Yogi Times Business Reviews the Yogi Incubator

Out of the Incubator, Into the World

Yogi Times Business, August 2007

by liz hage

a breeding ground for success

Meet Clara Hori, an inspiring individual who is working diligently to bridge the gap between the corporate sector and yoga. After spending 10 years as an executive at the Microsoft Corporation, she left her career to study yoga and contemplate her direction in life. During this break from her corporate career she immersed herself in the Los Angeles yoga community. As she studied and developed her own practice she also became aware of a real need and demand for business and marketing knowledge and guidance from the yoga teachers and studios she encountered. Through this recognition, the idea of the Yogi Incubator, her seminar workshop for yoga entrepreneurs, came to her during meditation and was partly inspired by the influence of her yoga teacher, Rod Stryker.

Picture a group of yogi's comfortably sitting in a circle on meditation cushions, three ring binders in front of them on the floor. A paper flip chart and markers set up next to Clara, dressed in yoga clothes, smiling sincerely. This is the setting in which Clara helps lead her students onto the path of success and prosperity, melding corporate and yogic structure in the course.

To begin, Clara grounds the group with her clear presence, a mantra and some om's and prepares everyone for what would be covered over six, 3 hour sessions. Instead of diving directly in to marketing 101, she begins working with the students' mindsets. Everyone is invited to reflect on questions such as, why am I here (meaning the planet, not the Yogi Incubator )? And what are my goals? After several unique exercises focused on goal setting, the class becomes more clear on their life purpose and path. This proves to be a very effective way of leading the group into the marketing section of the program.

Clara is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the variety of ways one can market them self and has a fantastic network of connections she offers to each participant. She also encourages all participants to share their skills and offerings with one another, a unique idea and again a tie in to the idea of seva (selfless service) in yogic tradition.

By the end of the program it becomes apparent that one's path and business savvy are inextricably linked. Not only do Clara's students become more clear on the direction they are headed, the Yogi Incubator shifts perspectives around self, money, and business in one way or another for the better.

Students who leave Clara's program take with them creative tools to market themselves, a deeper understanding of their path and purposes here on the planet thanks to her well thought out curriculum and vast business and yogic wisdom.