That teachers, no matter how great, are also fallible people. I wish I had not glorified teachers and studio owners, believing that the yoga community was full of people who had mastered what they taught. That false idea of perfection really set me up for a huge let down and a lot of self-criticism, too… Of course, I can’t blame those teachers and other yogis for being human and in a process, a continuum of refinement. I can only site my own childish fantasies for my disappointment. I now feel at ease with my community because I know we are all on our own journeys and we all are complex beings. The expectation of enlightened behavior is something I have had to let go of, especially in myself.

 
What’s your favorite pose at the moment? What are you learning from it?

I’m almost six months pregnant right now so every pose is different. My base line is different. To paraphrase the poet Theodore Roethke, I move in circles, and those circles move. I love exploring the animalistic drive to creep through deep squats that lead to starfish-inspired Downward Facing Dogs. At first I resisted my bodies request to move differently. I resisted breaking my own “rules.” At some point I just gave in. What higher guidance could I possibly be subscribing to other than my own inner voice and the voice of millions of generations of mothers and babies echoing through my expanding bones down through the ages?

When I was a teenager I would come home from school in a tizzy over a boy or some friend drama. I often felt like an outsider and struggled with how the world worked. My mother always smiled and said calmly, “Kelly, this too shall pass.” It is the only truth I know for sure. All things, whether we like it or not, are impermanent. What a relief. Life is not such a big deal after all.

I want to get rich and famous of course.  Actually, I managed a studio in town off and on for many years and also designed and led their teacher training program, and I always wanted to have more creative control. In the back of my head I was always designing my dream curriculum and putting together an all-star team of teachers who truly represented what I envisioned to be the heart of the yogic teachings. I didn’t know if I would ever get the chance. It was just a pipe dream. I expected to start traveling to teach and also to focus more on my Rolfing career when my partners, Wes Carter and Shelly Wolfe, approached me about opening a space. It is all quite miraculous to me. They are just as responsible for the existence of Mission Yoga as I am.

We are receiving a lot of accolades for the space itself, which is a remodeled gas station full of exposed brick, old concrete, beautiful bamboo floors, and a ton of natural light. This space is definitely a joy to practice in but to me, Mission Yoga is what it is because of the teachers. Each one of them has a level of experience and clarity of voice that sets them apart. They are all unique in what they have to offer but complement each other very well. We teach from the perspective of embodiment first. We honor our creative processes and those of our students. Although we enjoy the challenge of complex movement and teach “advanced” postures when appropriate we do not require or expect anyone’s practice or body to look a certain way.  Mission Yoga is a place for personal inquiry and empowerment not dogma or body/fitness obsessions. We try to weave meditation into our classes since we all personally feel that it is a primary part of the work of yoga and we all love what we do.  I think all the studios in Charleston have the right intention and having so much variety gives students multiple options and styles, helping them to all find a yoga home. I celebrate our diversity as a community.