There’s a moment in every small business’s life when the ground shifts beneath you — sometimes literally. For Phoenix Yoga, that moment came in early 2025, when flooding left the studio unusable and us staring down a bill we hadn’t planned for and couldn’t easily cover.
We closed our doors. We weren’t sure how long for.
What happened next is still, honestly, hard to put into words.
Water in places water shouldn’t be
The flood damaged equipment, flooring and essential infrastructure. Reopening felt daunting, and we knew the community had already done a great deal for Phoenix. We did not want to ask again.
But our community asked us first.
“What do you need? How can we help? What can we do?”
Messages like that started arriving almost immediately. From members who’d been coming to classes for years. From people who’d only done the 21-day intro. From neighbours who’d never even set foot in the studio. The response was, in the truest sense of the word, overwhelming.
The fundraising campaign
We launched a fundraising appeal. We were nervous about it — it felt vulnerable to ask, and we wanted to be honest about exactly what we needed and why. The June Fundraising Special newsletter laid it all out: what the flood had cost us, what we needed to reopen, and what reopening would mean for the community that had grown up around this place.
The response went beyond anything we’d projected. People donated. People shared. People showed up — practically and emotionally — in ways that still catch us off guard when we think about it.
Phoenix Yoga is community-owned. Surplus is reinvested into the studio and local community initiatives. The support we received during the flood reminded us exactly why that model matters — and who it’s for.
What we learned
Communities don’t just exist in good times. They prove themselves in the hard ones.
The flood was awful. The fundraiser was humbling. But what stayed with us — what we carry into every class, every newsletter, every decision we make about this place — is the knowledge that when things went wrong, people came. Not because they had to. Because they wanted to.
We reopened stronger than we’d closed. The floors are better. The studio looks brighter. And we understand, more deeply than ever, what this place is for.
If you’re new to Phoenix, the flood story shows why members often describe it as their studio, not simply somewhere they attend.
See what community ownership changes in practice. Read how Phoenix reinvests in the studio, its teaching and wider access to yoga. Explore our community impact →
