From local roots to destination yoga studio
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Nestled in the heart of Deptford, Kindred Yoga is more than just a studio – it’s a space where movement, mindfulness and community come together. Founded by long term local Katarina Rayburn and her husband Julian van Gils, their business has grown from humble beginnings into to a successful independent studio, that’s become a key part of the UK and global yoga scene.
Kindred Yoga were the deserving winners in the ‘Best Independent Business’ category at our 2024 Mayor’s Business Awards. Now, Katarina and Julian are one of six local business faces fronting our Discover Lewisham this summer campaign, encouraging people to enjoy our fantastic local businesses and explore what the area has to offer.
Kindred Yoga’s roots in Lewisham run deep. Katarina grew up in the borough and always felt a strong connection to the area. Responding to a lack of yoga available locally back in 2018, Katarina began teaching classes a couple nights a week in a church hall in St Johns. Here, she developed a small but loyal following.
“Sometimes there were only two or three people and sometimes no one. But slowly, the community embraced it. Before long, we had 40 people showing up every Tuesday evening.”
That early enthusiasm sparked the idea to open a dedicated space. At the start of opening the doors of their Deptford studio, the pair did everything - from reception to teaching to cleaning and marketing. Now, seven years on, Kindred Yoga is home to over 20 teachers, an impressive roster of guest teachers, a small marketing team and a growing number of loyal students. The studio offers a wide range of classes – from dynamic flows to chilled out restorative sessions – and they even run international retreats.
In 2020, Katarina launched the Kindred School of Yoga, training new teachers who now lead classes at the studio. They also run community classes that are more affordable for residents as they believe it’s important that yoga is accessible to all.
“We’ve given people more of a reason to travel to Lewisham. People come from all over London because of the amazing teachers we have. But it’s the community that makes it special.”
They both share how much they believe in the Deptford area and their local pride shines through in the studio’s relationships with neighbouring businesses.
“We go to the gym down the road, they come here. We get our coffee locally. There’s a real sense of camaraderie and support.
Looking ahead, they hope to expand to a second space and explore additional healing facilities such as ice plunge and sauna as well as continuing to move more students through their teacher training programmes.
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Location: Kindred Yoga, Unit D, Norfolk House, Brookmill Rd, London SE8 4HL
About Discover Lewisham
Did you know, in London, VISA/CBRE have also calculated that for every £10 spent locally, £3.80 remains in the local economy? This could double if people actively choose to spend more locally.
In 2022, Discover Lewisham initially began to promote the borough as an events destination, using the London Borough of Culture programme as an anchor to attract local people to stay in the borough and spend locally, and attract visitors to come and experience all that Lewisham has to offer.
For the last two years, we’ve been featuring local winners of our Mayor’s Business Awards (all voted by the local community) as faces of the campaign.