Although she admits her original motivation was a little bit selfish, Lili McCarthy was pretty sure that there were plenty of others who were looking for the same thing.

I didnt have any access to yoga when I moved here so the easiest way to resolve it was to start my own studio, said McCarthy, who opened the door to Lili Yogini Yoga Studio in April.

A long time practitioner of yoga, McCarthy, 37, took the necessary steps to get her idea off the ground. Rigid licensing classes for instructor certification, searches for a suitable location and calling on her own business experience got her started.

I figured that others needed the same fix for yoga, McCarthy said. We found a great location and went to work.

McCarthy, her husband, Joe Jeffress, and son, Marley, set to work remodeling the 2,550-square-foot space that fronts Main Street in downtown Lebanon. New floors and paint and a few aesthetic touches, like hand-painted shoji screens, and McCarthy was ready to open.

McCarthy is no stranger to operating a business. She and her husband owned an electrical construction firm in Southern California prior to coming to Oregon.

I was office manager and we had been hit hard by the housing decline, she said. We moved up here to be with my mother after my father died.

Her love for yoga came with her. She has been practicing the art since she was a teenager when she got started to help relieve chronic back pain.

Still, she had to establish certification as an instructor before opening her studio. In October she began the 200-hour Oregon licensing course.

It was a long process and a lot of rigorous yoga, McCarthy said. It was eight hours a day.

Originally posted here:
Yoga studio opens in Lebanon