What have you learned or how have you grown since becoming a YCC instructor?

YCC’s former owner, Kathy, and I met during our RYT 200 Yoga Teacher Training at Willow Street Yoga Center in Takoma Park in 2002. We remained friends and eventually she and another colleague, Lucy, convinced me to teach a few classes at YCC. I feel I have grown as a person and a teacher at YCC because of its peaceful and welcoming atmosphere and compassionate teachers and students. It has been a place for me to expand my teaching repertoire and now, as one of my teachers would say, “I got the lucky” to become the new Director of YCC. That feels like an expansion of my own yoga practice as I began yoga to support myself through challenging times, then I gained the privilege of teaching others yoga to support themselves, and now I have the great honor not only to instruct students, but to support other yoga teachers in supporting their students too.

What are your most memorable trips and experiences related to your practice?

I’ve had the great pleasure to lead yoga retreats to India, France, and Costa Rica, as well as to local locations, including Deep Creek Lake and Meditation Staycations right at the Yoga Center, and every one of them is memorable. However, right now I believe the most meaningful experience for me is leading Yoga Teacher Training. It is a chance for me to share the depth of what I’ve learned and love with those who are interested in more than the physical aspects of yoga. I once heard a teacher say, “if your yoga practice does not make you a better person, then why are you doing it?” And I truly adore exploring for myself and helping others get to know themselves better through the variety of techniques and yoga practices, including breathwork or pranayama, meditation, and more.

What to expect in class: Kelly believes in the physical and spiritual healing power of yoga, and aims to empower her students to strengthen their bodies, hearts and minds through her challenging yet calming instruction. Her style is rooted in her many years of meditation practice and her multidisciplinary study of hatha yoga, tantric philosophy, and Ayurveda.

Kelly Fisher is the current steward of the Yoga Center of Columbia. She has been teaching yoga and meditation for over 25 years and has taught at YCC since 2012. She was one of the first in the country to earn her Yoga Therapist certification from the International Association of Yoga Therapists in 2016. In 2017 she earned her certifications as a Yoga for Healthy Aging teacher from Baxter Bell and as an Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist from the Himalayan Institute.