Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Breakfast Yoga Club - BYC in the House!

INTERVIEW with Breakfast Yoga Club founder Ricky Tran and Houston BYC founder Melissa Smith, both who hail from Texas...

YogiTunes Co-Founder Rara Avis is about to head out that way to dive a little deeper into the thriving Texas yoga community - Austin here we come! Also Desert Dwellers is booked for the Texas Yoga Conference this coming February, when we'll be trying to hook up with the BYC to do a serious commUNITY throw down!






Q: Can you briefly describe what the BYC is exactly?

A: The Breakfast Yoga Club is a yoga social for building commUNITY. Our mission is to unite the yoga community by offering fun yoga + music events with different studios working together when possible. The vision came from Ricky Tran in hopes to unite and build community within studios. It sprouted in Dallas and has spread to other cities, Austin, Houston, and oklahoma city. Each city has it's own flare to it with the entire emphasis of building strong bonds between teachers, studios and students alike.

Q: What inspired you to come up with the idea for the BYC?
A: We witnessed too much separation in yoga communities everywhere and brainstormed on a way to bring yogis together at home in Dallas. What brings people together? Yoga, great music and food (breakfast).

Q; When did it form?
A: June 2010

Q: Who's currently participating?
A: The cities are: Dallas, Houston, Austin & Oklahoma City. In Houston, we first find a location outside of a studio, like a park, community center, store, etc. and then build the class around that neighborhood. Finding all the studios, gyms, anything that has yoga and inviting them to be a part of the class. We have a 2 hour round robin yoga class with music, a featured charity and a representative of each studio teaching. It rocks!

Q: How often do you do events?
A: Some offer events quarterly or monthly, other cities more often.

Q: What's the future vision?
A: We'd love to see BYC in every major Texas City and spread from there. We'd like for leaders in each community to step up and bring people together for yoga, music, and the community regardless of practice, studio or lineage. If you'd like to start one in your city, send us an email, let's talk.

Q: Please tell us a little bit about where the Texas yoga community is at right now
A: (Ricky) I was blown away at the last BYC Houston and the graciousness of the studios that participated. 2 of the studios (Yoga West & Yoga on the Brazos) actually cancelled their classes and asked their students to come out and support the event. We had over 175 attend our last one. It was so inspiriting to see so much diversity in teaching styles and in practices come together. I think the yoga community needs this right now. Together we grow Yoga. Apart, we just create our own thing... I want more than ever to see all studios succeed. The more we hold each other up, the easier it is for all of us to rise and shine.

Q: Can you recommend any albums or playlists on our site that you really dig?
A: I'm really digging Steve Gold, Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band, and Desert Dwellers :)


If you're interested in creating a Breakfast Yoga Club in your area, check them out at
www.breakfastyogaclub.com - reach out to Ricky or Melissa and rock it for your community today!

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