You belong here: Fighting insecurity through acceptance and community.
“Belonging is a practice that requires us to be vulnerable, get uncomfortable, and learn how to be present with people without sacrificing who we are. When we sacrifice who we are, we not only feel separate from others, but we even feel disconnected from ourselves.”
― Brené Brown, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience
By the time you reach adulthood, you’ve likely experienced the feeling of being on the outside of a clique. Whether it was in school, at work, or in social settings, we can all agree that it is probably a feeling we’d like to avoid being faced with again. Unfortunately, cliques exist in a variety of settings— and yoga studios and wellness spaces are no exception. The fear of judgement begins to creep in, and before you know it, just the thought of seeing those on the inside of the clique floods your body with feelings of anxiety and insecurity. We know that feeling. That’s why we actively work to eliminate “cliquiness” from The Aura House through acceptance and community.
If you’re new to The Aura House’s pillars (the values and foundations upon which our community was built), then pillar 4, unassuming, is a great place to start. “Through community, we will in our hearts, thoughts, and actions be unassuming of our neighbours who walk through our doors.” So what do we mean by that? We mean that when you come into TAH, you don’t have to worry about feeling judged. We won’t fill in the gaps of your story— we will wait for you to get comfortable, and let you tell us who you are.
Our space is about community. From the lending library to community days and every class and event in between, we want our members (and non-members alike!) to feel part of the community. We want you not just to know, but to feel that you are accepted. When you show up to our doors, you can step through them wholly as yourself without fear of judgement or being on the outside.
That being said, we know that it can still be intimidating to show up to a new space as a brand new member of the community. That’s why we provide a few extra tools to help set you on the right path from the very first step. Start with getting to know us and what we do, and take a look at the different membership options we have on offer. You can take our virtual studio tour to familiarize yourself with our beautiful space (that’s a horn we’re not afraid to toot), and download our Aura House App (available on iOS and Android). Once you’re all set up, you can head over to our New Member Questionnaire — fill it out, and we’ll send you a personalized schedule of the classes we’d recommend based on your answers, along with a free class pass to get you started.
Above all, we want you to feel comfortable in our space. No cliques or cattiness, no judgement or assumption. Through our pillars, we hope to encourage the utmost authenticity in our members on and off the mat so that you can come into our space and go into the world feeling unrestrained and unbound—simple, yet profound.
Blog Post Written by Maya Price-Baker
