The Sense of Calm

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January 2020 Issue
The Sense of Calm

January 2020 Issue

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We sat down with Katy from Calm on Canning Street to find out her story of finding herself an Edinburgh business owner.

Calm on Canning Street

Katy worked in corporate marketing in the banking industry for years both in London and in Sydney. She realised while living in Sydney that the hamster wheel of the corporate world wasn’t for her anymore. She felt fed up and dissatisfied at work.

So, she bought a camper van with an ex-partner and they decided to go “off grid”.

They went to live in a community in Portugal where she spent eight months in rural Portugal, living off the land, with limited phone and wifi access, practising daily yoga and meditation and generally escaping from modern society. During this time she went to India for a couple of months to train to become a yoga teacher. Afterwards, she returned to Portugal and realised that although she had loved her time living as part of the community, it had been an incredible experience and she had learnt so much, she knew it wasn’t her long term dream and decided to leave. Katy returned home to her family in West Sussex. She was 32, single with no job and didn’t want to go back to corporate marketing. She started her first yoga business Katy and the Calm and started teaching yoga classes and running retreats. She also worked in freelance marketing on the side. She used the year at home as a time for deep self reflection and introspection. She then moved to Brighton as she had found a job working for the Fostering Service doing their marketing and offering her much deeper job satisfaction as she was using her skills to do something good and make a positive contribution.

It was at this time she started seeing her now husband Ross, whom she had known for years. Ross lived in Edinburgh and they did “the commute” for six months until Katy made the decision to move up to Scotland in September 2017. She loved Edinburgh and took up yoga around the corner from where they lived, on Canning Street, which is now her studio!

Calm on Canning Street

Katy worked in corporate marketing in the banking industry for years both in London and in Sydney. She realised while living in Sydney that the hamster wheel of the corporate world wasn’t for her anymore. She felt fed up and dissatisfied at work.

So, she bought a camper van with an ex-partner and they decided to go “off grid”.

They went to live in a community in Portugal where she spent eight months in rural Portugal, living off the land, with limited phone and wifi access, practising daily yoga and meditation and generally escaping from modern society. During this time she went to India for a couple of months to train to become a yoga teacher. Afterwards, she returned to Portugal and realised that although she had loved her time living as part of the community, it had been an incredible experience and she had learnt so much, she knew it wasn’t her long term dream and decided to leave. Katy returned home to her family in West Sussex. She was 32, single with no job and didn’t want to go back to corporate marketing. She started her first yoga business Katy and the Calm and started teaching yoga classes and running retreats. She also worked in freelance marketing on the side. She used the year at home as a time for deep self reflection and introspection. She then moved to Brighton as she had found a job working for the Fostering Service doing their marketing and offering her much deeper job satisfaction as she was using her skills to do something good and make a positive contribution.

It was at this time she started seeing her now husband Ross, whom she had known for years. Ross lived in Edinburgh and they did “the commute” for six months until Katy made the decision to move up to Scotland in September 2017. She loved Edinburgh and took up yoga around the corner from where they lived, on Canning Street, which is now her studio!

First, Katy was asked to cover classes at Canning Street and then she eventually taught her own class. In the December of 2017 the owner emailed to ask if anyone wanted the lease for the studio on Canning Street. Katy had finished up remote working for the foster service in Brighton in December and always wanted her own business so this was THE opportunity of a lifetime.

She took over the studio on the first of April 2018 and rebranded it Calm on Canning Street. It was a busy three months setting up a new website and booking system, coordinating the rebrand and re-design and fit out of the studio and arranging the launch. Her vision for the studio was to create a welcoming and supportive sanctuary to help people feel better regardless of what they were moving through in life. She now has something for everyone at the studio with 15 teachers, a varied Yoga and Meditation timetable and 6 wellbeing therapists.There are two massage therapists, a life coach, a counsellor, homeopath and a nutritionist. Katy says, “It has a real sense of community and feels like an extended family., I’ve met all my friends in Edinburgh from the studio.’

Katy’s business seems to grow as her life grows, it’s in an almost perfect synchronicity. In January 2019 they bought Old Kilmun House, a place to retreat. Katy always loves how people stay after class at Calm to connect further

with others so she wanted to create a place where they could connect for a full weekend. While refurbishing the house in spring last year, Katy and Ross also got married and she fell pregnant in the June! The retreats started in September; they are a weekend with yoga, meditation, and workshops. The philosophy is to have more time with people to connect and recharge, out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Guests don’t need to think about food as this is all taken care of. There is built in space for doing nothing in the schedule. Katy says, “It’s a lovely way to reset and recharge by investing in your wellbeing and finding space to pause! You then re-join the world with more energy and inspiration. You go after goals when you are full of energy!”

It’s been a busy and prosperous few years for Katy in business and in life. She is so excited to welcome the biggest change in 2020, their baby arriving. She is growing the business yet again with her new life experience and will be starting ‘Calm Mummas’. This will be a retreat for pregnant women as Katy found while pregnant that no one in Scotland was doing this! She also wants to train to teach pregnancy yoga, to start growing another community of friends going through the same experience. Katy would also like to work with corporates more, self-care is crucial for employees as it has been known to increase retention, loyalty and productivity.

Seeing friendships flourish in the studio is her favourite part of it all. She finds it amazing that the studio is become more like a community space, and she is excited to watch this grow in the coming years.

Pressing Pause

Katy practises yoga and takes her dog Alfie on long walks. She says that she knows when she needs to press pause and that we need to prioritise self-care in our modern lives.

Connect with Calm on Canning Street on social media:

• www.facebook.com/calmoncanningstreet

• www.instagram.com/calmoncanningstreet

• www.calmoncanningstreet.com

Category: January 2020 IssueBy Kirsty Simpson February 3, 2020

Author: Kirsty Simpson