Yoga Shanti: Ready for the next 25 years

Colleen Saidman Yee, owner of Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, who celebrated her 25th anniversary last week with a block party of sorts behind the Bridge Street studio, took her first yoga class in 1984. “I went out on Broadway and everything seemed obvious to me. somehow special. I was filled with respect. It was a strange thing that happened and I have been trying to get that feeling back in my body ever since.

She had only attended the class because she lost a drawing. “If I had won, my roommate would have gone to boxing class with me.” Wisely, she put boxing aside after a rib was broken by a punch.

While pursuing this feeling, she also introduced it to countless other people. In 1999, on a whim, she opened Yoga Shanti with Jessica Bellofatto. “I said, ‘Hey, do you want to open a yoga studio?’ She said to me: “Of course! We went to an ATM, withdrew $500 each and that’s how we started the studio. I was a pretty green teacher. I didn’t have to open a yoga studio.

From a two-bedroom apartment above Murf’s Tavern where she taught from a hallway (maximum capacity of 20 mats, $12 walk-in) to a studio behind the Kites of the Harbor (maximum capacity of 35 mats ; no windows; pitch-black shavasana “People were snoring.”) and eventually in their first storefront on Washington Street (maximum capacity of 45 people but tight), the two women grew the business to their size. separation around 2007.

In 2009, Saidman Yee was walking behind Main Street when she saw a building under construction. “It was still raw inside. I was able to create the studio of my dreams. She had the ceiling painted gold and the walls orange. The moldings, dotted with lights, were sculpted by Springs artists Bill Stewart and Ann Fristoe. “From carpet to carpet”, it welcomes 72 students.

Saidman Yee’s husband, Rodney Yee (they married in 2006 “after an illicit affair and some very steamy sex,” she joked), joined the teaching staff in 2009. “Sag Harbor is strangely contagious, but it’s especially Colleen who is contagious, otherwise I would be somewhere else,” he says. “Yoga Shanti is close to one’s soul and I witness it every day. I’m so happy to be able to be a part of her dream and this community with all the yoga knowledge I have to share.

The studio altar was built by Evan Yee, Saidman Yee’s stepson. In its nooks and crannies are photos of gurus, religious teachers and even Bob Dylan. “It’s a conglomeration of those who have influenced my practice. My path to deeper self-study,” she said. Hidden high and out of sight is Saidman Yee’s mother’s funeral card. “She is always with me.”

There have been good times – always full classes in the building that has become a de facto community center for many – but also difficult times. “Covid has been horrible. Our income stopped on March 17, 2020. We began to struggle. » There were classes on Zoom, Facebook, on the church lawn and finally in Mashashimuet Park. “Every morning we did the transport. There were goose droppings and everyone was masked, even though we were outside. We were so happy to train in person again that we didn’t care. »

“Covid has changed people’s sensitivities. I don’t even know if I want to pack 72 in the room anymore. But this summer we will recover our juice and operate at full capacity as we wish.

Although there have been many changes over the past 25 years, the yoga community and many of the studio’s teachers have remained remarkably stable. “I’m 82 years old and I still walk pretty well, that’s part of what it means to me,” said Esther Newberg, a Saidman Yee student since the beginning. “Colleen can kind of read her audience. It never feels like yoga BS”

“When I start class, everyone is talking so loud that I can’t even start. This makes me so happy. There were times when I wasn’t sure we were going to stay open, but then I would see someone in town who said the studio saved them from a dark time. That’s why we held on,” said Saidman Yee.

“We just graduated 28 people—thousands of them have graduated since the program began in 2003—and 20 of them were under 30. It’s inspiring to see these young people wanting to do more than just sports. The fact that students want to learn from these two old hands means a lot. When I opened the studio, I was innocent and naive. I had no idea how much it would nourish my soul.”