The Start of Scoria Yoga - Meet the Founder

"I'm an adventure seeker by day, creator by night, art teacher by passion, and a yoga teacher by heart."

This is Yara Kamal, Founder & Designer at Scoria Yoga  

Growing up in Amman, Jordan opened my eyes to so many different personalities, environments, ways of living and real life situations. After witnessing my grandma's passion towards fashion design and her success with creating evening wear in Jordan, I kept a creative outlook on life and decided to dive into the world of fashion after moving to Canada at 14 years. After completing my undergraduate in Fashion Communications and attaining a Bachelor of Design degree, the fashion industry slowly drifted away from my calling- health, wellness and the path towards regaining creativity started overtaking every move and decision I made.

What was your path to becoming a yogi? How did you get to where you are today?

Even though I was involved in so many sports and activities growing up, the first ever yoga class I went to with my sister felt like hell! It was hot, sweaty and I could not hold any move! I actually couldn't even touch my toes. But, a challenge is something I always craved, so I downloaded this yoga app on my phone and started practicing almost everyday. Once I started feeling more comfortable in my poses, that's when I started falling in love with the opening that my body and mind was feeling. And, after spending time alone and struggling with depression while continuing a physical practice, I suddenly experienced yoga as a holistic philosophy and spiritual practice and not just the physical.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to develop a yoga practice but are intimidated about where to start?

Yoga is all about the journey and the progress. Yoga, meaning "union" in literal term, is a discipline of simple mindfulness, breath control and body movement. It's really not about the end result and how an asana or pose "looks" like. It's about experiencing your own self and being present - experiencing the opening of the heart, the body and the mind. So, if you feel hesitant to start because the topic of flexibility intimidates you, it's great to understand that to every asana there is a variation and that yoga is so much more than flexibility and is a place to reconnect with your breath and present moment. 

What sets scoria apart from other yoga brands?

Scoria likes to stay quirky, functional and earthy. At Scoria, what sets us apart is the fact that we LOVE to embrace naiveté while also staying kind. With playful designs, Scoria was created to help pull us away from an everyday lifestyle that society conditioned us to practice. The aim for Scoria is to really be good for all; plants, living organisms and humans while staying true to our creativity. Growing up in modern day society our creativity disappears, but what's wrong with acting silly? Children are our future and they hold so much capacity for imagination. We might as well be inspired it and allow Scoria products to spread this notion while taking us into a dreamscape. Each product carries a fun story that is inspired by a child's outspoken character.

Someone says, "I used to be artistic and I can no longer get in touch with my creativity". Do you have any advice for them?

To avoid the world of mediocrity, maybe you left your creativity back in the office, or in your morning routine. Moving your body will help you get back into fun mode. You could literally just stop, drop and do some stretches, jump or get some nature time then go upside down. Or talk to a child, play, then think like a child. The best main things to practice is losing the idea of judgement, second, using imagination whenever possible, third, finding the inner motivation and discovering a passion. A child does not worry, or overthink when creating

What's next for scoria? What are you looking forward to?

Scoria aims to grow its community, we are not just here to add products that serve to just look good and function well but also to make an impact and form better connections. We are here to listen, share, get personal, and stay authentic. We are hoping to involve more communities and organizations into bringing new products that will be good to earth and our practice. Ever since our successful Kickstarter launch on April 2017, and our e-commerce launch on August 2017, we have been working on developing new projects, new material improvements, product lines and collections that aim to also serve an environmental and social impact.

What's your mantra?

Dream the future, then create with kindness 

Love,

SCORIA | Creative-souls team