I was a member at Fahrenheit Yoga for five years. Never a complaint. Never a confrontation. The…read moreteachers are excellent -- Naima and Nikki especially. If this review were about them, it would be five stars. It's not.
A yoga studio sells more than exercise. It sells a philosophy. Non-harming. Truthfulness. Compassion. Equanimity. When you pay for yoga, you're paying for a space where those principles are supposed to mean something.
Two days ago, I got there early for a spot near the support bar. I have newly diagnosed early onset arthritis and was trying to take care of my body that day. A woman I'd never met asked me to move. She said she had a broken hip. I said, "You have a broken hip?" -- genuinely surprised. She'd had surgery and was recovering. I nodded and moved. I was annoyed; but, I did exactly what was asked of me. No argument. No scene. Twenty seconds. She replied with attitude, "Thanks for being so nice about it." I let it go.
Here is what I did wrong: I asked a question before complying, and I didn't smile while doing it.
What I didn't know: she was the owner's close friend of twelve years. She didn't know my name -- staff must have given it to her so she could complain about a member who had complied with her request.
Within an hour, the owner, Nora Shabayek, called me. Hostile from the first sentence -- not investigating, but defending a friend. She made it plain: this was personal, her dear friend of twelve years, and I lacked compassion. She read her friend's text messages aloud as evidence -- accusations that were grossly exaggerated and often false. She talked over me. Got loud. She kept claiming she was protecting the space -- from what? A twenty-second interaction where I complied and no one was harmed? While she berated a loyal member with zero curiosity, zero grace? She terminated my five-year membership over someone else's account of something she never saw. She never genuinely asked for my side. The truth wasn't important -- it was her relationship with her friend that mattered here.
Nora claimed others in the room agreed I was rude. I don't believe it. Anyone in that room saw one question, then compliance. The worst anyone could say is I didn't look happy about moving -- and if that's grounds for termination, no customer is safe.
Someone who berates a customer, acts on hearsay, and terminates a five-year relationship while claiming to protect the space is the person the space needs protecting from.
What made the calls surreal: Nora kept emphasizing her friend's severe limitations -- couldn't get up stairs, needed parking cones. She was confirming exactly why my question made sense. She was making my case for me.
I called back hoping to be heard. Every time I responded to false accusations, she talked over me and called me combative. The dynamic was set: she was right, I was wrong, and defending myself was further proof that I was a villain. Twenty seconds undid five years and all the money I poured into this studio.
A few things Nora never did: ask why I was near that bar. Consider I might be managing my own body. Weigh five years of loyalty against twenty seconds of compliance. Apologize. Acknowledge she witnessed nothing.
To his credit, the studio manager, Nick, called me afterward. He acknowledged the termination was wrong and reinstated my membership. I appreciate him. He was the one professional and fair person trying to make it right.
I cancelled. I cannot practice where the owner settles personal grievances with business authority (clear abuse of power), violates client privacy, and embodies the opposite of every principle on the walls.
The teachers are wonderful. The classes are high quality. But the person running the place doesn't practice what she sells. What happened wasn't ahimsa, satya, or compassion. It was someone with power using a business to punish a stranger because her friend felt slighted by a question and a lack of a smile.
I loved this studio. I recommended it to many over the years. Going forward, those recommendations come with a warning.
