Some people want marble. Others want to go to Porto.

Prajnananda (Marcio da Rosa)
2 days ago
3 min read

Some people want marble. Others want to go to Porto.

And I am back!

I have to say it — I love that city. Porto. Not because I spent many years there studying, but because it just keeps getting better and better. The beach. A pocket city you can walk across. Countryside twenty minutes away. So much to explore. So much art, so much design, and all the little things that make every step a journey.

And this year, I had wonderful company.

But being there made me think about what we have here.

Our studio is a city like Porto

Not perfect. Colourful. Inviting. Not too serious. Artistic, quirky, charming.

Each step is a journey.

And what makes a city like Porto so interesting is, technically, pretty much the same thing that makes our studio so fantastic.

Many small things close together, rather than one big empty gesture. In Porto there is a door every few metres, a tiny shop, a doorway, a corner. Nothing is on a huge scale and everything is on a human one. Our building is the same. A big studio. A small studio. A workspace. A therapy room. A meeting room. An office upstairs. The Sāmata Balance Bar with freshly baked things at weekends. You move through it and something changes every few steps.

Old and new side by side, neither apologising for the other. That is what gives a place soul, and it cannot be bought or rushed.

Narrow, then open. In Porto you walk down a dark little street and suddenly the river is in front of you. That is exactly the shape of our studio, and the shape of a good practice. You go inward, it gets narrow and honest, and then something opens.

And it is charming precisely because it is not polished. Nothing is over-filled. One beautiful thing in a plain room looks beautiful. Five good things look like a shop.

We said no to a whitewashed, sensible, boring place. We built this with our bare hands. I trained in music before I ever taught yoga, and this building was laid out with the arts and with creativity in mind from the first day — not as another copycat Californian yoga studio, not as another wellbeing box.

So when you notice the wall that isn't quite straight, or the corner that is still becoming something: that is not a thing we failed to finish. That is the thing itself. It is all part of the practice. Yoga has never been about arriving somewhere flawless. It is about meeting what is actually here and getting stronger in it.

What is coming in September

Over the next days I start preparing September properly. More classes. Partnerships. More events at the studio. And the teacher training goes ahead — the Foundation course begins in September, and I will write about that on its own.

The workspace, and who it is actually for

Hampshire Cultural Trust have visited us, and they want to tell everyone about our workspace. Yes!

And here is the thing. It is not for the typical suited and booted. It is for the creatives, the freelancers, the artists, the people building something on their own — for people who are honest and authentic and simply do not need to be a copy of somebody else.

Which means it will not suit everyone. Good. Some people want the marble and the mirrors and the smoothie in a branded cup, and there are plenty of places that will sell them that.

The ones who get it come in, put their bag down, and stay. The ones who need everything to be impressive leave fairly quickly, and honestly, we are completely at peace with that.

Some will want the perfect marbled place. Others will want to go to Porto.

And one more thing — Porto, together?

I have been thinking again about a studio retreat in Porto. Yoga on the beach. Surfing for anyone brave enough. Somewhere with a swimming pool. A great deal of very good food. A cruise on the river. Nature, art, extraordinary places to visit — and non-alcoholic port, of course!

No dates and no prices yet, and I am not asking anyone to commit to anything. But if that sounds like your kind of week, reply to this post or write to me at hello@loveyour.studio, and I will know whether to start planning it properly.

Whether you are new, coming back after time away, or already in the room every week — you are welcome here. The door is open.

Marcio