P.E.I. yoga teacher launches online video business

A Charlottetown yoga teacher is taking her classes from her living room studio and sending them out to the world.

"I move the couch out of the room and set up my video camera and away we go"

Nancy Russell CBC News Posted: Mar 23, 2016 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: March 23, 2016

Kay Pitre says she has learned a lot about filming, sound and editing since starting to produce her own series of yoga videos. (Nancy Russell/CBC)

A Charlottetown yoga teacher is taking her classes from her living room studio and sending them out to the world.

Kay Pitre left her job with the federal government a year ago and has now launched an online business called My Yoga Playground.

"I decided five years ago that I wanted to make a huge 360 shift in what I was doing in my life so I became a certified health coach and a certified yoga teacher," explainedPitre.

"And then it came to a point where I had to say: am I going to do something with this or am I just going to keep working for the federal government for the rest of my life?"

She describes the decision to walk away from her steady job as "scary as hell and very liberating as well."

'My cats love coming into my yoga videos'

Pitre says her first lessons in recording videos were by "trial and error"starting with short videos that she posted on Facebook.

Before she starts filming, Kay Pitre sets up her lights and video camera, and puts her cats away so they don't wander onto the set. (Nancy Russell/CBC)

She admits there were challenges.

"I have two cats and a son," Pitre laughed."My cats love coming into my yoga videos so I put them away when I record."

"I have a small home so whenever I do record I do some rearranging in my the living room," she explained. "I move the couch out of the room and set up my lighting, sound equipment, my video camera and away we go."

Pitre's website operates on a membership basis.Members pay a monthly fee for access to online videos and other content, a formula that Pitre thinks will work.

She says her prices are competitive with what is being offered online by larger yoga companies, but she says she's going to offer a wider range streaming videos, downloading videos and one on one services with instructors, all in one place.

"I'm a techie at heart," explained Pitre."Personally I love learning online.I'm an introvert at heart so I love doing everything from my home."

Kay Pitre uses her living room to record her yoga videos but hopes to eventually set up a recording studio in her basement. (Nancy Russell/CBC)

She says there is also a pragmatic reason for offering yoga online.

"People are busy and they don't have time to get out of home.But if they can at least take 20 minutes out of their day, turn on the computer, do that and they're done. It's not taking three hours out of their day to go to the studio."

An entrepreneur at heart

Kay Pitre, in her home office, where she posts on My Yoga Playground. (Nancy Russell/CBC)

Pitre says just one month after launching My Yoga Playground, she already has clients from Australia, the UK, the Maritimes and across Canada.

Eventually she hopes to have a full staff supporting her including a virtual assistant, social media manager and web designer.

"I'm an entrepreneur at heart and I'm extremely passionate about what I do," added Pitre.

"Being able to do this from here but then giving it to everyone across the entire world, it's just a gift."

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My Yoga Playground