Something Is Happening Upstairs

For a while now, I’ve been thinking about the upstairs space at La Colectiva.

It’s been a yoga studio. A place for massage and bodywork. A room where people gather, move, breathe, sweat, rest, talk, and sometimes just sit for a minute before heading back down the road.

And I’ve started to wonder what else it could be.

Because living here in Cambutal, there are certain things I find myself missing.

Books to stumble upon.
Beautiful things made by someone nearby.
A place to have a cup of tea and sit without needing a reason.
Art. Conversation. Music. Curiosity.
Those little encounters that make life feel a bit bigger than the road you live on.

So I’ve been imagining a place that brings some of that upstairs.

I’m calling it La Colectiva Escondida.

Escondida means hidden, tucked away, out of sight.

And that feels fitting.

It will still be the yoga and movement studio. I’ll still be giving massages and bodywork upstairs. But around the edges, something new is beginning to take shape.

A small collection of books.

A place to sit and read.

Tea.

My little apothecary.

Things made by people who live and create here.

A shelf for books to be passed along.

Small gatherings. Conversations. Maybe music. Maybe art. Maybe things I haven’t thought of yet.

I don't want to turn it into a shop, exactly.

And I don't really want to define it too much yet.

I want to see what happens.

I want it to feel like a place you can wander into after yoga, or discover while you're visiting Cambutal, or come upstairs simply because you saw something that caught your eye.

A place with a little room for curiosity.

A place where you might find a book you didn't know you were looking for, meet someone new, drink a cup of tea, or sit for a while longer than you planned.

There is still a lot to figure out.

Right now, there is an empty-ish corner, a new bookshelf on its way, two very large planters waiting to be filled, and a whole lot of ideas floating around in my head.

So this is the beginning.

I'm going to let it grow slowly, and I'm going to invite the people who live here to be part of it.

If you make something in Cambutal, I'd love to hear from you.

If you have a book you've loved and are ready to pass along, I'd love to hear from you too.

And if you have an idea for what you'd love to find, experience, or see more of here, tell me.

Because I don't want to build this entirely on my own.

I have a feeling Escondida will become whatever we discover together.

For now, though...

Something is happening upstairs.