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Aside from face-to-face girl time, the thing I miss most about being able to go and stay with my best friend in Oregon City is our commitment to visit Thrive Yoga & Wellness. I reached out to studio owner Marci Jory and invited her to share her experience as a businesswoman and yogi during a tumultuous year.
How have you and your staff had to adapt to keep Thrive Yoga open and provide support for your students and community with COVID-19 restrictions?
Like most yoga studios, my staff and I had to pivot so fast that our heads were spinning. We really had to let go of any perceived notion of being able to create a "perfect" atmosphere for our students, and we are still learning and implementing new systems and processes. Largely it has been trial and lots and lots of errors! Knowing that the need for live stream and video options is here to stay, we brought in a consultant to help us fine tune our streaming in an attempt to create a top notch experience for both teacher and student. Most of all, these shifts have taught me so much about the importance of community and grace. My teachers and I have felt completely held and supported by the Thrive community and I feel that our Thrive family has become closer through this.
Marci Jory
Let's just greet the elephant in the room--how has all the tension in Portland affected you and your studio, being in Oregon City? From your experience, are things as bad as the media has made it out to be?
While the political climate has shifted and changed our entire nation, the tension in Portland has only indirectly affected the studio. As a community, we have supported peaceful protests and a lot of our community members have participated in local Black Lives Matter protests in Oregon City and other smaller towns. I can't speak for the businesses in Portland but in my direct experience, it seems that pockets of areas, rather than the city as a whole, were most directly impacted. The news media made it seem like the entire city was up in flames. Most of the activity seems to have been peaceful.
What about you personally? Tell us what 2020 taught Marci Jory.
I am definitely a student of life and I try to see all experiences as opportunities for growth and learning. This year feels like it has offered decades worth of growth and learning at hyper speed. I feel like the events of the year, from the pandemic to the political and social unrest, have catapulted transformation and, for many of us, it's as if a veil has been lifted and things are a little clearer (even if uncertain) right now. Finding the language to describe the lessons this year is difficult, so I'll try to sum it up in a few main lessons.
Marci's Ancestor Guided Meditation
Connection to others:This has been a huge lesson for me, personally. I have often taken my family and community--and our ability tophysically connect--for granted, and this lack of real, human, in-the-flesh connection causes many to fall into depression and even back into addictions. Our connection with the whole is so important to our physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Connection to Nature: Don't discount our connection with nature and with Mother Earth. I feel myself called to the trees and forests that we are lucky enough to be surrounded by in Oregon. Connecting with nature is like a salve for my soul.
Connection to Self:My meditation and breath practice have really been a saving grace for me. As someone who has dealt with chronic anxiety for most of my life, these practices have really been amazing for my mental health. I love doing and teaching guided meditations as they can really get us into a great heart and head space.
Do you have a favorite yoga sequence or pose that helps ground you, especially during this uncertain era in history? Please share!
Oh yes... I'm normally a vinyasa person and love the way a Sun Salutation done over and over again creates peace and connection. It is my moving meditation and prayer with my body. Lately though, I have been very deeply connecting to the lunar practice of Yin Yoga. I mix it up with the poses I do depending on what I need that day but I never skip Sleeping Swan (minimum of 5 minutes on each side) and Reclined Butterfly with a heart opener. I place a rolled up blanket across my mat to support my shoulder blades and blocks under my knees. I practice with lots of props to feel supported and surrender into the shape.
Reclined Supported Butterfly
It's such a fine line between being responsible and protecting ourselves and others from COVID-19 and not losing the essential human connections that make our lives full. What advice do you have for those who may be struggling to cope during these times?
My advice is to take opportunities to connect to other people in whatever way feels safe and right toyou. If you feel safe doing so, grab some coffee and go for a distanced walk in the woods with a friend or two. It's easy to stay far enough apart that way and still connect with each other and with nature. And don’t give up on your yoga practice! - whether it’s Zoom/online classes or small, socially distanced sessions where safety precautions can be met, or on your own. What medicine for the heart!
By Heidi Drake; All Rights Reserved @2021
Interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
By Heidi Drake; All Rights Reserved @2021
Julie Bertagna
Julie Bertagna is a 500 RYT and certified Baptiste yoga teacher who teaches Baptiste power yoga and recovery yoga at Namaspa Yoga & Massage, as well as in her home studio, The Yoga Loft, in Bend. She is a mother and a grandmother, she loves the outdoors, and she still pursues dental hygiene one day a week! In the summer, she spends time at her partner's retreat venue, Vernonia Springs, which puts on retreats and special events. More information about Julie’s offerings can be found on her website: juliebertagnayoga.com
Zia Estrella
An exotic stargazer from the land of the intuitive ones, Zia embodies physicality, possibility, and empowerment in lighthearted playfulness. She loves the truth with all her heart and lives it with all her being. She grounds down into her deep dark Taína roots to rise. Humbled to practice and study yoga since 2007, she lives in wholeness, giving full credit to each and every emotion she experiences while embracing the power of the now moment. Shifting her perspective to realize the eternal inner light within is her Dharma. She got turned upsidedown on the True North path of yoga and she remembered her Prem - TruthLoveBeauty. This is her deepest source of empowerment, creativity, joy and peace. May she transform darkness into light through her own journey and serve all beings everywhere in truth, love and beauty. Learn more at www.ziayoga.io
Heidi Drake
Heidi Drake discovered yoga at the suggestion of her chiropractor and founded Downward Dog Yoga & Wellness Studio in Sunriver, Oregon in 2017, after obtaining her RYT-250 aerial yoga instructor certification from Aerial Yoga Academy. A lifelong dancer who taught jazz, hip hop, and tap at Sunriver Dance Academy for 9 years, Heidi realized that she needed something a bit gentler on her 50+ year-old body and was pleasantly shocked to find a passion for the strength, flexibility, and mind-body-soul connection yoga offers. When she’s not at the studio or writing, Heidi’s favorite place is on the Little Deschutes river, in her own backyard, with her husband, two teenage daughters, and pack of 4 dogs.
Hannah Parks
Practicing yoga is a deeply personal and professional endeavor for Hannah. She discovered yoga as a way to manage her own chronic pain - and it changed her life. As a social worker, she is passionate about helping people be the best that they can be, and she uses yoga to empower clients in their journey of finding balance in their own lives. She is a lover, a traveler, a social justice warrior, and a curious cat.
