How Five Community-Owned Businesses Were Bolstered with Cares Act Money – Teesha Yoga

Latesha Grant hung out her shingle at Teesha Yoga in February of last year, just as the term Coronavirus was becoming familiar to the American public.

Grant said the ancient practice of yoga is an embodiment of “trying to find your true inner self through a healthy lifestyle.” Lifestyle habits became a huge consideration as the pandemic tightened its grip.

She has been quick to tell potential students that those who were surviving COVID with little to no lasting harm were those with strong immune systems and such qualities as good range of motion and a healthy diet. The CDC has said another version of the same thing, pointing to such risk factors as smoking, obesity and a weakened immune system as making severe COVID-19 illness more likely.

“Unfortunately, I opened my studio in February of 2020, so it was the very tip of COVID being known to other countries before it came to us,” lamented Grant.

She said her business was literally nothing for about seven or eight months. She offered virtual classes for those not comfortable coming to the studio but was still forced to cut back staff and utilize personal funds to keep going.

A CARES Act grant which came through the city eased the pressure, she indicated, aiding with rent, utilities, payroll and some marketing to keep the name of the business and its services in the public eye.

The big expense has been her lease, and that debt has placed the survival of the business in doubt. “I’m still drowning,” she said. “I could be confident, but you also have to be realistic. Confidence doesn’t pay the bills.”

Grant also said she applied for help under the Paycheck Protection Program but was unable to get any allocation. And she thinks the government could do more to help small business enterprises.

At what could be called the other end of the spectrum, she said her employees were understanding when she had to cut staff, and those in her classes have been nothing short of “fantastic “in terms of their support.

Now that the pandemic numbers and restrictions have eased, she’s seeing some improvement but has been cautious about the process, bringing back a couple of instructors and returning to in-person classes, albeit with limited class sizes and distancing. She leads sessions equipped with a microphone so that people who choose to be in a separate individual room can hear and follow along.

Also on hand is a diffuser regularly spraying a mist designed to help keep her business clean and safe.

And Grant asks students who come in for a session to wear a mask until they actually get on their mats.

She maintained that what she offers has been beneficial to some struggling with the uncertainty and loneliness of the last 16 or so months. In her words, “I have had students express to me verbally that they had thoughts of suicide and that just being able to come and express themselves and release the tension and frustration that was all bottled up (was good). Coming to yoga actually helped them to get a sound mind and to clear negative thoughts.”

Grant began her yoga practice back in 2000 while a student at the College of Charleston and has been teaching for more than a decade, racking up multiple certifications. As business begins to trickle back in, she’ll put that hard-won knowledge to more use.

“We just want to be able to be here and help change the community,” she said, noting that her business also offers services such as nutritional counseling, a yoga therapy program for teens and a kids’ yoga program.

“What I give out here can save lives,” Grant said.