Until their studio can fully reopen, the operators of be. In Union Yoga are conducting classes in outdoor spaces, such as their parking lot and public parks. — Photos courtesy of be. In Union Yoga

By Rachel Berets

At be. In Union Yoga in Somerville, owners Jaclyn Kryzak and Blanca Alcaraz re-sanded and recoated the floors for easier cleaning, updated their software for better contact tracing, and stopped rentals on towels and yoga mats, all in preparation for a reopening that never happened.

The yoga studio, which has been closed since mid-March is struggling financially and Kryzak and Alcaraz are considering a lawsuit after the City of Somerville delayed the Phase 3 reopening for the third time.

“Phase 3 has basically been swept under the rug,” said Kryzak. “There’s been no plan and that’s really hard for businesses.”

Phase 3 of the COVID-19 reopening plan which allows gyms, fitness centers, movie theaters, and cultural centers to reopen and operate indoors with limited occupancy has been delayed three times in Somerville because of rising case counts.

While most of Massachusetts has been in Phase 3 since early July, on July 31, Somerville pushed back the Phase 3 reopening indefinitely, promising to update the public by August 17.

“We are watching as the virus rages and businesses are shut back down in states that ignored clear warnings that they were opening too quickly. We are also watching state and local data head in the wrong direction,” said Mayor Joe Curtatone in a statement.

For the past few months, be. In Union Yoga has facilitated online classes and asked members to purchase lifetime passes in an effort to keep their business afloat. They also received a Payback Protection Program (PPP) loan and a grant from the city, but Kryzak says that money will run out in a matter of weeks if they are unable to reopen.

“That [grant money] buys us a little over three weeks, but that’s not a lot of time,” said Kryzak. “If we don’t reopen we are back in the same boat as we were before.”

In an effort to help gyms and fitness centers, the city is allowing group fitness classes of up to 25 to be held in public spaces, but businesses must pay a 25-dollar fee to use public parks.

Kryzak and her team are trying to get as creative as possible, hosting outdoor classes in parks and potentially in their own parking lot, but Kryzak notes that most of the studio’s outdoor classes have been operating at a loss.

“We had one person show up to a class in Lincoln Park and they pay anywhere from 12 dollars to 17 dollars a class,” said Kryzak. “And we pay 25 dollars for the permit and we pay for the teacher.”

Kryzak expressed frustration that small boutique yoga studios are lumped in with bigger gyms as she believes that smaller studios have the means to social distance with masks, clean the studios, and conduct contact tracing in a way that bigger facilities do not.

A small study in South Korea even found that a yoga and pilates class did not have the same spread of COVID-19 as a higher intensity fitness dance class.

“We have a built-in capability to do contact tracing,” said Kryzak. “People register online so we have their emails, we have their phone numbers, we have an electronic catalog of everyone that comes to every single class. It’s something that we can implement better than restaurants.”

If Phase 3 doesn’t begin by August 17, Kryzak is hoping that the studio’s lawsuit could follow in the footsteps of a court ruling in Arizona last week that determined that gyms and fitness centers should have the opportunity to reopen.

“We are not looking to break the law, we are not looking to give people the wrong idea,” said Kryzak. “We are able to fully comply with all the laws. Safety is our main concern. But if they delay again, our hope is that we would be able to file [a lawsuit].”