Breathing Without Breathe
Today, I had a conversation with a friend and one of the instructors from Breathe and she said she still couldn’t believe that we discontinued Breathe. Stacey’s tone of voice was more like, how can you breathe without Breathe!? I like to think that I am great at deciphering people’s unspoken communication, I liken this to reading emails and messages in people’s voices. Maybe I misread her tone of voice.
Two years ago, I started a movement in Lagos, Nigeria. The strategic goal was simple, “make yoga cool”. After four years in the marketing and communications industry, I knew that the only way I would demystify yoga and build a community was to make it cool.
The Nigerian market is very peculiar; change is one thing that is hard to crack in this ecosystem and the only way to draw people into the wonderful, soulful, and mindful practice of yoga was to speak to them in a language they’d understand.
I had been practicing yoga for a while, back then not many people were even open to trying out the practice so when I had conversations about the joy and balance that the practice brings they would respond in a way that screamed SCAM or BS. People wouldn’t even give yoga the time of day and I was yearning to have people experience the benefits of yoga for themselves. In order to achieve this, I first had to tackle some of the common misconceptions about the practice in Nigeria — yoga is demonic, yoga is for the elitist, yoga is for women, etc.
This wasn’t even a battle I could fight alone so I sought out another yogi (yoga practitioner) in Lagos. Together we combined efforts and resources to birth Breathe.
I met my then business partner Sandra, and together we combined energies and our network to start Breathe. I remember the exact moment we decided to make it a thing. I remember where we were when we first played around with names. This was in the middle of planning the first yoga retreat in the country ( I could be wrong here but it was a first for us and for sooo many). I am not one to get stuck on names but the name Breathe came and it stuck. The name didn’t become a thing until after a successful retreat which boosted our confidence enough for us to consider opening a safe space where all would be welcome.
Our (myself and Sandra’s) vision aligned, we wanted to help Nigerians find balance in the chaotic nation and grow the yoga community. Again, the strategic goal was to make yoga cool, and that was exactly what we did. We took yoga to the streets, malls and the outdoors then shared our journey on our social media channels.
Our retreat was in November of 2016 and by December the stars aligned and we got a space and created a studio out of it. In January we were fully open to the general public.
In the two years, we have had over 2000 classes. Over 1000 hours of private sessions. A couple of accolades. Over 10 retreats, and my personal favorite our monthly community classes where all could come and practice yoga for free, then bond and have conversations in the most non-judgmental space.
The brand was called Breathe. The community class was called Gather. The retreat arm, Eat Play Yoga. I remember our first Gather like it was yesterday, it rained that day and in spite of the rain we had a full house and for the first time in forever I saw a group of strangers really converse and connect (without judgment) over topics like body positivity, spirituality, wellness, yoga, mindfulness and more.
Two years down the line, the community grew beyond belief; we had a new wave of yogis. Today, we have evangelists of all Nigerian tribes, religious beliefs, body shapes, genders, and socio-economic class practicing yoga at gyms, on the beach, co-working spaces, offices, basically everywhere and just being beautifully bold about their practice. Many acknowledge Breathe for their journey and this is something myself and Sandra will forever hold dear.
The brand grew, we the front-individuals of the brand put in our sweat, blood, and tears but this came with sooo many ups and a good number of downs. In the middle of it all, we came to the point where we felt that building community bit of the vision was almost fulfilled. We now had a community and we needed to keep our doors open. We sat back to re-evaluate things and while the main vision stayed the same with slight changes here and there we just couldn’t agree on the next direction for the brand. I am not going to front by saying yogis don’t fight or ruffle feathers. In order to continue with our practice, we had a simple resolve — discontinue the brand and embark on individual paths with no love lost. This is something that happens in the best of partnerships and marriages. The day we took down our famous “Why Do You Practice Yoga” board at the studio it felt so surreal; I truly felt like I was ending a marriage but it was bittersweet (still is) because I know for a fact that myself and Sandra will go on to achieve greater heights, else what we learned would be for nothing.
In November we made the announcement and got countless messages. This brought a smile to our faces because we got affirmations from people we didn’t even know noticed our efforts.
With the same energy and maybe different goals and direction we are both leading our paths. Sandra is starting something magical that will deepen the practice of yogis and intending yogis with her Yoga Club and I am… well, I am in the process of creating a space where people can have curated yoga/movement experiences. In the next couple of days, I will be sharing more details on this. A clue — think minimalism, oneness, awareness, and change.
Our yoga journey is off to a good start because Breathe was our start. So thank you for being a part of our story and stayed tuned because the journey just began.
Practice yoga and change the world.
Namaste.
