This February marks a milestone! Fifteen years ago, Mimi For Me Yoga Wellness took its first breath! Born simply from the humble desire to share yoga’s transformative wonders. Over the years that’s been offered from different spaces, in person, more recently virtually, in good times and in bad. No matter, this unwavering mission alongside yoga’s many lessons among them, grounded adaptability, and fortitude, has given us a foundation upon which we have journeyed steadfast for 15 years!
This is how it began…
Shortly after getting fully certified in 2008 I began offering weekend classes. Shout out to Ruby, from Mambo Bravo Dance where our first meet up group began; “Beginners Yoga and Beyond”
for weekend warriors!
After a few months we started using a bigger space at another dance studio, Move and Groove. Shout-out to Yadira. There we cultivated a group of dedicated yogis meeting weekly for about a year and half, and all was perfectly fine. However, just being fine, it turns out was not in the stars.
In December of 2009 I went away for the holiday season and welcomed in the new year in Machu Picchu, Peru. I have often told the story of how standing at the peak of this mountain, I felt a strong sense that 2010 would bring a big change in my life, but really, I had no clue.
I returned home on January 8th, 2010 to the news that the dance studio was closing. We had been doing yoga in the park that previous Fall (Yay!Travers Park, JH when it was nothing but pavement) but January was still too cold to be outdoors. Then one of our regulars, Monica R. cast the spell by uttering the question to me, “Why don’t you open up your own studio?” This wasn’t even in my mental realm to even begin to process, let alone plan for such an undertaking. Besides I was a full time Psychology teacher for a decade at the time, and truly loved my job.
I would however, soon find out that no kind of science could explain the undeniable power of the Universe when theres a plan to carry out. Messengers showed up to help guide me on this path, and the rest was just having complete faith in all things; myself, the right people, and the almighty creator.
Once I made the decision to go for it, I was thinking “The Yoga Place” as a name, but then in an unrelated conversation with Daniel D. he said to me, “….Ya know, you are always there for others..…” Hmmmm, at that moment I flipped the perspective, and “Mimi For Me Yoga” came to mind. It kinda had a ring to it, but also sounded kinda strange. So I polled my friends, and Helen C. clearly commented that she liked “having the name in the name” and so that’s what stuck.
More messengers, and earthly angels showed up, and we worked tirelessly from conception in mid January to delivery of our beautiful fully renovated studio, and its Grand Opening on February 20th, 2010. Shout out to Alex and MaxCo Contracting!
From my Mom, to Rob, to Sal, to the best assistant ever, my darling Katherine “Kat” helped make the premier yoga studio in Jackson Heights a reality in those early days when there was no social media, and just a shoe string of a budget to hang on to. The hours were super long, yet I looked forward to coming in every morning even after having just gotten home late the night before. Rain or shine I was there, even walking from Flushing to Jackson Heights in the ginormous snow storm of late 2010, just in case someone wanted yoga on their snow day. Another must shout-out to Rafael S. for miraculously showing up time and again throughout the years almost always when I needed a helping hand. I call him Angel Rafael.
I passed up on many events, and parties to be available as a back-up for one of the other teachers, who were by the way, the very best. Turns out I had knack for hiring!
Our teachers:
Gina, Ashlee, Jared, Brandon, Elizabeth, Susan, Siomara, Natalia, Roshani, Sheila, Soledad, Salman, Kathryn, Beverly, Asiya, Rama (Cas), Dani, Anna, Kay, Flo, Michael and Mike.
Our Front desk staff: Kat, Luvy, Alicia, Jeanette, and Charlene
For me it was never ”work”, yet with long endless days there was no down-time, or take-home-pay to speak of, in fact I didn’t see a vacation for 5 years! Shout out to Nick S. who I remember giving me a pep talk on how he remembered not having enough to pay for a burger when he started with his business. It’s a lonely time of it, he told me, and a sacrifice of major proportions so the passion has to be there. That it was, so I continued. Then that all paid off when we won Best in Queens Yoga in 2015! At this point a few other studios had opened up so it was a special recognition. The New York Times, The Post, and other publications came to interview, and that too was nice.
With that, it was time to take a break. Shortly thereafter we began expanding our horizons by taking our short retreats and our longer Tour and Yoga trips. Shout-out to Julia M. for re-igniting in me my first passion, for travel. Also, to Indai for inviting us upstate to her cabin for our very first weekender, which didn’t last the weekend because we were not properly prepared for the frigid frost.
Since, our annual retreats have become a tradition among our repeat travel yogis, as we welcome new comers through our travel extension, Me-Time Journeys. Coming full circle with my first career in Travel, prior to pursuing my interests and degrees in Health psychology, turned teacher, before finding yoga. All of it, I believe, was God’s plan in his perfect timing. I was just going along with the “calling” but still, and truthfully every so often thinking, I really should settle into one interest, this is not normal behavior. There was no blue print, and somehow the Universe normalized it, and here we are.
Here, 15 years later with so many people along the way, their energy, their stories, intertwined with each other, and this humble story. ’m profoundly grateful for each and everyone that has shown up somewhere along this journey.
Of course, I must pay homage to my muse; yoga. It was 2005-6, and it was a gift like no other. I didn’t realize that it would save my life during what was at that point, the worst of times. It would again, pull me from falling too deep into the abyss in 2020/21. Yoga and all it encompasses has personally saved me twice in my life, and probably a trillion little times in between. It is truly a life saver for the mind, body, and soul if one truly gives it the opportunity to do its magic, and so I thank God for having put me on this path.
Amidst our ebbs and flows, pandemic challenges, personal losses, and our studio’s transformations over the years, one thing has remained during this 15 year journey, that true to its name, Mimi For Me Yoga has remained here for YOU. As we move forward may our paths continue to align with the Universe’s gentle guidance, allowing us to continue to live our best life flowing and glowing along with the moon, sun, and the stars above.
Namaste~ Mimi Borda, February 1st, 2025