A Humble Request

Beloved Iyengar Yoga Detroit Collective Community,

I have been unspeakably blessed with our beautiful community. I am so deeply grateful to each person who has helped to build and evolve it. I will be departing in 1 month for my new home in Hawai’i. I will continue to teach weekly online, conduct study groups, and continue to be a worker-owner from afar. I plan to return to Detroit twice each year to conduct study intensives and daily classes.

Here is my tentative teaching schedule as of January 3, 2022 in Hawai`i Standard Time (UTC-10) unless otherwise noted. Convert to your time zone here.

Sundays, 7-9am HST, Level 2
3rd Sunday, 3-4pm ET, IYDC Yoga Philosophy (Iyengar: His Life and Work)
3rd Sunday, 7-8:30pm ET, IYDC BIPOC Study Group (My Grandmother’s Hands)

Mondays, 4-5:15pm HST, Level 1B
Mondays, 5:30pm HST, Level TBD

Tuesdays 7-9am HST, Led practice

1st/3rd Wednesdays, 8-9pm ET, BIPOC Apprentice check-ins
2nd/4th Wednesdays, 8-9pm ET, Mentee assessment prep check-ins

Thursdays, 9am HST, Level TBD
Thursdays, 6:30-8pm ET, IYDC Common Ailments (formerly Yoga Therapy)

2nd Fridays, 7:15-9:15pm ET, IYDC Pedagogy Study Group

2nd Saturdays, 11am-2pm HST, Monthly Āsana/Prānāyāma Workshop
4th Saturdays, 6:30-8:30pm ET, IYDC Yoga in Society Study Group

I have been happy to teach, especially since the pandemic, for nominal pay. I have thrived with a strong roof over my head, an abundance of nutritious and homegrown food, a generous community of friends, and none of it has required very much money.

However, to be perfectly honest, I will be needing a much stronger flow of income once I move to Hawai’i on December 14.

I have gladly led study groups, taught workshops, taught Community Gift classes, participated in committees, held office hours, provided consultations, and mentored teachers and apprentices for little to no pay. My particular skills, honed over many decades–teaching, writing, caregiving, holding space–do not translate to high pay under capitalism.

As I transition to life in Hawai’i, I come to ask you to financially support me to any degree that is right for you. I will continue to follow my dharmic path no matter what, and give all I can to our community. Your financial support will not define my relationship with you, nor will it determine my teaching and mentoring commitments.

Some of you already support my work monthly as Teacher Education Subscribers. Thank you! I appreciate your continued and/or increased support as I relocate.

If you can offer dāna each month, beginning in January, that will make it much easier for me to devote myself to the yoga path and continue my work. As a full-time teacher over the past 20 years, I have sometimes taught up to 12-13 āsana classes each week, and I am prepared to do so once again if required. However, if financially possible, I would prefer to teach 6 or fewer āsana/prānāyāma classes/week, while continuing the monthly workshop, study groups, BIPOC Apprentice Program, mentoring, and continue to serve as an IYDC worker-owner on several committees.

If possible, I would prefer not to open a separate Patreon account for myself. Instead, I prefer to ask you, as a practice of sovereignty, to take it upon yourself, if you choose to donate, to use the payment method of your choice and give monthly (Venmo @PeggyKwisuk-Hong, Cash App $gwiseok, PayPal to friend at paypal.me/gwiseok, Zelle kwisuk63@gmail.com).

If it’s easier to conceive of paying me as a transaction for services provided, here is an itemized budget:
 

Teacher Education Subscription: Community Gift $50-200/month

• Pedagogy Study Group, 2 hours monthly, $20-40/session
• Yoga in Society/Philosophy Study Group, 2 hours monthly, $20-40/session
• Monthly Āsana and Prānāyāma Workshop, 3 hours monthly, $20-60
• IYDC Yoga Philosophy Study Group, 1 hour monthly $10-20
• IYDC BIPOC Study Group, 1.5 hours monthly, $15-25
  
• Email, text, and phone consultations, as needed, $100-150/hour

As further incentive, I plan to rent a 2 bedroom apartment, so that I can host visitors. A friend of my son is willing to rent her beautiful unit to me at a steep discount short term. I will need cooperative rental assistance in order to afford this $1500/month unit (normally $2300–argh!). If you would like to visit me for 1-4 weeks of intensive study and practice, please consider paying into this cooperative housing plan at an additional $50-100/month.

Thanks for supporting me in my continued growth, as I strive to come ever more into right relationship, with the planet, with the land, with the practice of yoga, with each other, and all beings.

Namaskar,
hgs