Love Yourself. Love Everyone.
KARMA YOGA: Doing unto others
If I were in prison for any reason, I'd want someone to come teach yoga to me. Yoga, as I know it, unlocks the prison of the mind and body in profound ways, becoming the avenue to a changed life.
For this reason and some unexplainable ones, I have a passion for teaching the inmates in the Florida State prison system. I am teaching the men weekly now, using donated mats.
HOW TO HELP: If you have any desire to help this project with donated mats or via a monetary donation, please contact me via email or phone. Anyone who donates their old mat gets their class free that day.
Down Dog! Podcast
Join me online for discussion, instruction, chanting and more at my podcast. Learn more at the button on the far left or use the feed below.
My guri, Shri Yogi Hari -- "Guruji"
-- Master Sivananda, taught us to Love, Serve, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize
A little about me:
My yoga journey began more than 11 years ago with a Sivananda-trained teacher in a YMCA building in Bradenton, Florida and has continued with the influence of many styles of yoga from various teachers.
My roots remain in the Sivananda lineage where devotion and service become as much a focus as doing pigeon prep or downward-facing dog.
My yoga teacher training was at Yogi Hari's Ashram in Florida, a Yoga Alliance-approved residential school,where I lived with and studied under a great master of asana and Nada Yoga, the yoga of sound (music). We spent many hours chanting devotional Sanskrit chants that assisted in laying open our egos for self-reflection and surrender.
Studying the masters makes me a perpetual student, but as Master Sivananda says, "An ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory," so I learn as much from practicing with my students as I do anywhere.
I also have begun studying Thai Bodywork, an ancient healing art from the Thai Buddhist tradition with Mukti (Michael Buck) of the Vedic Conservatory and hope to continue studies with him and offer this wonderful modality to my students. I also expect to be finished with massage therapy school by June and be a licensed massage therapist, allowing me to explore the full range of bodywork with others.
I feel honored and blessed to be on this path and intend to continue to work towards basking in the light shared by the divine masters.
My writing has appeared in newspapers for more than 20 years as I was a professional journalist all my life.. Most recently I have been a senior reporter, blogger, columnist and bureau chief at the Orlando Sentinel.This career has allowed me to be a voice for the voiceless at times, including for Mother Earth when we have abused and harmed her. You may read some of my environmental stories which are linked on my page of links. I occassionally still do journalism, but am blessed to be able to choose what I write and for whom. Most of my time is now spent working with inmates, college students, yoga students, myself and my own family.
-- Kumari, 2008
Photo of Kumari (top) and daughter, Lauren, age 13, doing partner yoga at Still Lake Yoga in Clermont. Kumari teaches there on Friday at 8:45 a.m. It's a great studio if you are in Clermont or nearby.
Davenport Yoga Classes:
Use kumari_kelly@yahoo.com as the "pay to" account. You'll need your own account too.
About Yoga Class:
Need to know: It's best to do yoga on an empty stomach, at least 2-3 hours after eating and to wear either loose comfortable modest clothes or tight-fitting spandex type clothing. Shorts are also fine. While they are ok, be aware that very baggy t-shirts may sometimes get in the way in inverted postures. It is customary to remove shoes at the door and to have clean feet.
What I teach: I believe in the same full approach as taught by Master Sivananda and Shri Yogi Hari, which includes hatha yoga (postures and breathwork), raja yoga (the eight-limbed path including meditation), karma yoga (self-less service), bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion), nada yoga (yoga of divine sound vibration) and jnana yoga (yoga of knowlege quest). My Thai bodywork training often shows through in that a bit of a fusion with this sometimes shows up with assisted postures like assisted cobra being taught.
In a typical class, you will experience breathing exercises, stretching, total relaxation, instruction in meditative techniques such as mindfulness and reminders of your True Divine nature, often lost behind our veils of ignorance. We may chant OM, Om Shanti (peace) or a traditional Vedic chant. Students are free to join or listen.
Yoga is open to people of all religions, faiths and cultures.
You can read more on the full page devoted to the topic, but it's sometimes best to simply see it in action and you can watch some of it on my Youtube page.
In the style I was taught, it is very much like an "assisted yoga" done on a futon-style mat.
A full session is 90 minutes and includes more than a dozen familiar yoga postures as well as innumerable stretches, compressions with hands and feet, including the optional walking on buttocks, thighs and back! Nothing like Thai bodywork to unkink the sticky energy points!
You can go to my You Tube page at www.youtube.com/kumarikelly and see two fantastic examples of what an actual session may look and feel like. In coming months, look for more from me on this as I complete massage therapy school and being offering a fusion-style massage. My yoga students are already accustomed to a fusion-style yoga class with some hands-on Thai yoga tossed in! Just wait for the massage!
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