If you've ever run your own practice, you'll know the strange kind of loneliness that comes with it. You can be fully booked, surrounded by clients all day, and still go home without having spoken to a single person who understands what your work actually involves. No one to ask a tricky question. No one to swap notes with. No one to simply have a laugh with between sessions.
That's the gap Hearth was built to close.
What is Hearth?
Hearth is a warm, grounded, in real life network for therapists, teachers, and wellness practitioners across the Sussex Downs. It connects independent practitioners working out of Wellness34 with their counterparts at our partner Host Studios — Lyona, Be Yoga, and Umbra Performance — so that no one in this community has to build their practice in isolation.
It isn't a directory. It isn't another online group you'll mute within a week. It's a real network of real studios, built around the idea that practitioners do better work — and stay in the work longer — when they have people around them.
Why we built it
Running an independent practice means independence by design, but it shouldn't mean isolation by default. Most of us went into this work because we care about people. It's a strange irony that the job can leave you feeling so disconnected from your own peers.
Hearth exists to fix that, without asking anyone to give up what makes independent practice worth having in the first place. You stay fully in control of your own business. You simply stop doing it entirely alone.
What membership actually includes
Hearth membership is £25 a month, and it covers two things: getting you seen, and giving you somewhere to belong.
On the visibility side, members get headshots and video content from a local photographer, features in our newsletter, blog and social channels, a listing in the shop window and on the noticeboard, and a profile on the host studio website. You'll get referrals from studio reception teams, invitations to joint events and open days, and a free 30-minute marketing consult when you join (then quarterly after that) from a studio owner whose specialism suits you.
On the community side, there are monthly social gatherings at Host Studios, a private messaging group for referrals, swaps and collaborations, and a VIP WhatsApp group for short-notice appointments. You'll get introductions for collaborations, peer referrals, and a standing invitation to share ideas and shape the network as it grows. Much of this — the networking, the business coaching, the sessions on ethics and clinical practice — counts as CPD for many professional bodies, too.
Not ready to commit? You're welcome to come along to a social first for £12, no membership required.
Four studios, one community
Right now, Hearth connects four studios across the Sussex Downs:
Wellness34 in Hurstpierpoint, with four treatment rooms and easy access to Lyona's reception and shop window. Lyona, just along the high street, with its café, shop, and a movement studio set inside a historic barn. Be Yoga in Haywards Heath, with a heated 26-mat studio and a treatment room used for everything from talking therapy to shiatsu. And Umbra Performance in Steyning, home to a small-group strength gym, an osteo consulting room, and specialist post-partum and injury management training.
Each studio owner brings a different specialism, and as a Hearth member, you're not limited to your home studio's expertise. Every quarter, you can choose to have your coaching session with whichever owner's specialism suits what you need right now.
One detail worth knowing: room rental across our studios is reserved for Hearth members. That's deliberate. It means every room is filled with practitioners who share the same ethos — and clients notice that the moment they walk through the door.
Belonging, not just booking a room
Practitioners who've joined the network so far have said the same thing in different ways: it's the first time they've felt like they're part of something bigger than their own four walls, without losing any of the independence that made them go solo in the first place.
That's really the whole idea. Hearth isn't about subscribing to a service. It's about having people — familiar faces, shared values, a place to land when the work gets hard, and a community to celebrate the wins with too.
How to join
You join Hearth through your nearest Host Studio, which becomes your home base and closest practitioner family — with full access to the wider network from day one.
Come and meet us at one of our regular socials (keep an eye on the studio noticeboards for the next date), or get in touch directly to find out more.
Email: contact@joinhearth.co.uk Instagram: @JoinHearth
We can't wait to welcome you to the fire.