Meet Kayla Carnes | Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor & Teacher Trainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kayla Carnes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Yoga, especially in the Western world, isn’t a new concept. I’m incredibly aware that as a white American woman, making myself the face of any sort of yoga practice comes with an enourmous amount of privilege and responsibility. As I struck out on my own and began creating Solara Yoga School, I knew I both needed and wanted to surround myself with people who could elevate not only my business, but also my life, my practice, and my outlook on this sacred spiritually. What I believe sets this school apart from so many others is its focus on the student being the main source of authority, not the teacher. Me and my team exist to help guide students back to their own innate wisdom, instead of acting as figureheads to be mimicked and revered.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I came to yoga as a last resort. It was 2017, I had just moved to Athens, Georgia from suburban Detroit, Michigan after spending a year living overseas and volunteering with people in abject poverty. I had a few hundred dollars to my name, the only person I knew in town was my roommate, and I was spiraling. I remember sitting in an empty Piggly Wiggly parking lot one lonely Saturday after coming down from a panic attack, and realising I needed to find something, fast. I’d heard that yoga helped with depression and anxiety, and at the time I couldn’t afford a therapist, so I googled “yoga studios near me”.

Because I didn’t know a whole lot about yoga, accessibility was a key factor in me finding and staying at a local studio. I was able to do an intro month, then a work trade, to offset the cost of practicing. Years later, when I started teaching yoga and offering my own classes, 2017 me was my target demographic. My own experience taught me how to offer this work in a way that doesn’t discriminate based on social or economic factors. I never want something as temporary as money to be a barrier to people finding and sticking with this practice. That’s why I’m committed to making my offerings, particularly our upcoming 50HR Trauma Informed Teacher Training, both competitively priced and available through payment plans.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Athens is what is is because of local small business owners, and will only stay magical if we eat, shop at, and support them. Some of my favourites are Ted’s Most Best (pizza and calzones), Condor Chocolates (dessert and coffee), Buvez! (you can find me here on any given week, sipping a Nola latte and over-analyzing my website’s design), Treehouse Kid & Craft (their vegan lemon ice cream sandwich station hidden in the back is a MUST-try), and any of the local walking trails and nature centers with my son.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m nothing without my teachers and mentors, specifically Jeanne Heaton of Fuel Hot Yoga, and Kate McKenzie of M3 Yoga + Hot Pilates. The first yoga class I ever took here in Athens was with Jeanne, and I remember running out of her class about halfway through. I was pissed off, hot, tired, and totally unable to keep up with the other students in the room, but Jeanne encouraged me to get back in there and just finish the class—even if it meant laying dead-fish style on my mat for the remainder of that class. Going back into that hot yoga room when everything inside of me was screaming I wasn’t good enough broke the dam of my inner critic and allowed self-compassion to flood into my driest, darkest inner spaces. Fast forward a few years later, and Kate McKenzie was one of the lead teachers in my 200 hour yoga teacher training. She and her co-leader wrote me a note at graduation saying, “What you have to offer the world, matters. The way you want to offer yoga, matters.” Those words have been the rudder guiding me when shit feels hard, or even impossible. I’m so incredibly proud to call these two women some of my greatest encouragers and guides.

Website: https://solarayogaschool.com

Instagram: @solarayogaschool (business) // @semperanima (personal)

Image Credits
Michael Carnes Photography