Kari Burgos of Inner Harmony Yoga, Resilience and Change

San Pedro is brimming with independently owned small businesses. Random Lengths News focuses here on one such long-time business, Inner Harmony Yoga on 9th Street. In 2001, owner Fran Zabica, a lifelong resident of San Pedro, originally opened the studio, which has the distinction of being the first yoga studio in town.

Its current owner, Kari Burgos, came to the studio as a student. After her mother died she was looking for something that she could do, and that wouldn’t be difficult to get back into. Kari’s background throughout school was in ballet and gymnastics. She worked very hard to dance in pointe shoes and she still takes classes at SP Ballet and Alvas. So, it was curious that she went from ballet to working a desk job for 20 years in mortgage banking. 

She explained she studied ballet until she was 18, but the rule in her family was either, go to college or work full time. Not knowing what she wanted to be, she ended up taking a banking job and then moved out on her own at 19. She worked in retail banking from 1982-86, then got into mortgage banking at the ground level during the refinance craze.

“The environment was very much like Wolf of Wall Street, lots of partying, drugs, alcohol, rampant fraud and shadiness,” said Kari. “After Black Monday in 1987 (as depicted in the movie) I was laid off and went to work as a secretary for an office supply company, and that is where I met my husband. After less than a year I went back to mortgage [banking] because that was where the money was,” said Kari

After Kari’s mother died from complications of diabetes and alcoholism, she made the decision to change her life. Ultimately, yoga helped her significantly to get over her grief. 

Around this time, Fran told Kari that she needed her to go to teacher training. Fran needed some time off. 

“They say in yoga, like attracts like,” said Kari. “I was quite a bit like Fran.” 

Fran’s background was accounting and bookkeeping, Kari’s was in finance. Both women share “Type A” personalities who benefit from yoga; both tend to be conscientious about helping others. Kari said that’s why she started yoga training. 

Though she initially laughed at Fran’s idea, it stuck. Kari had planned a trip to India, so it made sense and timing was good for Kari to take time off for teacher training and prepare for her trip abroad. Two weeks later, Kari’s boss alerted her that the company wanted to restructure the office and transfer her job to Orange County. In a leap of faith, she told her boss to let her go, and 20 years ago she retired from mortgage banking. 

Kari earned her certification and went to India. Upon returning, she took over the studio to cover for Fran, leap-frogging from a couple weeks of teacher training into teaching 15 classes per week. Soon, Fran returned and Kari started teaching elsewhere. Then her husband was laid off. This prompted Kari to find a job in finance again and she received offers, when suddenly, Fran called her from the hospital. She asked her to take over the studio because she had been diagnosed with leukemia. Kari stepped up to help for about five months as her friend went through chemotherapy. Fran eventually returned, but she couldn’t run the studio. Subsequently, she approached Kari about purchasing Inner Harmony. Kari officially took over July 1, 2005. 

Ananda Yoga

For continuity, Kari trained in Ananda yoga which is what Fran practiced. Inner Harmony’s website describes Ananda Yoga as yoga for higher awareness. The style is very gentle. Time is taken through static postures, while tapping into the energy of the pose and sensations happening in your body. Kari said Swami Kriyananda, the founder of Ananda yoga, meditated for hours based on Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings. Kriyananda incorporated affirmations that go along with each posture, which tune into the energy of that posture, deepening the experience. She also recognizes the general public, looks for “power” yoga and it may be “too slow or too inward” because many people come to yoga for exercise. Ananda yoga is about meditation and going deeper on the yogic path and self realization.  Parahmahansa Yogananda founded the Self Realization Fellowship or SRF in Pacific Palisades. 

Kari has students that have been with her for 19 years. She’s grateful that the studio made it through the pandemic — because of her students, she noted. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, Kari closed before Public Health told businesses to do so. Soon after, a student suggested that Kari teach on Zoom. She looked into it and began teaching online, first at her house and eventually in the studio, for nearly two years.

Inner Harmony was first in the breezeway between 6th and 7th streets, where Bringleson’s Jewelry is located. Originally, Kari said, San Pedran’s did not take to yoga. She posited that it’s connected to very deep Roman Catholic roots. But recently, more studios have opened up and Kari is happy to see them because, she noted, there is a lot of fear around yoga. 

“The Croatians and Italians have very deep roots and Fran was a lifelong Croatian, Roman Catholic,” Kari said. “She was making inroads with some of the older residents.” 

Kari’s chair classes are her best attended. Through the years they’ve been made up of the “old San Pedro royalty:” Al Kaye, the owner of Union War Surplus, and Fran’s father who used to own the office supply on Pacific, Betty Paetz, a lifelong resident who Kari notes was in the Port Town film by Jack Baric, took classes at Inner Harmony and Dr. Milick, a dentist on 9th St. attended. Fran brought all these people in who continued attending. 

Karis’ demographic is about 40 and older and her oldest student is 92. One gentleman who has been with her the entire 19 years is 87 years old. Kari said she’s lucky to have these people in her life. They are family. And if someone doesn’t show up for a while she calls to check on them, which is something the students also do. For a time, under Fran, who’s classes were always full, Inner Harmony didn’t allow drop in students. Kari said, it got an exclusive reputation. These days, however, Kari is telling the community to come on in.

Kari is also an Ayurvedic practitioner who specializes in healthy aging. Ayurveda was her first interest before Yoga. She dabbled in it and Ayurveda fascinated her, but its depth intimidated her because there’s so much to know about it. The term is derived from the Sanskrit words ayus, meaning life or lifespan, and veda, meaning knowledge. Ayurveda has been practiced in India for at least 5,000 years. It’s a holistic approach to health designed to help people live long, healthy, balanced lives. 

“It’s about how people can take care of themselves in the best way, in order to age as gracefully as possible,” Kari said.

Yoga got Kari back into Ayurveda as she entered menopause. With serious stomach issues and insomnia, her health issues were significant enough that she had to cancel her classes for nearly a year. She saw an Ayurvedic practitioner; within days of taking her herbs, formulations and following her instructions, Kari was better. She saw this practitioner for a few years to “get on track” because as she joked, she had to pay for all the years of mortgage banking and “the 80s were way too much fun.” 

Kari is available for private consultations, classes, ayurvedic therapies and herbal treatments.

Inner Harmony offers workshops, movies and potlucks, picnics in the park and Kari held a “Red Tent gathering” for women, to talk about feminine issues. She has also held book groups, sound baths, meditation and breathwork for the community. Kari is open to renting the space to others in the community for like minded classes. Kari’s Thursday night class is restorative yoga, done entirely on the floor. 

“It’s a very relaxing class,” Kari said. “Yoga helped me realize that there was more to life than making money and being miserable. Now, being self employed, I “work” more than I ever have but it is a joyous and fulfilling work to help people. I do it as an act of service both to my students and to my former teacher Fran.”

Details: https://inner-harmony-yoga.com