We recently connected with Kathleen Holmay and have shared our conversation below.

Kathleen , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I became a yoga teacher at age 58 after many years of being a once-a-week yoga student. I was consulting FT and felt the need for a change so completed a year-long IYT, Integrative Yoga Therapy, program. At the same time I was observing small but significant hostilities and divisions – ways that people separated into Us & Them – around me and in the world. When I began practice teaching at a local hospice I tried to communicate kindness and inclusiveness along with breath work and asanas.

This mission unfolded with my teaching over the next twenty-one years and is still unfolding. I bring a concept into weekly classes – such as being kind to yourself or finding equanimity or exploring joy – and structure each class to support that idea. I end each class with a few minutes of guided meditation to reinforce the theme and often share a poem or saying that underscores it.

I agree with those who teach that when our worlds seem in distress we should make things better in one small place close to where we live.

Kathleen , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I worked my way through a bachelors degree and ten years later a masters. That led me to a couple of jobs that felt uninteresting, though I gained from the work experiences. Around age thirty I began a solo consulting business in media relations that became successful and lucrative. I specialized in math, science and educational issues where it turned out work was plentiful in the Washington, DC area.

Managing deadlines and client relations and doing everything from emptying the trash to billing clients to orchestrating media campaigns was enervating and rewarding. Don’t discount any experience as not being beneficial.

When I eventually turned up for a yoga teacher training program, I was the oldest student but also one with perseverance and time-management skills plus a desire to take in all there was to learn about yoga. Around the same time my long-term meditation practice also played a positive part in exploring the ancient and still very relevant aspects of yoga.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The idea of getting initial capital is amusing to me. I had a Selectric typewriter from my consulting business and phones, office supplies and a work space. A friend offered me a room free of charge in her massage studio to get started. I bought mats, blocks and blankets at the lowest prices I could find.

Once teaching clicked with me, which was early on, I quickly cleaned out my in-home consulting office by giving away furniture, pushing file cabinets into closets, and turning a bedroom into a smaller office. Once computers came along I made signs and drove around myself with push pins and tape and posted them locally, getting to know some other local businesses. I named the studio Core Yoga which I felt reflected my emphasis on core work in yoga practice.

Very little money was needed to launch the business. I was the only teacher and I quickly expanded to offering four classes a week. At its busiest time Core Yoga offered eight classes weekly, three of them at a private school, and I taught them all.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I vividly remember a winter series of ten classes that was ending on a Thursday evening in March when only half the students came, one wearing gloves throughout the class. Many brought their own mats and blocks. The news of a pandemic was filtering out every day that week and it was becoming clear we were going to be isolated in some ways.

The following week was a spring break week for me and I was looking forward to a restful change of pace. Instead I learned Zoom, bought a camera and microphone, set up an attractive space for teaching alone and put together some simple instructions for my students about how to sign in via Zoom. Every student continued, bringing me great joy in the midst of that frightening lock-down.

I taught eight series of classes via zoom, also providing recordings of the classes for students who missed class or who wanted to repeat a class later.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coreyoga.us

Image Credits

None – a friend took the photo – I have another one or two if you can’t use this one.