After nine years of practicing yoga, Lynn McClintock decided to go “thug” and get her 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Certification.
She became passionate about the eight limbs of yoga and the chakras. One lovely day, she was putting together a sequence that focused around the throat chakra. On a whim, she decided to seek out different mudras that would stimulate the chakra center to give the flow a little flavor. At the time, she had no idea that the mudras themselves are a vast and powerful discipline under the yogic umbrella of philosophies.
Lynn was instantly fascinated by their beauty and metaphysical capabilities. She began playing around with her favorites and decided she was a “total mudra gangster.” She threw down her mudra affiliation in her yoga practice, around the house, and sometimes behind the wheel (sending out the love OG style). Before long, she was inspired by the medicinal uses of the mudra by the Hindus, and the meditative approaches of the Buddhists. Lynn knew she needed to share her new-found mudra practice in a bigger way...but wasn't sure how.
Aside from yoga, Lynn also has a passion for style and shopping. She keeps a casual yet edgy look. Anything rock and roll, or against the grain blows her skirt up. So, remaining true to her thug-like style parameters became almost impossible when I decided she wanted to identify herself as part of the yoga culture.
The struggle was real. The yoga-inspired t-shirt market had failed to appeal to her. She had a love of the incantation of OM and respected the symbol, but needed a little more edge served with her OM symbol. And while dream catchers and breezy inspirations are great, they lacked the grit that identifies her.
She continued to search for just one shirt that would brand her as a seeker, a yogi...a real practitioner of wellness. She wanted to identify, to be a part of, but her efforts came with no avail. One night in the wee hours, she attempted yet another Google search for the perfect yoga graphic tee that spoke to her. But once again, it turned out to be a time suck. It seemed like all that was out there were different variations of the same OM-symbolled shirt. Lynn was over it, and with much frustration she slammed her laptop shut and muttered, "Go Om Yourself!" The rest is history... or HERstory...
Today the Go OM Yourself brand is a high-vibe line, inspired by the beauty of the mudras and modern street style. Go OM Yourself is for seekers, as we have zero answers and cannot solicit how to find your Zen…or what to do with it.
Her goal for the line is to marry smart individuality and style with wellness, strength and serenity. It’s today’s answer to Zen wear for anyone who likes a little street cred’ with her spiritual insignia. The overall purpose of the line is to promote a lifestyle that overflows with the spiritual essentials of wellness, strength, and serenity... while the concepts of joy, bold originality and style merrily color that life. McClintock is slowly rocking and rolling her way into the yogi market, making new friends and having a blast.
After meeting Lynn at the Yoga Expo in LA, we connected to talk about the business side of her yoga journey!
SS: Tell me about the side of bringing something like this out into the world.
Lynn: “For me creating the line was possible only if I could be accountable for every step process. It’s important that my customers are able to feel good about their purchase and wear our shirts knowing they were made with the planet and humanity in mind. When I started Go OM Yourself, working with a US-based manufacturer was important, but finding one that also embraces the same values as the brand was imperative. Keeping it local was a major added bonus…100% of the designing, cutting, dyeing and silk screening is done right here in California, in a sweat-shop free and Platinum WRAP certified factory.
As a small business, I can honestly exhale, and feel good about doing the absolute maximum to minimize our ecological footprint. All production is eco conscious. In the manufacturing process, focus is on energy, water and waste reduction. The factory uses special dye machines which saves over 24 million gallons of water a week, and the facility itself produces almost zero landfill. Even our silk-screening is done with water-based ink, so no there is no possibility of toxic runoff. The only exception here is with our direct to garment “Find The OM” shirt, which I’ve discontinued for now. Yes, responsibility is that important!
Here’s the thing, we are not just selling t-shirts. Of course, when I decided to do this, the aim was to create the coolest stuff ever! But it also had to offer deeper value than just having a nice shape and a cool design. And being accountable for our manufacturing is a natural part of the whole. The brand purpose is where my passion is anchored…it’s the heart of what I am trying to do. So yes, where eco-consciousness and responsible manufacturing will always be part of our brand mission.
The other BIG piece of my mission is to share how empowering it can be to re-direct energy in the subtle body using the mudras, and to illustrate the eight limbs of yoga as a way of life. I am mystified and fascinated by the mudras. And well, the sutras within eight limbs are thousands of years old and have never been modified…that just blows me away!
SS: Can you give me a little background into your method?
Lynn: I have a devout respect for the Hindu and Buddhist theologies, which is where the eight limbs of yoga were birthed. These observances and restraints are so simple, yet mind blowing. I know nothing, but feel like the world could be a better place, with much happier, more reasonable folks in it, if more knew about the “sutras” of yoga and not just the “asana” part of it (the poses).
SS: We have that as a shared passion. My dharma goes way beyond the poses. It is to educate and inspire. My book is not about how to do yoga poses, on purpose. Yoga is a body, mind and spirit practice. I love when you shared with me your thoughts about how this relates to your brand.
Lynn: “Yes, as you know the Yamas (social restraints) and Niyamas (self-discipline) are the first and second limbs of the yoga sutras. Both limbs contain ethical human codes that dictate how one acts toward one’s self, as well as toward all living things (like the planet). It is there, within the Yamas and Niyamas, where the Go OM Yourself purpose and work ethic lives. Deep right? But not really…
I just feel like we all have a purpose and the easiest way to find that purpose is to refer to these simple columns of truth. I encourage all my friends and customers to read up on the eight limbs. It’s so cool and makes so much sense. I mean, seriously…the world has so many unhappy, discontent souls in it searching for a bigger meaning of their existence. For me, finding the sutras was where I found my center. I’m not saying that I have found the meaning of life, dang…I wish. I am still a seeker, who has simply found purpose. We all have to continue seeking, truth and wonder every second. As it makes each day new and fascinating for our rock and roll yogi souls.
Do I feel like the clothes we wear have a deeper meaning than what is visually apparent? Absolutely! What folks select to put on their bodies, if they are lucky enough to have a choice, is a direct relation to how they see themselves, and how they want to be seen by others. It is also a representation of what gets that electrical synapse within their cells clicking and popping…think of it like this.
If you are looking at a painting and its colors aren’t appealing to you, the stroke work is meaningless to you, and you feel nothing from the piece but to move on to the next. The electrical charges in your cells were definitely not “going off.”
But what if the next painting you walked up to has a GORGEOUS shade of blue that takes your breath away. Maybe the paint strokes of this one carried your eyes into the painting, to where you feel something…something more than just moving on to the next piece. In this place, your cells aretransferring those yummy delicious neurotransmitters from one cell to another, and it’s making you feel good. So good. My thinking is the same thing happens cellularly with prayer/meditation, music, laughter, love…all of it. It’s magic and science totally making out. That electrical charge…truly magic.
Ooops, my mind has just blown…again.
So yes, folks speak their truth, through the clothes they wear, whether they realize it or not. It’s like one day I’ll pull out a Motorhead shirt, because that roaring Lemmy vibe is channeling through me. But on the next day, I may be feeling softer, and my Fleetwood Mac shirt is what gets my gypsy vibes in check. So, yes! I definitely believe there is an intention or some organic process, behind each and every ensemble. That, or just a little cellular bumping and grinding happening.
It has been such a fun few months putting together Go OM Yourself, and I feel like the next five years will be telling for the brand. I hope to have had some growth by then, maybe I’ll have my own store in Malibu, or a really amazing little store set up in Tulum. I don’t see Go Om Yourself being sold in major retail chains…it would be too easy to lose our purpose. But some wholesale accounts with a few like-minded shops would be awesome.
For now, I think we have a good start. I really love having my pop-up, and truly enjoy meeting the people who purchase my shirts. Every person who comes into my pop-up seems like an old friend. It’s weird…but it feels right.”
Go OM Yourself tees can be purchased online at www.goomyourself.comand through my store on Etsy. You can also find me at Los Angeles area markets, like the Melrose Trading Post on Sundays in the Fairfax/Hollywood area, or at the Abbot Kinney Artists and Fleas Market in Venice. If you see me, come say hi! I am also trying to work out details to have my pop-up at the Rose Bowl, watch my Insta feed for updates on that front. The first convention/expo show I did was just a few weeks ago at the Yoga Expo. I loved the energy of the space and left anxious for more yoga-centered events. So, I am really looking forward to Shakti Fest in Joshua Tree this May. Four days and nights in the desert camping under the stars…it’s going to be dreamy!
Namaste
Stephanie