what happened to castle hill ?

The below email discusses the sudden closure of Nin Yoga Castle Hill. If you have no interest in this studio or what happened, please feel free to skip this email and get on with your wonderful day :)

I hoped I wouldn't have to share this newsletter while still processing the situation myself, but transparency is one of our key values.

So lets spit it out on the table, regardless of the time of year or whether anything has been figured out yet.

So, we opened Nin Yoga Castle Hill on the 1st of September 2017. We took over the Yoga and Pilates room from a circus school known as "Aerial Fit", and subleased directly from them to then bring in our magic and vibes and create all that is Nin Yoga.

We were ecstatic for the third studio and still in the process of the turnaround. Although Castle Hill was still operating at a loss (rent and wages are always HUGE), the team and I worked exceptionally hard to nurture the community and the building as our own.

On Thursday, December 19th, our team and studio members arrived at Nin Yoga Castle Hill to take part in our popular Thursday morning Reformer Pilates class with Candice.

The locks for the whole building, including our front door, were changed. The human changing the locks mentioned to our community that rent was much too overdue and that it was action time.

To be exceptionally clear, we are not sharing our story to blame anyone. I've known the directors of Aerial Fit for over a decade and quit my job managing video game arcades to teach circus and yoga to them full-time.

Aerialfit allowed me to chase my dreams, and I am forever thankful.

When they approached me earlier this year asking to take over the management of the Castle Hill Yoga and Pilates community, it felt right. It really did, and I still don't take it back.

That doesn't mean we won't be at a loss. Turning around studios is a considerable cost to any business, including ours.

Because of that, I don't know right now if Nin Yoga has the capacity to do it again. The surrounding buildings available needs a lot of work, energy, and bond. Our studio manager Karen already has so much on her plate. My baby daddy and I poured many hours into the Castle Hill studio, constantly rushing to make sure we got to school pick up on time (Castle Hill to St Marys in peak hour traffic is not always dandy!)

It was a lot, but we were making tremendous progress, and it felt like it would all pay off for everyone involved.

Our landlords at Aerial fit are now in liquidation, and we have a small window on Monday morning to collect all of our things and get them out of there.

We will move what we can into a friend's warehouse a few doors down. Actioning at least this first step will ensure we don't lose anything more the rest of the contents of the building contents gets sold off.

Business can be very scary. Many risks are taken to create and serve a community at large, and it very often comes at times with no profit. Your studios owners are not rich people. We just LOVE what we do. This was also the case for Aerial Fit.

We will learn from this as we watch it happen to our friends and make sure Nin Yoga stays as protected as possible.

Your membership has been paused if you are a Nin Yoga Castle Hill member. If you hold casual passes or are on trial, they have all been given an extension until we can confirm the following steps and our new home.

If anyone needs a refund for a recent purchase to book a room in our beautiful Castle Hill studio, please reply to this email, and we will resolve the issue as quickly as possible. (Otherwise, we would love to see you on Zoom, too!)

And remember, if you are a Nin Yoga St Marys or Nin Yoga Penrith member, this does not affect you because we are still operating as usual and are open every day except public holidays. We look forward to seeing you on the mat.

Okay, well that's all from me for now. Once again, I am sorry if this falls on you directly and your self care time has suddenly been taken away from you. We understand that our other two studios are not accessible for many.

Any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out and we are always more than happy to have a good old yarn with any of you.

Thankyou for all you support and love as we navigate this thing called life, together.

Annika xx