Inner Sage

By Lisa Howard

Inner Sage

“I SAW THE SIGN, AND IT OPENED UP MY EYES. I SAW THE SIGN.”

If you’re of a certain age, you know the song! The Ace Of Bass classic was exactly what popped into Jamie Garrison’s head when she saw a “For Lease” sign on Nine Mile. She’d had a yoga studio in Dearborn since 2013, but decided to make a pandemic pivot and move to Ferndale, where she’d been a resident 20 years ago. “

The Ferndale community has given Inner Sage such a warm and vibrant welcome!” Jamie says. “Ferndalians support the retail district and the level of support from fellow business owners is great – everybody wants everyone else to succeed. There’s enough for everybody here.”

Although she never would have guessed she’d be an entrepreneur and own multiple businesses, that’s exactly where Jamie has ended up after her journey of practicing yoga began over 25 years ago. She trained as a teacher for the sheer love of learning, then started doing pop-up classes in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. People in her hometown of Dearborn kept asking her if she taught there, so she eventually found a space big enough for a dozen mats.

Things kept progressing organically, especially when she participated in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. “It’s kind of like an MBA crash course,” she explains. “We’re all visionary and we have great ideas, but most entrepreneurs don’t have any business background, and the program teaches how to do financial forecasting and understand what you’d need to do in order to expand your business.”

IF SHE HADN’T GONE THROUGH THAT PROGRAM in 2019, she says, she probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to expand her business to Ferndale or change her business model during a time of such financial loss, during the pandemic, when she couldn’t offer yoga classes for nearly a year. “That program gave me the confidence to take the leap and trust the process.”

SHE INITIALLY PIVOTED BY SOURCING AND SELLING PURPOSEFUL, AESTHETICALLY PLEASING ITEMS that her students were asking for when they were creating their peaceful oases at home and wanted to evoke the same kind of calming atmosphere she had created in her OG studio space. That business bloom-ed into the shop that’s now on Nine Mile.

When the neighboring space became available, despite the fact that she was just finishing up her graduate degree in social work, Jamie jumped on the opportunity to expand. Now she has a full schedule of yoga offerings again and will be doing women’s circles, healing circles, art events, bodywork sessions, and even tarot readings. (The first art event was held in conjunction with Pride and was called Liberated Love.)

“I have a vision of both spaces being more of an outlet for artists and creators and healers to come together and support each other,” she says. “It’s going to be a place where people can reset, restore and heal.”

IN ADDITION TO HER SHOP AND NEW STUDIO SPACE, Jamie has also founded a nonprofit called Rising Sage along with another yogi, Lacea Zavala. Their mission is to help mothers in Southeast Michigan overcome barriers like transportation and childcare so that they can access wellness practices such as yoga, mindful-ness, mental health support, and the eight dimensions of wellness (emotional, physical, occupational, social, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, and financial).

Being able to experience the healing benefits of these practices within a cozy, intimate space is something that many people are seeking out in our hectic modern world, and Jamie is thrilled to provide plenty of ways for everyone to recharge.

171 W. Nine Mile Rd, Ferndale

(248) 629-7998 | www.innersagelife.com