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Fresh Yoga Refresh

FRESH YOGA REFRESH

Its time to Refresh Fresh Yoga - making Fresh Yoga accessible to anyone interested in practicing on a regular basis within a vibrant community! January 1st, 2018 Fresh Yoga became a Donations-Based Studio!

Even though we have changed - there are many ways we remain the same!
- Same great classes
- Same great teachers
- Any class card you have can still be used
- There are class cards within the new system - click here for full information
- You can attend as you always have, you will just have more choices

The Downtown Location is Closed

In order to give the new system its best chance of survival and to be able to transform into a donations-based studio, we closed our downtown location, 49 Orange St.

More Accessible Pricing Options

Class cards and drop-in rates have moved to a sliding scale cost structure. Click here for full information. Our $5 Classes will remain on Monday and Thursday at 12 Noon and on Saturdays all classes are no-minimum donation, this means you can use your class card or do a drop-in at whatever rate works best for you.

Help Us Maintain the Refresh

If you would simply like to make a donation to Fresh Yoga. Simply go to our MindBody Online system and look under classes. There is a donation option.

Questions? Please email info@freshyoga.com or give us a call at 203 776 9642!

More About This Change From Heidi:

I’m Heidi Sormaz – I’ve been teaching at and running Fresh Yoga in New Haven for 15 years. I’m so grateful to have seen the upsurge of interest in yoga and its growth throughout this city. Although more yoga is available, what I primarily see across the country is exclusivity. I’m committed to refreshing Fresh Yoga to make it more accessible and more inclusive. Instead of providing the occasional free class for students who cannot afford typical studio prices – I’m committed to a system where people can pay on a sliding scale according to their ability and maintain a regular yoga practice within a community. Yoga is and always has been about seva - being of service and giving to others in order to truly be happy in life.

To make this vision a reality, Fresh Yoga has changed the structure of the studio to a donation-based organization. It includes a sliding scale cost structure, $5 community classes, no-minimum donation classes on Saturdays (Seva Saturdays), and need-based tuition scholarships for the majority of our yoga programs. Part of the change is a simplification - we have moved out of downtown and gone back to our home base at Erector Sq - where we began in the heart of East Rock. I lived in this neighborhood for many years so the area will always feel special to me. As a graduate student in New Haven for five years, I know the challenging reality of attempting to live a balanced life as a full time student.

Through 15 years, 2 build outs, and 4 different physical locations, Fresh has never raised our prices. As we face our largest transformation, Fresh Yoga is striving to maintain a sustainable model of business not only for our community but also for our teachers and staff – we hope to remain a vibrant part of the community for another 15 years!

Our goal at Fresh Yoga is to create a community in which everyone contributes according to their ability and the resources available to them. In order to do this in a way that ensures we meet our operating costs, we are creating a tiered system of rates and asking community members to participate at the level that works for them and their budget.

Specifically, there are 3 main payment tiers:
The Base Rate is our first tier – it covers 65% of what is needed to run the studio. It provides an affordable option for regular study.

The Sustaining Rate is our second tier. It reflects the current market value for yoga classes and helps us by meeting the actual operating costs of the studio, which includes being able to pay the teachers who are teaching free, $5 donation and no-minimum donation classes for their expertise, time, and energy.

The Benefactor Rate is our third tier. It is 20% higher than the sustaining rate. If an individual can afford this level, they are assisting our efforts to offer tiered, scholarship, and need-based classes.

If someone cannot afford the base level – they can apply for a larger scholarship based on need.

Click here for full details!

We hope you will be a part of the Refreshed Fresh!

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