Hampton Bays Yoga Studio Back In New Spot After Pandemic Struggle

HAMPTON BAYS, NY — Despite months of pandemic uncertainty, a well-loved Hampton Bays yoga business, forced to shutter at its former location, is set to rise up for its next chapter in a new spot.

Owner Kara Billingham took to social media recently to announce that The Yoga House would be opening soon, likely the first week of February, in its new location at 6 Tepee St., on the property of Prime Marina.

"Our newest location is a gift from heaven," Billingham said. "In a hard moment of truly needing to decide where to go from here, and not much available to rent, this beautiful place on the water, directly across the canal from Cowfish, opened up."

Yoga classes range from restorative to all levels, and the pandemic-born hybrid model will continue to people can join in person or on Zoom. "'Feel Free to be Yourself' is our slogan and we hope you will," Billingham said.

The journey to the new spot has been long and often time, marked by trials and tribulations, grief, sadness and tears, as the former location on Springville Road had to close its doors.

And yet, despite the dark months, Billingham said: "There is much hope on the horizon."

Billingham reflected on how the pandemic rocked so many businesses, including her own.

"In March 2020, we were gearing up to have our best year yet at the yoga studio, our seventh year in town, then located in the heart of Hampton Bays," she said.

She actually actually opened in 2006 as Kara Yoga — in the basement of her home — then became The Yoga House years later; the space was upgraded in 2017 and became House of Wellness, and now in 2022, the business is coming coming back as The Yoga House, Billingham said.

But the pandemic caused a long and difficult pause, she said.

"Like so many others, we thought it would be a brief shutdown and while the doors were forced closed, my artistic husband decided it would be a great time to paint another mural he’d been thinking of," Billingham said. "The newest mural took a couple of weeks — the most beautiful wings, meant to uplift people. The mural also become a fun feature people might want to take a picture with."

As a yoga studio, during the economic shutdown, her business was categorized as a gym, and Billingham was forced to have outdoor classes only, as well as Zoom instruction.

"Zoom classes began right away — again, thinking this would be a temporary Band-aid," Billingham said. "After 108 days of a daily yoga session on Zoom, and little to no hope in site in regard to reopening the studio, we came to the stark realization that this was our new reality — Zoom and outdoor yoga."

Billingham said she and her husband have lived at a camp facility every summer for almost 30 years and were able to keep to keep things going outdoor, and then indoor, beginning again in December, 2020.

During the summer of 2020, when the world was still largely shut down and Billingham was forced to remain closed, she said she wrote a letter, "in desperation", to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"My plea was, basically, to say that we were not a gym," she said.

However, she got no response, Billingham said.

She continued to pay the rent throughout all the months her brick-and-mortar business was closed, but the costs became daunting with a drastically reduced income.

"In a tear-filled phone call to the landlord, in August, 2020, I felt I had no choice but to let the place go," Billingham said. "For a small business such as ours, the government handouts only barely helped me to pay the rent and some teacher salaries. The monthly income reduced drastically, as so many preferred not to do Zoom — and then, so many others were seriously concerned about getting sick."

She and her husband rode out the lease for three additional months, but were losing close to 75 percent of their income, she said.

"So, the beautiful murals had to be painted over," Billingham said. "My husband wasn’t upset, saying his only concern was for me. To him, it was just a mural and he reminded me the place was just a space with walls, and didn’t represent what we had actually built — a great community. At the time, I felt my dreams were being quashed. Now, with hindsight, I see they were only going through a metamorphosis," Billingham said.

Throughout the next months, as she taught both in-person and Zoom classes, the uncertainty continued and her business morphed into a hybrid yoga studio, Billingham said.

But despite the challenges, the support of her clients and friends and a caring Hampton Bays community has meant everything, Billingham said.

"So many people have stuck with us, and we would not be here without them — 100 percent," she said. "The steady and consistent stream of people, practicing yoga both on Zoom and in person, has been tremendous in reaffirming just how strong of a community we have built. Keeping things going has been a team effort and every single person has benefitted on every level of wellbeing — but, especially for mental health reasons."

Reflecting on her tribe, Billingham said: "We are a community that has fun together, while practicing yoga. There is lots of laughter, love, and support. People have thanked me, so many times for offering yoga through these crazy times, but, they don’t see that it wouldn’t exist without them. I, personally, have so many people I am grateful for, and I hope I can continue to express my gratitude as we move forward to better days, by offering a great new space for all to enjoy."

The pandemic has offered life-altering perspective , Billingham said.

"I think the greatest lesson has been that putting one foot in front of the other can always be good enough. When I concentrate on that, I trust the rest will unfold as it should, and we always have options. They might not always be the option we want, but we have options. There are much greater things happening in the world and what has happened to our small business, really, is nothing compared. I am grateful no matter what. None of us know what’s next. Today is all we have."