Seeking OM’s Yoga on the Beach is a Dream Fulfilled

Every Wednesday and Friday mornings, local yoga studio Seeking OM provides opportunities for attendees have a chance to get their day started with a yoga session by Revere Beach.

Beach yoga, however, is more than just a program for the studio’s co-founder Scott McCraney; it’s also a dream fulfilled.

“I probably heard that for the first time when I met Scotty for the first time nine years ago,” said Kae McCraney, Scott’s husband and fellow co-founder. “To me it was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ because that wasn’t the track we were on then, but he’s always talked about it.”

After graduating from Revere High School in 1998, Scott attended Johnson & Wales University where he began practicing yoga more consistently. While he recognized yoga’s physical benefits, Scott said he realized yoga’s impact mentally.

“As with most people, dealing with anxiety, stress in life, I realized how much of an impact yoga could have,” Scott McCraney said. “Once I made that connection and understood this is something that can affect many people’s lives, that was when I deepened my practice and decided I wanted to share this with other people.”

Prior to launching Seeking OM, Scott and Kae McCraney worked at Lululemon, where both were on track to become general managers and aimed to own a store of their own, Kae McCraney said. However, as Scott recalled after his recent visit to Stratton, Vt. in June, something changed in 2016.

“Stratton was a full circle for us because that’s where we launched our business,” Scott McCraney said.

Two years ago, Scott and Kae were gifted tickets to attend Wanderlust, a yoga-centric festival at Stratton. At the time, Scott was the only regular yoga practitioner between the two, though Kae had been exposed to the practice before. Hoping to make the experience more meaningful, Kae created yoga accessories like bracelets.

Inspired by the open and communal experience at Wanderlust, Kae gave away his bracelets to those he met at the festival. Once home, he soon received several contacts requesting for more.

Others’ interest then sparked a curiosity about how to ethically and sustainably create more products, Kae McCraney said. A few months later in November 2016, Scott and Kae launched Seeking OM with a line of soy wax candles. The project was an outlet to do something they enjoyed outside of work, Kae said, but after successful popups and receiving great responses from friends, the two committed to making the business their full-time jobs in May 2017.

The decision was a risk.

On track to potentially become general managers and own a store of their own at Lululemon, Scott and Kae’s decision meant giving up stability to pursue a passion that had no guarantees. There were several moments of frustrations, Scott said.

“As with anything in life, there’s no guarantees, but with this, it’s leaving security of having a stable job, having insurance and benefits and knowing when the next check is coming in,” he said. “To say there’s never a stressful moment or knowing that you’re trying to figure out where the month is going to take you, there’s always going to be uncertainty.”

The business proved to be sustainable, and the two kept pushing. In December 2017, the pair opened a yoga studio while remaining committed to creating yoga accessories.

When their plans came to fruition, they both agreed on one idea first: beach yoga.

“We both separately had our own connections,” Kae McCraney said.

A lifelong Revere resident, Scott spent a lot of time at Revere Beach growing up and had even served as a lifeguard. As for Kae, Revere Beach was the first beach he had visited since he moved from Brazil to Framingham at age 12.

Seeking OM’s beach yoga program eventually began this May.

“It’s an approachable and gentle class that you can meditate and just enjoy your surroundings,” Scott McCraney said.

Beach yoga is held from 5:45 to 6:45 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays barring poor weather conditions or lack of registrations. The group meets at the Reinstein Band Stand at 5:30 a.m. Pre-registration is required. Seeking OM studio is located at 19 Dehon St., Revere. For more information, visit www.seekingom.com.