Kimmie Paola

I took my first yoga class somewhere on the Mississippi Gulf Coast late last century…and hated it. I did! Now, maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was newly pregnant with my first child and just not “feeling” it, but that child would be a teenager when I next tried yoga (and it was actually thanks to her that I did). In the beginning of my yoga journey, I was drawn to power yoga, which fit with my concept of yoga at the time as a “workout.” The tempo may have been slower than cycling or running or dance fitness, but my goals were the same, and I approached my asana practice as I did my cardio-based practices: full force ahead.  

As I grew in my practice and in my life, I attended workshops and classes and I began to recognize how vast the art of yoga is and I continued to explore. By the Summer of 2021,I was enrolled in yoga teacher training. Under the guidance of Natalie Croix of the Shanti Yoga Training School, I earned my 200-hour RYT in late December of 2021: a week later I began teaching, and that same month I began my 300-hour RYT training. Under Virginia Gallagher’s tutelage, my practice and my teaching evolved and I realized that I felt very comfortable practicing power yoga, but I was drawn to teaching more to the restorative and yin side of the spectrum. I have since completed over two hundred hours of training in: Hands on Assists, Restorative Yoga, Advanced Sequencing and Patterning, Functional Anatomy, Long, Slow, Deep Hips, Meditation (50 hours), and, most recently, Crystal Bowl Sound Healing.

I have so much more to learn, but one thing I know:  we need it all.  We need movement AND stillness; we need flow AND ebb; we need power AND  rest. Finding balance in yoga, as in life, is a constant labor of love for ourselves and others. Yoga is a way of living and of approaching problems. It is a path to healing. I am ready and excited to learn more and to share more and, in turn, to grow, with this community. More than anything, I am grateful for the opportunity.