A Personal Letter to the NWY Community

For six years, Naked Warrior Yoga has been one of the greatest joys of my life. It has been a place where people have come together not only to practice yoga, but to experience vulnerability, healing, friendship, laughter, and genuine connection. Watching this community grow has been one of the greatest privileges I have ever known.

There is something I owe all of you.

An apology.

Over the past several years, many of you have noticed changes in me. You saw my energy fluctuate. You saw my body change. You may have wondered why I wasn't teaching as many classes, why I sometimes seemed exhausted, or why I wasn't quite myself.

The truth is that I was fighting cancer.

When I was diagnosed, I made a conscious decision to keep most of that journey private. I didn't want Naked Warrior Yoga to become about me. I didn't want classes to become overshadowed by my health, and I wanted to preserve the sense of joy, presence, and escape that so many people found when they walked through our doors.

So I quietly continued doing what I could.

I underwent chemotherapy while continuing to run the studio as best I could. During that same period, I also underwent spinal surgery, which made an already difficult journey even more physically and emotionally challenging.

There were days when simply getting out of bed felt like a victory.

There were days when I wondered whether I had enough energy to teach, answer emails, solve problems, or simply unlock the studio doors.

My body changed in ways that were difficult to accept. Chemotherapy changed how I looked, how I felt, and how I moved. Recovering from spinal surgery while undergoing treatment only added to those challenges. There were moments when I barely recognized the person looking back at me in the mirror.

Yet every day, I tried to keep NWY moving forward.

Not because I had to.

Because I believed—and still believe—in what we've built together.

Today, I can thankfully say that I have been cleared of one form of cancer.

Unfortunately, life has presented me with another challenge, and I am now facing a new cancer diagnosis.

This time, I've decided to do something differently.

I'm choosing honesty.

One of the most beautiful things to come from these recent weeks has been witnessing the incredible love this community has shown. The messages, phone calls, hugs, encouragement, and offers to help have reminded me that Naked Warrior Yoga has never simply been a business.

It has always been a family.

I realize now that by trying to protect everyone from what I was experiencing, I also prevented many of you from doing what this community does so naturally—support one another.

For that, I am sorry.

To our instructors...

There simply aren't enough words.

You have stepped into uncertainty with courage, compassion, and generosity. You have continued showing up for your students and for one another. You have carried classes, encouraged members, offered ideas, and helped keep the spirit of NWY alive during one of the most difficult periods in its history.

Thank you.

You have reminded me that this community was never built by one person.

It was built by all of us.

To every member who has attended class, sent a message, made a donation, shared a kind word, or simply reminded us why this place matters...

Thank you.

You have given me strength on days when I had very little left to give.

As many of you know, we are now working toward a transition in ownership that will allow Naked Warrior Yoga to continue into the future. While this is an emotional moment for me personally, I genuinely believe the greatest legacy of NWY isn't that I owned it.

It's that it continues.

If the next chapter allows this community to keep growing, healing, laughing, practicing, and welcoming new people into this extraordinary space, then I will consider that one of the greatest gifts imaginable.

No matter what title I hold in the future, I will always be incredibly proud to have been the founder of Naked Warrior Yoga.

Thank you for believing in this vision.

Thank you for believing in me.

Most of all, thank you for proving that the community we built together is stronger than any one person.

With all my gratitude,

Victor

Founder, Naked Warrior Yoga