They say that while practicing yoga, you’re opening your mind to all the possibilities in the world, and welcoming positivity, good thoughts, inspiration, new ideas…

That is exactly what happened for Yurina Stinner. The multi-talented entrepreneur, yogi, wife, and teacher was in savasana pose during pride weekend, pondering the divisive thinking and hate around the country at the time, her heart breaking over people finding themselves marginalised and having to conform and unable to be fully themselves.

“Everyone should feel confident and comfortable to express themselves without fear or doubt about themselves. And feel powerful again, feel sexy and confident,” -Yurina reflected.

In fact, she herself wanted to feel sexy and confident in the yoga clothes she wore in her yoga practice. Instead she was tired of spending so much money on yoga clothes she wasn’t excited about, that she didn’t actually like. How great would it be if there was a selection of clothes out there that were amazing and stylish and made you feel sexy and confident and TRULY YOURSELF in them -- but also happened to be fully functional for fitness class? Wouldn’t that just be the best of all the worlds combined?

Thing is, they didn’t exist. Yoga clothes were boring, the price and quality hardly aligned, and if you wore them out anywhere besides the yoga studio, you looked exactly like you were wearing yoga clothes outside the yoga studio. Yurina’s fun, fashionable, functional yoga clothes remained but a fantasy in her mind…

…and so YURIYASA was born. From that one little spark, Yurina grew her idea and her determined belief to create yoga clothes that empowered individuals to be themselves, be confident, be sexy. As a brand, YURIYASA is fun, flirty, rebellious, courageous, daring, cheeky, sexy, everything in one; and it starts with the one pair of yoga pants every girl needs.

And it was something desperately needed everywhere! On the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles, yoga clothes became the “uniform” norm for a whole new tribe of career-people on the go. The fact is, we're always rushing from one thing to another – meetings, fitness, lunches, dinners, presentations, school pick-up – and we simply don’t have the time to go home and change into a different outfit, or lug around extra sets of clothes in between our laptops and our children’s swim gear. It’s almost like we want to do it all, but our clothes simply aren’t as fluid or flexible to flow with us from one event to another.

But that shouldn’t be the case. We should be able to go from lunches to lunges to lounges, to go from crow pose to cocktail in hand, to go from savasana to street chic.

In Yurina’s own words, “Do we really want to settle on these as the only options: skin-tight leggings with your butt hanging out, sweat pants, or big balloony hippie yoga pants that you would see a backpacker wearing in Thailand? I saw a need for something more chic that also gave us these comforts.”

With 15 years of experience in retail and fashion behind her, including big names like Style Network, Nordstrom, Marc Jacobs, W Magazine, Macy’s and Amazon, Yurina left her corporate life behind, and said hello to a year travelling Asia and Europe and teaching yoga in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through her travels and her teaching, she grew further as a person and in her ability to communicate with people from all backgrounds and life experiences – both personally and professionally.

This further encouraged her to fill the void in the market and start up her very own company, YURIYASA, focusing on the busy woman who makes the yoga mat and the streets her runway.

YURIYASA’s range of Hot Short Pants and V-Short Pants give you the comfort and flexibility of yoga shorts, with a high performance nylon/spandex fabric that’s durable and holds its own all day and all night, but also while remaining soft, breathable, quick-dry and moisture-wicking. And paired with all that versatility is an amazing use of mesh draped over your legs, which offers you a fashionable pair of pants that’s classy enough to be taken seriously, no matter if you’re attending a museum opening or a magazine launch right after yoga class.

Besides on a mission to combine fashion with function, YURIYASA also has an important social mission. A portion of the proceeds for every pair of pants purchased goes towards supporting Women’s education and rights around the world. This was something close to Yurina’s heart, as a successful female entrepreneur, to give back to the community beyond just fashion and clothes, and to use YURIYASA as a platform to achieve change in the world.

In line with their social responsibility, the material used in the making of YURIYASA’s pants is also thoughtfully and sustainably sourced, they work with factory partners which empower their workers, and their small-batch production process means a no-waste policy when it comes to energy, resources or material.

Without any middle retailers, customers know they get what they pay for – and more – when they purchase an item of clothing from YURIYASA. They know they’re getting not just a pair of pants, but the tip of the iceberg of timeless silhouettes that are flattering, functional, fashionable, and free.

One woman had a dream, and today, that dream is YURIYASA – the statement of cool confidence and class.

As Yurina puts it, “Here we are now, ready to show people that there is a new, fresh, approach to what yoga clothes can look like and how it might make you feel a little more excitement about what you’re wearing. Getting dressed every morning should be effortless, yet excite you for the day ahead.”

To check out YURIYASA and their amazing pants, visit www.yuriyasa.com