THE COZY INTERVIEW
During my early days in Porto I was lucky enough to come across Cozy Yoga and Community.
Much more than a Yoga studio, Cozy is designed to be a meeting and sharing point.
I was feeling super lonely and I found here exactly what I needed.
A place where I can feel at home, meet new people, take care of myself, share and be myself feeling fully accepted.
In addition to the opportunity of practising in the studio and, when the weather was still nice, in the park, I took part in some interesting events, including a very fun informal meeting with some brilliant women and girls to share ideas on personal projects and works. It was so nice to find myself in such an inspiring environment and it helped me remember why I do and love what I do and maybe it gave me also the strength to be here writing to you 🥲.
My experience is only a tiny part of that small universe that Cozy is, which focuses on the idea of sharing and community as a strength for everyone's personal growth.
Lauren, Lucie and Mason, founders of Cozy, were extremely welcoming and even agreed to have a chat with me about the wonderful work that they do together and I'm grateful for the time that they gave to me. In particular thank you Lauren for answering all my questions!❤️
I really think what they do is great, important and inspiring, so here we are!
This is the first post in the “people” section and of course it’s about people who make a difference. :)
What is Cozy and when did you start the project?
For us, Cozy is cookies. Cozy is community. Cozy is people coming together to share the things we love. We come to move and feel good in our bodies. We come to share ideas and learn from one another. We come to trade stories over a cup of tea or a glass of wine. We share food and guidance in a world that often asks us to make it on our own. We always wanted Cozy to be a haven of light and community where people could come together, exactly as they are, with no expectations and no judgment.
We started Cozy in January 2020, which, as you can imagine, was pretty challenging! But right from the start, our community came together to support us. They stayed with us through nearly 18 months of off-and-on quarantines. We met up online and continued our yoga practice together, and really, seeing their faces is what motivated us to keep going when we didn’t think we could. Cozy wouldn’t have survived without our amazing students, and I don’t think we could ever thank them enough for that. To finally be up and running now is such a gift and we are so grateful to be here to share it.
What kinds of events do you host and how did you come up with the idea of creating a studio like this?
We like to say that most of our events are yoga or yoga-adjacent. We host wellness workers of all types, yoga therapy specialists, women’s circles, business women, live meditation music, and art groups, just to name a few. Our number one goal is to find good people with good vibes who want to share something beautiful with the Porto community.
(I’ll answer the how with the next question below because, for us, they are very connected)
Who came up with the idea?
We (Lucie and Lauren) came up with the idea together, with a lot of insight and inspiration from Mason as well. Lucie and I had been working together at Lucie’s aerial yoga studio, Studio Fly, and had run a retreat together in 2018, so we knew we loved working with one another in addition to just hanging out. And then our classes began to grow beyond what Studio Fly could hold, and we knew it was time for our next big step!
While Cozy was in the making, we called it our yoga home—a place we could put our feet up, share a copo or a tea, and welcome anyone who wandered in the door. We had some crazy big ideas and some a bit more modest. They leveled out in between to something I think we all loved immediately and also knew had the potential to grow even brighter.
Do you think it is important for people to have a space to share beyond the classes? Why?
YES! Often the transition time between yoga classes is so short, and we always found it hard to say goodbye to our students after class as we rushed one group in and pushed another out. It seemed to go against all the reasons we love what we do!
Having more time to not only hang out after class but also connect through other interesting workshops and events has given us more of that space to share and grow together. And this is so important! Humans are, by nature, communal creatures. We thrive when we have the care and support of others. Particularly as expats, we three understand what it is to have to recreate your sense of community in a new city. We have found so many people coming through our doors craving exactly the same thing, whether they are fellow expats, new to the city, or simply experiencing a transition in life that has them reaching out for an expanded sense of home. Being able to provide that space for so many others has been such a joy and a gift.
This is definitely an ambitious project in these times when, perhaps, we tend to be a little bit individualistic. Were you afraid that it might not work out at first? If so, why?
When we first had the idea, I think we were fearless! We saw our Studio Fly students craving the same space and connections we were, so it was all a matter of putting it together. And when we first opened our doors, people showed up! But then COVID hit and…wow. That was scary! It was like a giant social exhale as we all moved indoors, away from one another, and away from our sense of adventure, learning, and co-creation. Suddenly, we were posting events between quarantines and no one was signing up. We would post a workshop that used to have 20 participants, and it would fall flat. From a financial standpoint, it was a bummer. But from a motivational standpoint, I think we and a lot of other friends in the yoga/events space felt really demoralized. It’s hard to keep pouring your heart into something you love when there’s no response on the other end.
But little by little, the world is coming back to life. It took time, but I think we are all relearning how important it is to connect with others in real life. We are remembering how valuable eye contact, a smile, and a reassuring hand on the shoulder are. We’ve been able to welcome so many amazing people/events/ideas to Cozy in the last six months and I can’t wait to see what more there is to come!
Do you think Cozy affects the lives of the people who experience it? How?
Oh my, can I say this is our biggest dream? We opened Cozy with the hope that it could be a space of healing, joy, and community for the people of Porto. We wanted everyone to feel at home the second they stepped through the doors. We wanted people to feel welcome to be exactly who they are—loud, quiet, weird, strait-laced, artists, bank tellers, whatever! A yoga pose has as many iterations as the number of people doing it, and we wanted our Cozy students to see the beauty in that. And then ultimately, to recognize the beauty in their own contribution to that sea of variation and change.
Why Porto? In your opinion, what opportunities does this city offer?
Porto is in such a fun and playful place right now. The city is growing and expanding so much, which leaves big opportunities to try something new! And it’s an accepting kind of place. It’s full of locals and tourists alike that want to try something different and the community of creators tends to be really welcoming with very little sense of competition. It’s not without its barriers, but there is a big community of cool kids here with big ideas, and many of us are looking to collaborate. So for people who are just getting started or ready to launch something big, it’s a good place to be.
All three of you come from different places. What brought you here and what made you stay?
That’s such a great question, and I think the answer is a little different for each of us, but in general, we all came here as an experiment, knowing not much more about Porto than a feeling that it was the place we were supposed to be. Little did we know how right we were!
How do you imagine Cozy’s future?
Is it cliché to say "bright and cozy"? We are looking forward to growing and expanding by providing even more heart-forward opportunities to connect to the lovely humans of Porto. We recently added two retreats to our 2023 schedule and hope to add even more as the days go by! We’ve already met so many wonderful people through this place and we can’t wait to see how many more step through our doors in the years to come.
So, lovely people of Porto, click on the link below and visit the Cozy website:
You can also join the Cozy team on Instagram:
Take a chance of being part of this beautiful community! See you there ☺️
XOXO
C.
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