MichelleMargolinHawkenProjects2022(MichelleMargolinHawkenProjects2021)

 Blog #1:

How do I, Michelle Margolin, envision my Hawken project going? Well, to start,  I would need to return to the beginning, the day I dedicated to starting MY own yoga journey. This past year, as I'm sure many other seniors experienced, brought a lot of stress and change into my life. Senior year was the time to completely shift my mindset from a high school student to a soon to be college kid. Once I was able to understand myself a bit more, the intensity of having everything fall into place started to kick in. It felt as if I was entering a continuous circle of never-ending worry about what will be and so there It all began. My big aha moment, a chance for me to grab that ball of worry and throw it out the window, I was going to explore the beauty and benefit of yoga practice. Three months ago I started watching Yoga with Adriene and dedicated 30 consecutive days to 30 minutes of yoga. It didn't take me long to fall in love with the practice of it all. I found myself reaching for the yoga mat whatever chance I had. Though I am still very much a beginner, I have found great joy in my curiosity and efforts to reach my yoga goals. This passion translated into the Hawken project I get the privilege of doing today. Working in a real yoga studio has been a dream of mine and I am beyond excited to experience taking classes alongside other passionate and committed individuals each discovering something new along their Yoga journey. I have so many questions for Hope, the founder, and owner of Abide Yoga, who will be mentoring me along the way. Throughout the next three weeks, I hope to learn more about others' relationships with the practice and how Hope can provide Yoga as a tool for people seeking to combat past trauma, anxiety, stress, and more. I will be taking classes and following Hope through her day as both a yoga instructor and business owner, and I can't wait!

Blog #2:

This past week has been an incredible eye-opening week in a variety of ways. Coming to the morning 9:30 AM classes at the Abide Yoga studio I was anticipating a series of intense vinyasa class-filled mornings. However, as I learned more about Hope's studio and the sort of place she has created, the more in-depth I learned about the practice of yoga itself. One class in particular that stresses slowing down was the Yin Yang class, this type of yoga is a slower practice where poses are passively held for longer, working on the deep, dense (Yin) connective tissues and joints in the body. An analogy that was used by the instructor was a river, how if we were to pass through it there is a fast and slow flow of streams, and that sometimes we need to enjoy where we are and ride through the slow stream to get to the fast one. One of the first classes taken taught me that when our bodies learn how to find their center, our minds can too. I have been able to take this idea and implement it into my everyday life. Whether that be understanding myself or the world around me looking at the little things and finding importance in slowing down is something I haven't always found easy. Yet, I feel that many of us forget that to get to a high point we need to start slow and steady just as we did in the yin-yang class. Sometimes there can be an overwhelming feeling that we, especially young people, need to know everything about our futures and reach this highest level of success immediately, but to get there we must go through mistakes and shortcomings, to understand how to be the best versions of ourselves. I believe this also applies to many other things such as the relationships we have, or the friendships we make. All of these experiences happen over time with the slow building of trust that innate strengthens the bond. 

Blog #3:

Another big learning curve that happened for me was when I delved into understanding how one runs a business such as a yoga studio. Hope, the founder, and the owner showed me how unconventionally conventional her job is as the business owner. I got to participate in the everyday jobs from helping her set up new lights in the studio to cleaning up after class and even sending out letters to the soon-to-be yoga instructors. I found it astonishing how many things Hope could fit into one day. I feel that many don't realize the nitty-gritty that comes with being a business owner. Not only does keeping the studio clean or being invited to the client's matter but so does the social media presence and advertising and how the studio itself is accessible to the people around it. One feature that I found exceptionally interesting about the abide yoga studio was the free clothing exchange. What this means is that individuals who are trying to get rid of their clothes bring them to the studio and can then take the clothes into the bins already set up at the entrance of the building. This setup makes it so that there is no judgment towards who takes or leaves their clothes. Small things such as that create a studio to be not only inclusive in the actual practice of Yoga but who can and should join! Another incredible thing that Hope has implemented is the sliding scale fees that are set in place. Built on an honors code system, Hope emphasizes the importance of making Yoga a thing for each person no matter their income, size, age, or current abilities, which is where the sliding scale payment comes in. As an auto-renewing member, there are 4 options to choose from Guardian at 111$, Sustainer at 77$, Friend at 55$, and Community at 33$ with an additional option to “name your amount” as needed. This means that whatever you can pay is what is acceptable as the monthly price, making Abide Yoga a place for every person, no worries necessary!

Blog #4:

As we near the middle/end of this incredibly entertaining and growth-filled journey I would like to focus on an aspect of working with Abide Yoga that I have found pretty empowering. Besides the regular classes, I've continued to attend. There has been some pretty cool behind the scene work done for the growth of Hope’s Abide Yoga studio. Which is the transition from one software to another. Now you may be wondering how difficult transitioning from one new software system to another is? Well, imagine receiving a phone and dissecting its functions from the camera lenses to the light modes only to then receive a completely new and entirely different phone. Relearning the new phone's logistics becomes a tedious and unpredictable process. This is exactly what Hope, the founder, and instructor at Abide Yoga, is currently doing. Now what empowers me most about this situation is not Hope’s ability to simultaneously run a studio while also learning a brand new software, but the way that she has found optimism and positivity in the challenge. I spoke with her this past week about how this transition has impacted her daily life and the response I received was how glad she was to finally learn something that challenges her which required stepping out of her comfort zone where she was the teacher to others. This mindset embodies what many of us strive to have. It is one thing to master our practice, whether that be Yoga, calculus, or acrobatics, but to then extend ourselves and return to being a beginner shows true growth and flexibility which is an important factor in any form of success. I hope to take this lesson as I start my own professional career and be able to incorporate the excitement of being a beginner into a plethora of my future interests. 

Blog #5: 

I think that having Hawken school connect with Abide Yoga would be a phenomenal idea for a plethora of reasons. First off, who would not benefit from being in a space or engaging in a practice that aims to ground oneself? And second off, what stressed-out high school student would not benefit from engaging in a practice that aims to ground oneself? With that said, the studio and Hawken high school are two separate entities that logistically couldn't be combined. However, Hope, founder, and instructor at Abide Yoga can easily transport herself to and from or even virtually present herself wherever needed. Just this week, an individual met with Hope to propose a collaboration between the studio and a children's organization that aims to create spaces of growth. Why not take that same concept and use it in a place like Hawken. Just as we have school and grade meetings or clubs and affinity groups, adding Yoga to the list of activities could be extremely beneficial to the student's health and well-being. Some people prefer conversations over meditation and movement but there are a bunch (myself included) who find it extremely gratifying and relieving to have a set outlet such as Yoga to help beat the stress. Abide Yoga could team with Dr. Pucci and the school to create a program, class, or online zoom esc opportunity where the students would attend bi-weekly or monthly meetings. I feel that this could help kids engage in movements of the body beyond activities such as sports or the gym. Speaking of sports, many of the Hawken athletes already find themselves participating in some sort of stretching and or yoga to help their muscles keep up. Abide Yoga could host online sessions or even collaborate by creating pamphlets that are brought into school for kids to read about yoga practices and stretches that could provide a “how-to” for people to follow. 

Blog #6:

Much before my Hawken Project people from all types of backgrounds found passion in the practice of yoga and in the Abide Yoga studio.  As you all know by now, from my previous blog posts, the place itself is a yoga sanctuary. Hope, owner, and founder of Abide yoga  provides people of all backgrounds, pasts, and current states a place to wind down and connect to the practice of yoga. In a general sense, the purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness, and harmony in both the mind and body, which is exactly what Abide Yoga does for each and every person who walks in through their front door. No matter who you are there are hundreds of different physical and mental benefits introduced into one's life due to yoga.  Beyond the textbook definitions and benefits of the practice, one particular way in which I have seen Abide Yoga affect the lives of others is the confidence and security it allows the clients to feel and gain. From the positive affirmations to the mottos consciously said in a class by instructors, students respect each other's boundaries and walk into class knowing it's a space that meets the person on an individual level. The only expectation within those four walls is your own and so whenever a class is in session alluding words are actively not mentioned (such as, “We should all be doing x,y, or z, and everyone must be doing this”). In this way, the studio has welcomed many individuals who prior to coming had bad experiences in other classes or facilities that may have stagnated their journey or interest in yoga. On a personal level, I would say that my learnings from being in the studio have translated into the way I address others or set my expectations in terms of how I anticipate things from others. From close friends to my siblings or peers, I have taken the idea of meeting a person on their personal level and used it to deal with conflicts and create useful resolutions.

Blog #7:

Based on my experience in this Hawken Project so far, the advice I would give to next year's Hawken project Students would definitely be to not be afraid of being a beginner, ask a lot of questions, and don't hesitate to find connections with your mentor and use them as a resource beyond the Hawken Project. Asking questions is always a scary thing, it could be interpreted as one's lack of understanding and unfitness for a task, it could mean someone not paying attention, but it can also mean one's yearning to understand, and the ability to show you want to grow. In that way, I hope that people going into their own project understand the value of asking about the unknown. I remember my first few days coming into the studio clueless about where things were, what poses meant, and how I should say certain names. I sorta kept these things to myself and tried to persevere until I didn't. It felt free to break the habit and instead ask every question that arose in my head. I think it was because of this that I gained the amount of knowledge that I did. As for being a beginner it sort of ties in with asking those questions you might think are “stupid” or “meaningless”. It's never easy to admit your flaw or inability to do something (at least at the current moment) however being a beginner is nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, being a beginner makes making mistakes okay (say that three times over), something that then allows us to learn so that we can make better mistakes next time. It's never easy to mess up but that is how we learn, which at the end of the day is the point of this project no? So, ask those silly questions and let your guard down, who cares if you make a mistake, or three or ten! Lastly connecting with Hope, founder, and instructor at Abide Yoga has been an amazing experience all around. Not only is she an endless pit of useful Yoga information but her life advice and outside connections have only been a positive benefit in my life. In conclusion, the relationship between you and your mentor could be one talked about ten years down the road as a hallmark of who you were or continued to become so don't hesitate to reach out.

Final Blog:

It has finally come to the end of these incredible three weeks. From the early morning yoga classes to the late chats with Hope herself, I have enjoyed every experience learned and taken from this mentored internship at Abide Yoga. I would like to walk you, the readers, through my thought process from beginning to end. To start, the thing that most intrigued me about this opportunity was how the end goal of this project affects me just as much as the people around me. Yoga has been a part of my daily routine for the past half a year and as I mentioned in my first blog allows me to focus any tension or stress in my life into daily practice. Yoga has also influenced my mobility and overall well-being which has been a big goal of mine throughout this past year. Joining Hope and Abide Yoga was yet another step towards achieving this goal. Spending time taking classes in the studio and learning from Hope about the behind-the-scenes, including running the business has been a pleasure. I think one of the things that ran especially smoothly was the relationship between Hope, my project, and myself. There was a clear understanding from both parties of the expectations and overall goals that needed to be met, lessening the possibility of any surprises later on. If Hope needed to follow through with other responsibilities it was understood and taken care of immediately and when I needed something filled out or questions answered she was ready to go! I think that initially, I had a preconceived image of what these last three weeks were going to look like. I was going to learn from Hope and become an expert on the different poses and styles of yoga, good enough to teach myself. Although I can say I am much more equipped in terms of practicing yoga, learning from Hope offered me so much beyond the flow of the practice. I not only experienced being in a setting with like-minded people, each passionate about their personal growth in the practice and out, but I also got to challenge myself by putting, Michelle, in the shoes of Hope, business founder, mom, and instructor. I learned about working around others, creating spaces filled with inclusion, and accepting the current situation no matter the curve balls that may be thrown in the way. I learned a lot about myself and the world around me from a lens previously foreign. One thing that I found so interesting was that every day Hope made it a priority to go through nature and snap a picture of something that sparked her joy or grabbed her attention. When she told me this little daily ritual I found myself asking her, “Why not just grab a picture of something in the studio or find an image from a prior trip?” What I did not realize was that through Hope's curiosity about the world around her, she was able to expand upon the brain's knowledge of the surrounding world and implement those lessons into her teachings at the studio. Whether it was her observation of a riverbank or the bee landing on its flower, Hope used what she saw to enrich the lives of others. I feel that this idea ties into the bigger picture lesson I took away from my experience which was, that we must continue to learn, ask questions, to evolve our understanding even of the mundane things around us we sometimes forget to look out for. These little things are what allow each one of us to grow and adapt to the world around us; which I guess is my advice to the rising Juniors and Seniors planning their own Hawken Projects. Find inspiration in the world around you! Don't hesitate to explore the world around you and find passion in the things you sometimes forget to admire. I would like to thank Hope for her amazing guidance and inclusion in my Hawken Project. She has been a guiding light and inspiring figure for me with her incredible teachings, ability to tackle any task at hand, and endless kindness as my mentor and now a friend!

Final Presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MR0fTJXG-RVV7bzq3JGZVC_lefQByiaA5kwNYT1cqIQ/edit?usp=sharing