We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Moon Coelho. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Moon below.

Moon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The Summer Moon is a star born out of friendship and the love of yoga and the outdoors. We are two women whose paths crossed during a yoga paddleboard training. Summer who was leading the course and me, Moon who was taking it at the time. We both grew up in rural towns in different parts of California with families that nurtured our love of the outdoors. We were kindred from the get. Years went by with each of us teaching yoga in Sacramento in different areas, finding ourselves on the same trails and running in the same circles. We decided to take our love of camping and yoga to the next level by combining forces and offering both as adventure retreats- grassroots style. These rugged, yet nurturing experiences were just what people were seeking! We knew we had a good thing going while still balancing our day to day jobs and responsibilities, uncertain of what the future held for us. 5 years in, we were approached with an offer to purchase an existing yoga studio. This offer would provide us with a home base, a platform from which we could continue teaching yoga but from a single location (instead of many!), it would provide us with a whole new community to serve and it would mean we were really growing up and committing fully to this path! Did we want to grow up? Had we even thought about owning an actual business? With actual employees? Literally No, we hadn’t. The truth is, we found a way to do what we loved and we didn’t think about it beyond that. Until this offer landed in our laps. Well, the story goes. as a story would with Summer and Moon…we couldn’t decide. We weren’t sure. It was a big risk! We loved our freedom, we loved our fly the seat of our pants style of working. We loved doing it the way we wanted to. So we do what we always do when we are uncertain, we took to the forest. We sought out nature. We looked to the stars and we juiced. Literally- we went to the woods with a tent and an ice chest of juice for 3 days. We got clear. And I mean clear. We sat and talked and spitballed and dreamed and we were hungry. When we came out of the woods, we knew what we had to do. We had to take the offer. We had to take all of our fears and dreams and trust. So in Jan 2020 we became The Summer Moon. We created a brand and a culture that upholds the integrity of yoga as a lifestyle. We blend yoga and nature to cultivate a connection to mind, body, spirit, and planet through our daily practices of yoga, community, and outdoor adventures. We follow the seasons with heart oriented, spiritually inspiring and grounding practices and ritual.

Moon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are a studio that follows the seasons with heart – oriented, spiritually inspiring, grounded practices of yoga and meditation. We love nature and bring the seasons and elements into every aspect of our business, space, and teachings. At The Summer Moon, we blend yoga and nature to cultivate a connection to mind, body, spirit, and planet through our daily practices of yoga, community, and outdoor adventures.

We are imperfect humans dedicated to breaking down the status quo, and not just within the yoga community. We are not healers. We are not spiritual leaders. We practice consistency and dedication on and off the mat to help co-create a more harmonious planet. If you think politics & yoga should be separate, it’s not. We must acknowledge our own hand in the multigenerational system of American oppression.

We are two women whose love of nature and yoga brought us together as friends. That friendship evolved by intricately weaving together nature and yoga as guides on and off the mat with carefully curated practices, outdoor adventures, and meaningful connections. Our mission is to nurture vitality and every individual’s well-being, to cultivate a conscious, mindful, and loving connection between ourselves, the community, and nature. Whether a beginner or an advanced practitioner, The Summer Moon strives to create a place to practice Yoga and Meditation in a supportive and accessible environment. It is our intention to keep the teaching of yoga as close to the way we have been taught as possible and is incumbent for us to always act responsibly and with our client’s interest in mind. We believe in the transformational tools of this practice from the subtlety of quiet meditation to the power of breath with movement. We believe in the structure of nature and the cycles of planets and stars. We believe that all of it is connected and that profound peace exists when you align yourself with the truth of your nature. And through observing the qualities and patterns of the outdoors, we can cultivate our own personal wholeness and contribute to the wholeness of our communities and planet. The world is moving fast. We’re busy, always plugged in, and constantly distracted. Over time, we’re losing our capacity to look around, see the sky, be at ease and appreciate the sweetness of life. Now more than ever, we need places that help us slow down and stay genuinely connected to ourselves, each other, and the beauty of the human experience.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

We opened our business in Jan of 2020 and due to the pandemic, had to shut our doors 3 months in. This was a moment of panic, of fear and wondering if we had made a huge mistake. But we had to trust. So we did what knew how to do, and that was go into nature. We moved almost all of our yoga classes outdoors, we learned how to teach classes online to keep a full schedule and we offered a lot of free yoga, meditation and discussions online in an effort to keep our community engaged. Our shop was not deemed as essential, and therefore we were literally closed and paying rent for a 2000 sqft building that we couldnt use. So we reached out to all of our friends who are artists and makers and we invited them to fill our lobby with their products on consignment. We turned the front part of our yoga studio into a shop and this not only allowed us to open our doors, it supported our community. It gave our friends a way to continue what they love doing and keeping their businesses alive as well. This shift organically turned The Summer Moon into what it is now- yes a yoga space, but also a community hub. A place to gather, a place to shop, a place to build community.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Thee most effective strategy for advancing the growth of our little business has been authenticity. 100%. We show up and run our business, our classes, our friendships with pure true authenticity. What you see is what you get. We are imperfect humans dedicated to breaking down the status quo, and not just within the yoga community. We are not healers. We are not spiritual leaders. We practice consistency and dedication on and off the mat to help co-create a more harmonious planet. If you think politics & yoga should be separate, it’s not. We must acknowledge our own hand in the multigenerational system of American oppression. We are white owners of a yoga studio, working in a capitalist society on stolen Nisenan land. This path asks for dedication, discipline, and courage to look deep within to uncover our truth and our own authentic connection. We have zero tolerance for any racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, fat-phobic, classist, misogynistic & otherwise hate-driven idealism, speech, or action. And we drew this line in the sand early on. This has stopped some in their tracks who never entered our space, and that is perfectly fine with us. Our prayer is that our space is safe, supportive, kind, open, generous and healing. By being ourselves and welcoming all, we have built a wonderful and loving community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thesummermoon.com
• Instagram: @the_summermoon_yoga
• Facebook: thesummermoonsacramento
• Yelp: the summer moon

Image Credits
Cassidy Coelho Jac Potorke