Despite laying off her campaign staff, 150 yogis turn out to hear from Marianne Williamson in Iowa City

IOWA CITY, Ia. — The first week of January, Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff, including her staff in Iowa. Just a month before the Iowa caucuses, the move was a surprise.

Still, on Saturday afternoon, the author and spiritual guide drew a crowd of more than 150 people stretched out over yoga mats looking to hear her message.

The group had already moved through two hours of yoga stretches and meditation as Williamson began to address the crowd. While a few rolled up their mats when she began, Williamson held the vast majority for 45 minutes as she wove a message unique to their shared interest.

The practice of yoga across the country and the ubiquity "mindfulness" in daily life is proof, for Williamson, that the group she terms the "spiritual community" has a lot of power. The problem, she said, is that the community's drive to better themselves tends to push them from away from politics.

"Many people in the spiritual community didn't want to hear about politics. And many people in the political world didn't want to hear about politics from me or from anyone with a spiritual perspective," Williamson said. "I was living in a space of connectivity between the two."

Julia Theisen, 58, is a co-owner of Dubuque's Body and Soul Wellness Center and Spa. She said she felt that divide until Williamson's campaign.

“I had avoided going down this route, partly because I never found a candidate that spoke the same language as me, and Marianne does that,” Theisen said.

Having recently become a U.S. citizen, this cycle will be Theisen's first chance to caucus for a candidate. She said she's all in for Williamson "until the very end, whether she's president or not, as long as she is still running."

►MORE: Williamson works to thwart 'new age lady' perception

When asked about Williamson laying off her entire campaign staff, Theisen said if polling numbers or fundraising reports hadn't shaken her support, neither would Thursday's news.

"I'm trying so hard not to be thinking about this as a traditional race, and so it's like Marianne's making good decisions about what she needs to do — and that's one of the decisions right now," she said. "So be it."

Before Williamson's event, three of her unpaid organizers who came ahead of the event had their "Marianne Williamson 2020" signs at an anti-war protest earlier that day.

►MORE:Marianne Williamson says she's laying off her staff and there's 'no way we can compete in Iowa,' but she's not quitting campaign

Having driven hours again for the campaign, they were confident in the exuberance of the supporters they found.

"We believe in miracles," Nancy Zak, 59, of Des Moines said. "That means anything is possible."

"The truth is that she's a voice of reason at this point in time, and she's being listened to. And so let's just keep our ears open," said Mark Gerstein, 58, of Ames.

As more than 100 marched down Iowa City's pedestrian mall Saturday afternoon to protest President Trump's decision Thursday to authorize a drone strike on a convoy that included Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Gerstein added, "You know, unfortunately, it's going to take something like this to raise her up to where people are like 'She's the one with common sense here.'"

Williamson told the Press-Citizen she would be back in Iowa for the Faith, Politics & the Common Good forum in Des Moines on Thursday. She said she still has months left in her lease on a condo in Des Moines.

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Zachary Oren Smith writes about government, growth and development for the Press-Citizen. Reach him at zsmith@press-citizen.com or 319 -339-7354, and follow him on Twitter via @zacharyos.