last night (Saturday night)... a beautiful, spiritual night of chanting, singing, clapping and dancing. The Sangita Devi crew came in from Asheville Friday night and got to enjoy a weekend of this amazing coastal weather we've been having lately.

We look forward to reconnecting with Sangita Devi at LEAF this year were they will be performing again.

For those not familiar with kirtan, Sangita Devi has a great description on their site (here).