11/07/2026
Beloved CommUnity.
Eight years ago my best friend Alex said YES to co-creating a space for community. And thus in the fall of 2019, The Be Free Healing Center was born with so much love and intention.
When we created the studio, we were clear that we were making it to serve the community (and have a place for our offerings). And, as crazy as it might sound in this capitalist world, we didn’t start the studio to make money off of it… we just wanted it to be self-sustaining for the community. Keeping yoga affordable in Fort Collins was our mission from the start.
Over the last 7 years, the studio has mostly stayed in a state of financial equilibrium, which has been enough, even as our rent has gone from under $4k/month to now $7K a month. Let me just say that $7K a month for 2500sqft is ridiculous (thanks capitalism) and ultimately a large piece of why I have finally come to the realization that it’s time for me to let go. The studio is no longer financially sustaining itself and I do not have the funds to prop it up.
Holding and supporting this community over the last seven years has been the most beautiful and the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m so deeply grateful for all of it.
So many of you share with me, daily, how much this space means to you. I can’t tell you enough how much those words have kept me going through the years. Thank you so so much.
As many of you know, at the end of last year I lovingly released Bee, who is also one of my closest friends, from her role of co-owner when she needed space to heal and focus on her own family business. I thought I could carry it all and I very quickly realized early this year that it was too much to hold alone.
When the concept of creating a non-profit was proposed to me last spring, I lit up at the idea of working with a team. But as we were beginning to create this new vision, I was still holding the studio alone, and trying to do both at the same time has created a level of stress that is unsustainable.
Recently, at the prompt of a dear friend, I finally gave myself permission to imagine what it would be like to NOT hold it all… and my body took a giant exhale and I immediately knew that it was time to release the studio.
I have spent the last 20+ years teaching yoga, breathwork, massage and holding space for humans to find deeper alignment and transformation. These are the places where I excel. I have watched and supported so many folks through the process of shedding old patterns, relationships, and jobs when they are not in alignment. This is BIG work and it requires so much faith to offer whats not working to the holy fire and step into the unknown.
And now I’m being called to live what I teach and honor the inner knowing that I have finally given myself permission to hear.
It’s time for me to be free and release the old so that new things can be born.
I have made the very hard decision that Be Free will come to completion and close its doors on Jan 1st.
Only when we let go, do we truly make space for the next thing to be born. In yoga we call it aparigraha, non-grasping, and it is vital to our wellbeing. I’m clear that my time of holding it all is done and its time for the community to come together and reimagine whats possible. I am creating that opening with so much love and faith that the next thing can and will be more sustainable, energetically and financially.
I am still planning to do my next YTT cohort and feel very excited to have more energy to feed this new group. I’m currently seeking out spaces that could work for that training. I have full faith that the perfect thing will arise.
The board of directors for the non-profit met this week and through many tears has offered me SO MUCH support to listen to this inner knowing and do the hard thing. We are taking a sacred pause on the non-profit for the next few months as I bring the studio to completion. We feel clear that the name will shift as we allow new energy to come forward, and we are also clear that our mission and vision will essentially remain the same… to serve the community through keeping yoga financially accessible. There are SO MANY possibilities and I’m excited to help co-create something totally new in the coming months. At this time, we are taking a pause on raising funds for buying a building (although that may happen in the future). We will be reaching out to everyone who has donated to our campaign to share this shift and offer refunds to anyone who specifically wanted their money to go towards the building purchase. The Board wants to offer SO MUCH gratitude to the incredible community support that showed up to the vision this summer. Slowly but surely, new seeds are being planted.
We are keeping the fundraising movie event at the Lyric on Nov 15th... as the movie director, Sharron, is coming from Crestone to talk about the film! We hope you will come join us in community for this beautiful documentary!
Some of you might question: Why can't the nonprofit just prop the studio up?... Two reasons… First, because I’m clear that my time of being “in charge” of a large entity is over, and second, because I'm on the Board and the studio is my private business and it gets real sticky real quick with non-profits giving money to a for-profit business that's owned by someone on the board... I hope that makes sense.
Please know that both myself and the Board members are available for questions and/or processing. You can email the Board at : [email protected]
It is with the deepest gratitude that I bow to this beautiful community. Thank you for showing up, sharing your hearts, giving and receiving. As I shared this very hard news with the staff yesterday, I was inundated with some of the most beautiful affirmations and reflections from some of my favorite people on the planet. Thank you friends… for seeing me and supporting me in moving forward.
Faith in the unseen is something that anchors me in my practice. I have full faith that beautiful new things are on the horizon for ALL.
My sacred ask is that if Be Free has been your home or has served you in a deep way, that you help us go out with style and SHOW UP for the next two months! Come receive, celebrate and cry with us as we let go of this incredibly unique and special space.
With so much love and the deepest gratitude,
Melanie Lighthouser
