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Komers work together

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Matt Komer doesn’t hesitate when he talks about his wife, Jaime. He jumps at the question, asking about her style when it comes to working as a yoga instructor.

“She is very inviting to all levels,” Komer says of his wife. “She can work with young girls and older athletes. She is very patient when teaching newcomers. She’s open to adjusting each person and talking them through a certain pose … with the background she has it can be intimidating but once they get in the class she is very welcoming.”

Matt Komer and Jaime Komer, both 32, who live in Costa Mesa, know each other well. They met while competing in their respective sports at UCLA, Matt in volleyball and Jaime in the pool with water polo.

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Back then, they were friends and study buddies who soon dated and later became engaged. They took the same classes when both studied psychology.

Jaime had a feeling the marriage would also lead to a career together.

“We could always see ourselves working together,” said Jaime Komer, a former goalie who won a 2008 Olympic silver medal with the U.S. women’s water polo team. “This has been in our playbook.”

The athletic husband and wife are in business together, as they are in charge of Athlete. Yogi. Traveler. It’s a unique yoga experience that features a mix of luxury travel with yoga.

They are preparing for a trip in May to Tuscany, Italy. They have done four trips, including two to Nicaragua.

They also integrate yoga on “local” trips. They are planning a trip to Santa Barbara to have yoga for a 10K race nearby. Those trips include a partnership with GRIT Yoga, a new yoga studio in Newport Beach that is partly owned by Marisa Wayne, the daughter of John Wayne.

It’s a fulfilling experience for the couple, and they want the people in the group to feel the same way.

Yoga has been important for Jaime Komer. She sought yoga after recovering from hip surgery before she eventually stopped playing water polo.

She was also an instructor at YAZ in Costa Mesa. She just stopped teaching there this past summer to work on AYT with her husband.

“We really decided that we want to make this our lifestyle and career,” Jaime Komer said of yoga. “We are combining everything who we really are.”

Recently, Jaime Komer shared part of that lifestyle with about 40 girls, grades second through fifth, at Girls Inc. in Costa Mesa.

Jaime teamed up with Ivivva South Coast Plaza to bring yoga to the young girls. Ivivva provided mats that the girls were allowed to keep and take home.

“It was really special for them,” Jaime Komer said. “It was a real fun session. Girls were in there laughing. There was a lot of energy.”

Matt saw the example of his wife’s teaching style at work during her time at Girls Inc. Jaime enjoyed interacting with the girls and asking them to write down their future goals.

She also asked them to write down that for which they are thankful.

Teaching yoga to young students who have never experienced it is part of the Komers’ “Mat Movement” concept for their company.

The “Mat Movement” is a not-for-profit program, that has AYT bring yoga to low-income areas around the world and encourages them to live a positive and healthy lifestyle.

In June and July, there are trips planned for Rwanda where the Komers and the AYT group will work with Kids Play International, an organization that has its mission to use sport as a catalyst to promote gender equity in communities impacted by genocide.

More information and trips are listed on their website, www.athleteyogitraveler.com.

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