Hello, Friends of BCH!
We’d like to express our heartfelt thanks for your participation in our Summer 2015 survey. We're grateful for the depth of your appreciation for BCH’s focus on healing and community.
There was, of course, a tremendous variety in what you commented on, but the themes that recurred over and over were appreciation for a sense of Bend Community Healing as:
- Friendly
- Welcoming
- Affordable
- Focused on creating a sense of belonging, community, and connection, and
- Offering a high quality of instructors and experience
Here are some of the commonly-expressed concerns and our plans to work with them:
1) Reduced yoga class options: in order to stabilize BCH financially it was initially necessary to close down classes that weren’t drawing enough students. As word gets out and our numbers increase we plan to increase both the number and the variety of classes to meet the desires that were expressed for:
- more vinyasa classes,
- more classes for working people in the early mornings, evenings, weekends
- classes for specific groups such as beginner yogis, seniors, athletes, and children
- late afternoon weekend classes
- classes specifically for stress relief
- Dance and movement classes
We are working on adding classes in October and welcome additional suggestions. Thank you for getting the word out about our offerings!
2) various glitches in our systems: check-in, website, pricing options, policies, even room temperature and comfort…We’ve only been open a little over 8 months. It has been a huge transition for us but we feel that slowly we’re working out the kinks. We appreciate your continued feedback on things that can still use a little tweaking…
3) Excessive/erratic schedule changes: This has been one consequence of our learning curve---as we develop we expect more core stability. At the same time, we expect to continue to innovate and change in response to the changes of the seasons and what you ask for from us. Here, too, continued feedback is very helpful for us.
4) Lack of privacy in our community acupuncture clinic and bodywork clinic.
This is a learning curve for all of us…The purpose of the clinics is to create a space that broadens access to healing, where people can heal together and where we can break down the artificial barriers often posed by class and other societal divisions. In order to do this some of the trappings of a spa-like experience have to go by the wayside.
Being in a community setting means getting to the core of the acupuncture experience, accepting that there are other people in the room with you and placing your focus internally, rather than on what’s going on in the room around you. This isn’t for everyone but we find that most people quickly adjust to it. Please let us know of any concerns that you do have. And if you aren’t comfortable in your recliner, feel free to grab a blanket or two to make yourself more comfortable (we’d be grateful if you’d return them to their original place when you finish with them). And if there is something that you feel you need more privacy in order to discuss with us, please let us know and we’ll do our best to make that possible.(?)
5) Inadequate community outreach and dissemination of information.
Some of the things we’re doing to address this concern:
- Creating a new, mobile-friendly website
- Sending out monthly newsletters with class offerings, changes and upcoming events
- Putting explanations of our classes on the new website
- Reaching out to the university, college and local school community with 50% discounts on our classes for students, teachers, and staff
- Placing ads and notices in the Bulletin, Source and college newspapers, as well as other local event calendars.
We’ll also be doing some re-arranging and decorating in the next few months.
Thank you again for your support as we work to improve.
Happy Fall!
Mark, Gina & Mary
We’d like to express our heartfelt thanks for your participation in our Summer 2015 survey. We're grateful for the depth of your appreciation for BCH’s focus on healing and community.
There was, of course, a tremendous variety in what you commented on, but the themes that recurred over and over were appreciation for a sense of Bend Community Healing as:
- Friendly
- Welcoming
- Affordable
- Focused on creating a sense of belonging, community, and connection, and
- Offering a high quality of instructors and experience
Here are some of the commonly-expressed concerns and our plans to work with them:
1) Reduced yoga class options: in order to stabilize BCH financially it was initially necessary to close down classes that weren’t drawing enough students. As word gets out and our numbers increase we plan to increase both the number and the variety of classes to meet the desires that were expressed for:
- more vinyasa classes,
- more classes for working people in the early mornings, evenings, weekends
- classes for specific groups such as beginner yogis, seniors, athletes, and children
- late afternoon weekend classes
- classes specifically for stress relief
- Dance and movement classes
We are working on adding classes in October and welcome additional suggestions. Thank you for getting the word out about our offerings!
2) various glitches in our systems: check-in, website, pricing options, policies, even room temperature and comfort…We’ve only been open a little over 8 months. It has been a huge transition for us but we feel that slowly we’re working out the kinks. We appreciate your continued feedback on things that can still use a little tweaking…
3) Excessive/erratic schedule changes: This has been one consequence of our learning curve---as we develop we expect more core stability. At the same time, we expect to continue to innovate and change in response to the changes of the seasons and what you ask for from us. Here, too, continued feedback is very helpful for us.
4) Lack of privacy in our community acupuncture clinic and bodywork clinic.
This is a learning curve for all of us…The purpose of the clinics is to create a space that broadens access to healing, where people can heal together and where we can break down the artificial barriers often posed by class and other societal divisions. In order to do this some of the trappings of a spa-like experience have to go by the wayside.
Being in a community setting means getting to the core of the acupuncture experience, accepting that there are other people in the room with you and placing your focus internally, rather than on what’s going on in the room around you. This isn’t for everyone but we find that most people quickly adjust to it. Please let us know of any concerns that you do have. And if you aren’t comfortable in your recliner, feel free to grab a blanket or two to make yourself more comfortable (we’d be grateful if you’d return them to their original place when you finish with them). And if there is something that you feel you need more privacy in order to discuss with us, please let us know and we’ll do our best to make that possible.(?)
5) Inadequate community outreach and dissemination of information.
Some of the things we’re doing to address this concern:
- Creating a new, mobile-friendly website
- Sending out monthly newsletters with class offerings, changes and upcoming events
- Putting explanations of our classes on the new website
- Reaching out to the university, college and local school community with 50% discounts on our classes for students, teachers, and staff
- Placing ads and notices in the Bulletin, Source and college newspapers, as well as other local event calendars.
We’ll also be doing some re-arranging and decorating in the next few months.
Thank you again for your support as we work to improve.
Happy Fall!
Mark, Gina & Mary
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