Our House-- Broome Street Temple.

One does not come here to leave but to stay. One does not come here by chance or for a short time, one comes here and spends a lifetime, enters and leaves a changed person. One does not leave without friends, lovers, family, children and lifelong partners. One does not enter this space without changing their lives and the lives of others. We have traveled from far away and for many a dreary morning to morning chanting and daily practice. We took at these walls as a pulsating, vibrating life force that has become us and us it. The colors changed, the lights became brighter, the box changed from gold to metalic, the floors from wood with gold squares to grey with that special bump in the middle and still, and still you walk in and its like nothing else in the world.

This is our House or home our sanctuary our place of worship and reflection. Its our family our community our quiet corner of a busy, noisy, smelly and often crazy city.  This place made New York worth living. Today after 15 years of practice, worship, laughter, children growing into teenagers, young men into fathers, and young women into mothers, tears, smiles, laughter, whispers and longing embraces, our home has closed its doors. For me this place was a harbor from very stormy weather, I found friends here that made me smile when there was little to smile about, they made me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry and they gave me love when I felt all alone. I heard laugher and joy and awe inspiring moments of silence. Togetherness like none other and community that broke down all boundaries. Hope, memories, tastes, smells, offerings. This was our House.



This was the reason I stayed in NYC when everything else was falling apart and the reason I'm still here when now I'm rebuilding and living here. New York City was another animal and then you walked through that door it you were in a safe, quiet, beautiful space a space that was not just the pictuers on the wall, the red and pink and blue and gold colors and the soft light from the candles burning night and day but the essence of a practice, a belief a community and a family like none other. This was the place that made me believe in myself and in others again after having lost all faith, and gave me courage to follow my dreams. The knowledge the wisdom the jokes the serious conversations about life, the chit chat about nothing at all and that smile from our teacher Eddie when he saw us walk through the door morning after morning for practice. THAT is what made Ashtanga Yoga New York and the Broome Street Temple, quite possibly the best place in NYC, our place and we were part of it, and it part of us.  Thank you for these past two (almost three) amazing years and the ones that will come still. This chapter has come to a close but another one is already being written and we are so blessed to be a part of this new page.

Ohm Shanti

September 1st 2015

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