Yoga Studio Boasts New Kind of Flexibility
Facility asks patrons to pay what they can

By Sarah Scott
Staff Writer

Audrey Woods is what you might call a yoga sampler.

During her eight years of practicing yoga, she’s been to a number of studios and learned from even more teachers.
 
“I found myself driving from studio to studio trying to find teachers I like,” she said.

But after taking her love of the art with her on the road to Los Angeles and practicing at Bryan Kest’s studio in Santa Monica, Calif., she got an idea.
 
Woods, along with an investor, decided to start what was essentially a yoga co-op modeled on Kest’s donation-based studio. She rents out space at McKinney Avenue’s Karmany Yoga to her favorite instructors who, in turn, pocket donations from their students at the end of each class. There are no memberships, no sign-ins, and no commitments.
 
“It’s an education process with the students,” said founding instructor deAnna Anderson, who said that most of her students have been more than happy to oblige her with the recommended $15 donation.
 
But the come-when-you-can attitude “is a nice change for a lot of people,” she said. “It’s good for people who don’t want to have a membership or any obligation like that — you have more freedom to come and go.”

Anderson, who taught at Dallas Yoga Center for seven years, still teaches at Equinox. Woods said a lot of the instructors juggle multiple teaching jobs not just because they love it, but to make ends meet; many yoga studios don’t necessarily reward popular teachers for having bigger classes.
 
“We wanted to set it up where teachers are the beneficiaries of a large following,” she said.

Highland Park native Jennie Bartholomew taught yoga in New York and London before returning to Dallas. She said she was attracted to Karmany because of its unique philosophy.

“It’s a very open and honest place to practice yoga rather than a yoga scene,” she said. “The studio’s been growing exponentially over the past few months.”
It was a short journey from dream to reality for Woods and Anderson. When Anderson found a space for lease on McKinney north of Knox Street in late December, she thought it would be perfect for a studio: right by the Park Cities and accessible to Uptown and Lakewood. The duo had a lease drawn up and signed by Jan. 1, and the studio had a website up and running by February, the same month classes began. Now in its third month, Anderson said the studio is hitting its stride.
 
“I felt like there is a hand greater than mine pushing me toward this,” she said. “It happened really fast and so smoothly — and people have been really receptive to it. It’s been great.”

E-mail sarah.scott@peoplenewspapers.com