Yoga Bender for a Team of One
by: Beth Hayden
If you were to ask around Backstop what is the best part of working here, most responses would be about the people, culture, and fun events. We take our company values of Community and Celebration to a whole new level, with imaginative ways to bring unique personalities together. There have been so many interesting team excursions, that we have started to store them in a shared drive. I’m not sure if this is a clever way of topping each other, or a genuine effort to share creative, new, and different experiences to build teams and recognize people. But, what if you are a team of one?
This seemingly sad and lonely Team of One goes to our incredible Ashley Garcia, Executive Assistant to our CEO and Chairman. She has one of the most demanding roles you can envision supporting a leader with the energy of fourteen humans combined. Maybe twenty.
While Ashley has always been an athlete – from dance to golf to a dedicated spin practice, she has never tried yoga. Her pal, Rob in Marketing chimed into a conversation one day that he would like to do yoga for the first time. People and Development team to the rescue! Our HR Manager and I, both yogis, started to plan a Girls Night Out (named by Rob, who is male). What about a Yoga Bender?!
I fondly remembered a rooftop yoga experience with great vibes, energy and music that I had a couple of summers ago. Sure enough, there was an upcoming Yoga Bender on the rooftop of the Ace Hotel on August 14th. We immediately registered.
The Ace is directly across from Google’s office, and in one of the hottest neighborhoods in Chicago. Their motto is “A friendly place, continually new.” We arrived before the doors opened to the rooftop on the 6th floor, and excitedly and anxiously awaited our experience.
We were greeted by friendly faces and handed glow-in-the-dark headphones upon entry. We all knew about the silent disco trend, and were trying to figure out how it would work for yoga. Part of the reason we wanted to arrive on the early side was for our new yogis to grab a comfortable space in the very back row. After securing our spots, we started to explore a domed structure, which turned out have a perfect view of Chicago’s skyline and also a giant trampoline for some reason.
Everyone was looking around nervously, and I’m thinking 1) I am nowhere even close to this cool, and 2) OMG I am approximately twice the age of the average person here! Rob and Ashley were making up poses and taking selfies with Meredith. Our teacher, Wade, came in to introduce himself and give each of us a hug. How welcoming and warm! He then made his way to the next row, and I heard a woman from Germany ask, “Will this class be hard?” and Wade proclaimed, “No, it will just be FUN!”
After a slightly clumsy start trying to get everyone to put on their silent disco headphones (a quick poll of the audience revealed almost no one knew what this was!), we started on our backs looking at the beautiful dusk sky. Letting go. Finding our inner hero, and releasing judgment of ourselves while listening to deejay RJ’s beats and Wade’s soothing voice. As it turns out, both came through the earphones together!
The class progressed from traditional sun salutations to a number of classic poses, and then took a more interesting turn to free form dancing across the rooftop to climbing and jumping on the trampoline, with our glowing ears bouncing and head bopping. We were then instructed to form two rows of people. Arm in arm, the lines moved and danced in formation. Thank goodness there were no mirrors.
There were some very humorous parts of class, namely when Wade encouraged Rob, “That’s it. Pull your pants back up, and get back in there.” Anyone who has done yoga knows it is a bit of a trick to find the right clothing that stays in the right places throughout a rigorous class. Rob has a well-developed sense of humor and cracked up along with the rest of us, though muffled by our own earphones. Wade also guided us to scream out loud to release the frustrations of the week, to the frightened gazes of bar guests in the balcony a floor above us.
Wade concluded class with some powerful words, essentially saying that Chicago could use a little more of what we experienced to help stop the anger and violence. Our Yoga Bender class was freeing and even silly at times, yet incredibly liberating and energizing. We started the evening with the intention to celebrate with Ashley, a team of one, and ended with a bonded group of many who, as a community, abandoned judgment, self-doubt, and criticism. Did I mention another one of our Backstop values is Learning? Namaste.