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Entrepreneur to Watch: Yoga with Lori Lucas

Entrepreneur to Watch: Yoga with Lori Lucas

Former doula turned yoga teacher Lori Lucas believes in the motto: “Breathe and let go, and remember that nothing happens next: this is it!”

What inspired you to start your company?

I was working as a birth doula here and had enjoyed a yoga practice of my own for many years, so it was a natural progression for me to teach yoga and share it with others.

What is your company all about?

I teach yoga to everyone from pregnant and postpartum mothers and their babies, to athletes, seniors, children, and everyone in between. I started with prenatal yoga to help my moms prepare for their labour and delivery, and now I teach all levels of hatha yoga, yin yoga, prenatal yoga, baby and me, and even children’s yoga.

What’s your vision for your company?

My vision is to keep yoga affordable, accessible and available to not only moms and dads and babes, but to folks of every demographic. You can never be too young or too old to practice yoga.

What excites you about what you’re doing?

Everything excites me! Everyone from the expectant and new moms who repeatedly tell me how their yoga practice was invaluable to them through their labour and delivery, recovery, and transition to motherhood … to the student who has forever suffered with back pain that “magically disappeared” since coming to class … to that student who has struggled with crippling anxiety attacks and now has the tools to help deal with their fight-or-flight response. And there are the sports enthusiasts who gush about how yoga has improved their golf game … the executives who have very high-stress jobs who come to yoga for the stress reduction aspect.

The list literally goes on and on. And it’s not me! It’s yoga. And there are the beautiful children whose art work, cards and letters adorn my fridge: drawings of their favourite yoga poses and cards of thanks for teaching them the ocean spirit breath, telling me “it really works Lori, it really works!” Ahh, yoga. I hate to think where I would be without it.

What are some early examples of success?

Lucky for me it’s the yoga that does all the work, so every class is a success for the person who practices yoga. There are miracles in every class. Every time someone learns to breathe and let go and self regulate, every time one learns to practice mindfulness, every time someone ditches their aches and pains, experiences inner peace, strength, vitality and the clarity of mind that yoga brings. The benefits of yoga are immediately felt. It is really like magic. It sells itself. It’s body-work you give yourself. Yoga helps to bring you into balance. It doesn’t matter who you are.

What about challenges?

The challenges yoga-wise are the misconceptions about yoga, for example that it’s a religion. It is not. Or that you’re not flexible enough to do yoga. You do not need to be flexible — that’s why you do yoga! Another thing that can be challenging for some is feeling intimidated to attend that first yoga class. I have never heard of a soul who regretted practicing yoga.

Business-wise, the challenges of working for yourself are that you need to be disciplined, organized, committed and willing to face any challenge that comes your way. And of course perseverance. I teach the classes, study and plan the classes, fill out the invoices, set my schedule and price structures and do much of my own administration, marketing and advertising. Thankfully the places where I teach share the administrative duties. Finding study time is a big one for me – daily study and practice time, as well as attending yoga conferences, workshops and teacher trainings to upgrade my education.

What’s next for you?

My wish is to continue providing non-threatening, accessible and affordable yoga classes to folks of all walks and stages of life in this beautiful city of ours. In the future I may put on some workshops. I have been toying with the idea of starting a YouTube channel or making some yoga podcasts. When people ask me why I practice yoga, I always tell them: none of us know how long we’re going to be here, so why not feel as good, healthy and unburdened as you possibly can? Quite simply that’s why I love yoga.

Yoga with Lori Lucas

Website | Twitter: @LorilLucas | Facebook

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