Dearbhla Kelly

in her own words…

My love of learning and search for answers has been the most consistent thing in my life. It took me to Amsterdam as an undergraduate student at the University of Amsterdam and to Chicago as Ph.D candidate in philosophy at the University of Illinois of Chicago. Much as I loved it, graduate school is really hard and I began practicing yoga a lot in an effort to balance my life and find relief from stress.

 I did find solace in yoga and also managed to turn my life upside down. After four years of rigorous academic life (with plenty of time to enjoy the many charms of the Windy City) I conceded that the questions I was most interested in asking no longer made sense in the hallways of academe. And so with many tears and no idea what was going to happen I left a fully-funded PhD programme just as I was about to begin work on my dissertation. 

By this stage, I was already teaching yoga, although that was never my game plan. I was such a dedicated practitioner and so well known at my studio that teachers started asking me to substitute teach for them before I had even taken a teacher training. Clearly a deeper commitment was needed on my part so I embarked on intensive training and never looked back. I’ve now done five of them! Teaching yoga has allowed me to express parts of myself that academia could not -  my intuitive capacities and my ability to marry the head and the heart, the embodied and cerebral. My yoga practice has allowed me to make myself whole, to feel safe my body and in the world after the trauma of a massive car accident that left me with PTSD and to process the grief of my mother dying of cancer when I was 26. 

I met my musician husband through the yoga world and we’ve lived together in Los Angeles since 2006. Although we wanted children, or at least one (!), we’ve been unable. After an intense grieving period I realized that life is there for the taking and shifted my priority to finding joy. At 47 I’m happier than I have ever been. My life is rich and full of meaning. I feel empowered and strong and but also softer and more open. I love sunshine and wine and dancing and chocolate, lots of chocolate!