Georgina and Sarah Kyllo are on a mission to bring yoga to Sicamous.
The mother and daughter team are the founders of I Am Yoga, Sicamous’ new yoga studio. Their long-term goal is to run the studio on a full-time basis, offering different styles of yoga, and other activities revolving around personal growth and wellness, to teens and adults.
To get started, and assess the demand for yoga in Sicamous, the Kyllos partnered with the District of Sicamous and wellness and recreation co-ordinator, West Martin-Patterson. They put together a 12-week yoga program (about halfway complete), which is run out of the Kyllo’s Finlayson Street yoga studio (above the medical clinic).
For their first adult class, called Warm Beginnings, so many people wanted to attend that some had to be turned away.
“We sent away 15-plus people, and people were still coming up the stairs…,” said Sarah. “So (Martin-Patterson) is blown away there’s a demand.”
Due to the demand, another adult class was added. In addition, Sarah teaches a class for teens aged 12 to 18 called Love Your Body.
While a majority attend the classes for health and fitness, Sarah says with a laugh, that some attend just because it’s something to do in town during winter.
Between the two, Georgina was the first to be drawn into the world of yoga.
“I mainly got into it because I have a very hectic life and I need some down time and I need a little bit of peace in my life, and that’s the only way I can find it…,” she explains.
“Boring” was Sarah’s initial impression of yoga, after trying some instructional DVDs. But about three years ago, while home from university, she tried out a class, and found herself hooked.
“When I left the class I felt calmer, like I got a workout, but I didn’t feel the aggressiveness or stress you feel after going to the gym,” Sarah explains.
The Kyllos are planning on making yoga a full-time private venture, though their focus is more about sharing than financial gain. For Georgina, yoga instruction is not only a journey of self-discovery, but also a means to give back to the community.
“I really do like helping people,” says Georgina. “That’s why I started the Dave Stead Memorial Society as well, because it’s something I can do to help the community. I originally wanted to go into nursing as a teenager, but then I had a family and it never happened, and this is a way for me to really move people and help people.”
Sarah is also driven by a desire to do good through yoga. This is why she started teaching classes to youth, first in her mom’s basement, and now with the district.
“I just know how I was when I was a teenager,” says Sarah. “You put a lot of pressure on yourself and compare yourself to other people. And yoga really teaches you to love yourself for who you are and knowing that your body is unique, and not everyone looks the same… It’s just about loving where you are in that moment.”
The Kyllos are starting a new class on Sundays called Candlelight Yoga. It begins Feb. 17, and runs from 6 to 7 p.m. It will be with guest instructor Ricki Meyers of Salmon Arm’s Sweet Freedom Yoga.
For more information, visit the I Am Yoga Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/I-Am-Yoga/399554303469371, or the District of Sicamous Recreation and Wellness website at www.sicamous.ca/content/recreation.
