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CHANGE: Karyn Austin now runs her business out of her own studio after using rented church space
ENTERPRISE: Yoga aficionado left day-care job behind Christopher Clark
Special to Sun Media
| January 12, 2009 |
Karyn Austin was nervous as she prepared to speak
with her husband. After all, she was proposing a fairly radical change in her
life, and wasn't sure how he'd take it.
Christopher Clark
Karyn
Austin opened Breathe Yoga and Pilates's new studio at 36-1615 North Routledge Park last week. (MIKE HENSEN/Sun
Media)
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Her proposal,
made five years ago, was to change her career plans by walking away from her job at a day care and enrolling in classes to
become a certified yoga instructor.
"I
didn't know what he would think about it, but he was very excited and supportive. He could see how much this meant to me,
and he's been a tremendous support ever since," says Austin.
After a year of classes to get certified, she opened her studio in January 2006. And this month,
she's moving out of rented space in Hyde Park United Church and into her own studio nearby.
"It's a very exciting time, something I've been looking forward to for
a long time," she says. "The people at the church were great, and I could never have started my business without
their help and understanding. It's time to move out on my own now, so I can be more flexible in the hours I operate and the
services I offer."
Austin, 41,
became a yoga afic-ionado early in life. At 12, she saw how yoga benefited her mother, Gerry. "She would have her friends
over, and I would walk by and see people standing on their heads. It was funny, but it grabbed my interest, too."
That was in Brampton, where she grew up and got her first real job, as
a receptionist at a law firm. She didn't love the job, but the side benefits were terrific: "I met my husband, Murray,
there," Austin says with a giggle.
The
couple has two daughters, ages 16 and 14, both of whom come to the studio from time to time. The older girl is very interested
in yoga and the philosophy behind it.
The
non-violent, reflective philosophy is something Austin embraced when she started her training four years ago. She became a
vegetarian, not for the first time, but with more of a purpose this time. Murray is not officially vegetarian, but since she
does most of the cooking, he is, almost by default.
"We
went to a New Year's party this year and they served lobster," Austin says. "I didn't have any, but Murray just
loved it. He was really going at it, with butter all over his face. It was pretty funny."
Having opened the new space last week, Austin now offers classes Monday to Friday
from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. She is the only instructor and takes weekends off. She is certified as a yoga instructor by Yoga Alliance.
She teaches Hatha, Flow and Kundalini yoga styles,
which are related but each offer a slightly different experience for clients. Classes are one hour, plus 15 minutes of guided
relaxation many yoga lovers call "nap time."
At her old location, Austin had a roster of about 40 regular clients, and she expects to increase that number
at the new place. She has added Pilates classes as well.
Pricing varies by package, but an eight-class session costs $100. Registration continues this month, and Austin
welcomes people of all shapes, sizes and degrees of flexibility to her new studio.
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Breathe Yoga
and Pilates
36-1615 North Routledge Park
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