Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Flinn.
Hi Andrea, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started taking yoga back in 1998 when I first moved to Austin (at yoga vida). I practiced there for years. I was working downtown managing a bar really stuggling to find my place. I finished graduate school and went to work for a little bit in the field came back to the bar business and ended. up in teacher training(200 yrt yoga certification)….I came to work one day I was back in the bar business left social work and told my boss that I was putting in my 2 weeks notice. I had nothing lined up, nothing planned other then finishing my graduation from TT for yoga. I finished that and my last days in the bar business and started teaching at yoga vida. During Covid I bought the business from the 2nd owner(there has been 3 total)
and here we are. Yoga Vida opened there doors in 1999 we are now the oldest standing locally owned yoga studio in Austin Texas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We are contrast learners. Struggle is interwoven with joy to create wisdom.. I feel like the bumpier the road the more skills you learn. The biggest struggle for small business in austin texas is the influx of corporations that have taken the sacred lineage of yoga and exploited it to make money. Every gym, rock climbing gyms, dance studios, you name it they all offer yoga which is good but you don’t go get your nails done at the grocery store. The other part is all the corporate studios that have come in, its hard for small business to compete with the budgets these guys have. I really love the old yoga community in austin and most of them have found their way to Yoga Vida. where we still hold a very strong boundary for the lineage and teachings of yoga
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Yoga Vida?
What really sets us a part is we are the oldest yoga studio in austin Texas most small businesses died after Covid. We are a group/community of yogis that cherish our space and what we have built. We were born in 1999 and continue to offer yoga by the most experienced guides. Many of our yoga teachers have been with us 15 plus years.
How do you think about happiness?
Doing yoga. Do your practice and all is comijng-Ivengar
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yogavidaaustin.com
- Instagram: livinglayogavida
Image Credits
Georges Schemagin
