My writing, Dustin’s effusive illustrations of what the co-op will do for yoga teachers in the         DC Region.

My conversations about the DC Yoga Co-op are sometimes telescopic other times microscopic, complex, invigorating and ultimately transformational.

In my recent conversation over coffee, Dustin Canter, entrepreneur, CFO, school and yoga teacher, all-around-good-guy and, by the way, the youngest ever DC Mayoral candidate, cut to the chase: Couldn’t a co-op make things easier for teachers? Help them become more productive, more effective, give them something of value besides a group that they can turn to for moral support? Aren’t there economies of scale that could be available to a large group of yoga teachers? Maybe an easy, cost-effective way to get subs or protection or even jobs?  Hey, what about building a retreat center?

Uh, hell yeah.

I have a vision for what the first year will look like for the DC Yoga Co-op.  For me, this vision involves not only serving many teachers in all these ways, but serious practitioners of yoga as well. It will provide something unique of quality (I’ve been dreaming of heirloom tomatoes…more on this later.)  It will also make sure that there is year-round, in-person outreach and education about all the myriad forms of yoga and meditation to the people who need it the most in our region.

But in a co-operative or even a collaborative, it isn’t about one person’s or one organization’s brand.  It is about collective imagination. I know that democracy is getting a pretty bad rap these days from every side in the tribal wars that we endure. But I believe there is still power in this kind of process and then the work towards a common purpose, especially on a local or even micro level.

We’ll be getting together in January to hash through what our goals will be for the first year and maybe even the first three years of our work together. Let me know you are interested in working on the big vision by sending me an email. I’ll put you on our expanding list for an invitation.