Kyla’s Story
Sharing yoga with the women in my family has led to a life-long practice
I found yoga in the late 1980s, I wasn’t really looking for it. We all come to yoga for different reasons. I came to it at the suggestion of my mom, who thought I should give it a try because I was pretty stressed and anxious. She had been going to a community education yoga class and loved it. My grandmother did yoga as well, but in Florida. She encouraged me to try it also. I had moved back to the area from Connecticut starting a job in the Automotive Industry. This was a major transitional time for me. At that time, yoga wasn’t very popular, so I started in the community education class with my mom. I really didn’t think it would be my cup of tea, but I couldn’t say no to my mom and grandmother, being the “people pleaser” I was at the time.
The class was offered in a plain elementary school community space. Certainly not as glamorous as today’s yoga studios. It was very relaxing though. It was very different from the yoga today because it was in a school, on indoor outdoor carpet, that smelled of chalk, mats were puffy and it was done in silence of the furnace running without music. It was a wonderful mother-daughter activity, which I appreciate even more now. When my mom retired, she started to go to a yoga class during the day. By then, I loved it. I continued with the evening class for years, one day a week. I learned the discipline of yoga, even once a week made a difference. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I also started going to workshops sponsored through the Yoga Association of Greater Detroit with my mom. We learned about other types of yoga and meditation. In about 1995 started taking classes at a yoga studio. I began going several times a week. This was a new level of discipline. I found Namaste in 2000 and began taking classes at the studio on Troy Street in Royal Oak.
Kyla watching over students in the Transformative Restorative Yoga Training - February 2024
I was finally ready to learn more about yoga and philosophy. I investigated teacher training programs in 2001 and decided to take training at Namaste Yoga. I wasn’t planning to teach, but really wanted to learn more. I was working in a pressure cooker job with long hours, so my objective was more personal, than to become a teacher. Little did I know, learning about yoga philosophy and putting the principals to work through meditation and a home practice, I was becoming ready to teach. I expanded my learning by studying with Erich Schiffman, Judith Lasater, Anna Forest, Cyndi Lee, Paul Grilley, Rod Stryker, David Swenson, Tias Little, Gary Kraftsow, Jason Crandall, Doug Keller, Michael Lee and Bernie Clark. I have also studied with many amazing local teachers.
As part of teacher training, we had to teach Karma yoga, which is teaching on a volunteer basis, so I
started teaching at a homeless shelter in Detroit. The students there were very receptive and were amazed by how stretching could make them feel so good. Many started to meditate as well. The Karma yoga experiences really gave me the encouragement and bug I needed to teach. I went on to teach at the homeless shelter for 7 years. The experience helped me refine my teaching. I also taught several other Karma classes, Gilda’s club, an allergy clinic, psychotherapy office and minimum-security prison. It was so rewarding; I enjoyed it and could see it was helping people.
All of the volunteering led me to start teaching at Namaste Yoga in 2001. When I first started teaching, I was teaching between 8-10 classes a week at various venues and working my full-time job. Staying calm became my superpower in my career, which I credit to yoga. All of the teaching made it challenging to keep up my home practice and meditation. After several years, I decided to only teach at Namaste and a few special classes or workshops. My education continued, in 2014, embarking on 300-hour Yoga Therapy training, then through Beaumont and in 2016 Relax and Renew level 1 training, through Judith Lasater. I have since taken certification classes in Yin and Myofascial release. The only teaching break I’ve had was during the pandemic. During this time my home practice and meditation helped me keep going along with my friends from yoga reaching out to support each other.
Yoga teacher training was one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I truly love the community. A perpetual student of yoga and I am lucky enough to be continuing to share yoga with the Namaste community. As always, the journey continues.
Kyla Remus E-RYT 500 is an active member of the Yoga Association of Greater Detroit and has been teaching at Namaste almost since the beginning! She continues to actively work to learn more about yoga and how she can bring its benefits to the community.
