The Reasons I Close the Studio(in English)

Since many of you won’t have the chance to see me in person at the studio before we close, this may be a little long, but I’d like to share my thoughts and feelings with you through this blog.

There isn’t just one reason why I decided to close the studio.

I originally opened this studio in April 2024 after losing my father. I wrote about the details in my blog, Why I Started the Studio.

My Original Life Plan

(For more details, please see the second half of the blog.)

With a strong Vata (air) dosha, I find it difficult to stay in one place for too long. Opening my own studio was never part of my original life plan.

Even though I’ve been practicing yoga for many years, my mind has always been restless, and I never really felt that I was ready to be a studio owner or that it was the right role for me.

But over these two and a half years, thanks to each and every one of you I’ve met through my Shibuya studio, I feel that I’ve learned so much and grown as a person!

Thank you all so, so much!

Now, let me share a little more about the reasons behind my decision.

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The Three Main Reasons

1. The Balance Between Rent and Income

Running a yoga studio is also running a business.

The main trigger for my decision to close the studio was the balance between income and expenses. Starting around summer, I could clearly see the number of students declining, and I realized that the studio wouldn’t be able to make it through the winter. (December and January are the slow season for yoga studios in general.)

I’ve been using the word “decision,” but rather than making this decision by carefully thinking everything through, it was more something I felt. I think I had also reached my physical limit.

2. The Appeal and Challenges of Teaching in English

I’ve always been the kind of person who enjoys challenging myself to do things I can’t do yet!

Teaching yoga itself has always come naturally to me, almost as if I was born to do it. So I made teaching yoga in English my personal goal.

“New York Style YOGA” is very active and sometimes even a little chaotic. It’s a style of yoga that is particularly suited to international students, rather than Japanese students.

My personality, which is a little different from that of a typical Japanese person, turned out to be a great fit for welcoming people from all over the world. I genuinely enjoyed doing it, too. (I think you all know that by now!)

Students Always Come and Go

ですが、外国人の生徒さんは、とても流動的でした。

However, the international student community was very fluid.

Although a handful of students were based in Japan long-term, many would leave Japan after just a few months or six months.

Even though I was teaching yoga regularly, I began to feel around the winter of 2025 that I wasn’t really able to build and grow my classes steadily because of this constant cycle of people coming and going.

A Story About the Three Great Hindu Gods

Change Is Essential for Creation

Now, at the halfway point of my 40s, I feel it’s time to take a step back and really think about what I want to do with the time I have ahead of me.

I love teaching yoga in English and creating classes that reflect my own style and instincts. But when I think about building something strong and sustainable, I realize that I would need to make some major changes to the way I’ve been doing things so far.

Teaching my own version of “New York Style YOGA” in English, in my very own studio, surrounded by people from all over the world, was so much fun! It was exactly the kind of “New York yoga” I had envisioned.

In fact, it became something even more wonderful than what I had experienced in New York itself.

When I look back on this Shibuya studio someday, I think I’ll remember it as a dreamlike chapter of my life. Thank you all so, so much!

With the closure of the studio, which is a major change in my life, so many emotions have come to the surface: sadness, loneliness, and gratitude.

These feelings are like little bubbles rising to the surface precisely because I put so much of myself into this adventure.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling sad or lonely. Those feelings are a natural part of having cared deeply about something.

3. My Natural Personality

Next, I’d like to introduce the three doshas in Ayurveda: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.

Ayurveda is a traditional Indian system of health and well-being. According to its principles, our physical and mental characteristics are influenced by the proportions of these three doshas. I find this concept surprisingly accurate, so I encourage you to check your own dosha balance and see what you discover!

→ Dosha Quiz (Jp), Dos ha Quiz (En)

(In Ayurveda, people aren’t made up of just one dosha. We all have a combination of the three, and the proportions are believed to shape our physical characteristics and personality tendencies.)

With my strong Vata (air) energy, I think I’m naturally the kind of person who wants to keep moving and exploring, rather than staying in one place for too long.

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What I’m Grateful I Got to Do with the Studio

Finally, I’d like to look back on all the wonderful things that came from running the studio!

These are all experiences I might never have had in my life if I hadn’t opened the studio.

The last thing my father asked me to do was, “Please take care of your mother.” Now, I have something good to report to him: “Dad, I made a yoga studio where Mom could come and enjoy herself all this time!”

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Lastly,

To everyone who has read this blog and everyone who has been part of my studio, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I got to take on such a unique, fun, and rewarding challenge: running a small international yoga studio in Shibuya!

One of my French students, who unfortunately won’t be able to attend the farewell gathering, shared these beautiful words with me:

“I’m glad I got to be part of your adventure.”

And that’s exactly right. You were all part of Mika’s Yoga Studio Adventure.

Thank you so much for being there, supporting me, and following this adventure with such warmth all the way to the end.

Two and a half years may not be a long time for a yoga studio, but I’ve learned so much from this experience!

What’s next?

People have been asking me, “Now that you’re closing the studio, what are you going to do next?”

First of all, I’m going to take some time to rest.

I have a few ideas for what I’d like to do next, although they’re still taking shape. Rather than rushing into anything, I’ll take the time to recharge fully and gradually bring those ideas to life.

I’ll probably move out of Tokyo, too. I need a place with enough room to store all my studio belongings and to film yoga videos.

Whenever you find yourself wondering, “I wonder what Mika is up to these days,” please visit my website for updates.

Whether we get to practice yoga together again someday or not, that’s not what matters most.

Anicca — Nothing Stays the Same

In 2021, I went on a Vipassana meditation retreat. There, I learned that nothing stays the same; everything is constantly changing.

As long as we’re alive, change is a natural part of life.

That’s why I believe in giving my all to whatever I’m doing at each moment. When I do that, the next step naturally reveals itself.

Accepting change and focusing on the present moment = YOGA（That’s what yoga teaches us）

I’m so happy to be a yoga teache and I’m one of the happiest yoga teachers!

2026. 10. 8.
Namaste, 
Mika

First Class: April 20, 2024 
Final Class: October 17, 2026

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