Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Wharton.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was 21 years old, my mother passed from Breast Cancer. Two weeks later, I began rehearsals for the Touring Company of the Musical ‘Grease’ out of NYC. I never told anyone in the cast about my mother and submersed myself into the work. After a year of touring, I found myself becoming a pretty angry person with lots of aches and pains. The next year, I went back to the Boston Conservatory to finish my senior year of college for musical theater. My classmates, my community, had all graduated, I was living off campus, and I was sick to my stomach every day. After a while, I found it was even hard to sing. I had no breath support and I was caffeinating myself to feel anything.
I graduated and moved to NYC. In between auditions, I was teaching aerobics and step aerobics at New York Sports Clubs. There was an Ashtanga Yoga class after mine. I had tried a yoga class once in college but wasn’t a fan. But something was different in this class. I discovered that after every class, I could breathe deeply, I could sing, and I was starting to feel more like myself. This is when I fell in love with yoga. For every show I did in NYC, I would always use the Ashtanga primary series for my physical warm-up. Eventually, I was teaching company classes and then went thru my first teacher training at be Yoga, with Alan Finger, in NYC in 2002.
I moved to Los Angeles and was teaching for Yoga Works and other studios around town. I had the opportunity to learn from some amazing teachers and want to credit my main teacher, Jasmine Lieb, for her therapeutic teachings. I also learned from Max Strom the link between the lungs and Grief. I had learned tools that I felt could really make a difference. I began calling hospitals around Los Angeles, trying to start a yoga program. One evening, a fellow teacher asked me if I could teach her Team Survivor class in Burbank. Team Survivor is a non-profit that offers free healing modalities for women living with Cancer. This was exactly what I was trying to do. I almost yelled, “YES!'”. I taught that class for about 6 or 7 years. In addition to teaching yoga, I was using my voice in cartoons and audiobooks. About two years before I left LA, I was seriously injured by a chiropractor…maybe a longer story. I was teaching a class, and all of a sudden was unable to speak. I quit teaching, stayed at home, and read out loud every day, retraining myself. I made a promise to myself that if I ever taught yoga again, that I would read something at the end of every class. That may be the best part of my classes.
One day I got in my car and drove to Austin. I didn’t know anyone out here, and the first year or so was a little rocky. Eventually, I started teaching for Yoga Yoga and several businesses and additional studios around town. I have taught workshops on Yoga For Grief Stress Management, led Teacher Trainings, and I work with One Yoga Global on International Retreats.
In late 2015, Angela Wicker- Ramos, a student, asked me if I would be interested in teaching at her clinic, Cancer Rehab Austin. Once again, my gut yelled, “YES!” CRA became Cancer Rehab& Integrative Medicine, and about a year ago, they created a non-profit called ‘Moving Beyond Cancer Collaborative’, that offers free classes for Cancer Survivors, Thrivers, and Caregivers.
In addition to teaching for ‘Moving Beyond Cancer Collaborative’, I also teach at Flow Yoga and see private clients. And I still record voice-overs from my home studio.
I am so grateful for the work I get to do and the community it has created.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think challenges and risks are all part of becoming who you are meant to be. I’ve had many bumps along the way. While In Los Angeles, I suffered a serious neck injury from a chiropractor resulting in me having to re-learn to speak. I quit teaching and for several months sat at home and read out loud every day. I promised myself that if I get back to teaching, I would read at the end of every class…This is probably the best part of class. Having to retrain my voice has also led to voice-over work. But all the bumps in my journey, of which there have been many, have taught me something along the way.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Yoga and Mindfulness teacher as well as a voice-over artist. I teach Hatha, Therapeutics, Flow, Breathe Work, Meditation, and Stress Management.
I am most proud of my work in the Cancer Community. I teach a free weekly class for ‘Moving Beyond Cancer Collaborative’ and teach privately as well. I offer classes that can assist anyone going thru the effects of Cancer and Cancer Treatment. I am perhaps the most proud of what the class has become during the Pandemic. In March of 2020, like any other studio, we went to Zoom offerings. The word spread, and now my Monday class has students from all around the globe. I have students from London, Sweden, Hawaii, etc. I am really proud of the community it has created!
I believe in creating a safe space to slow down, be curious, and feel what is yours to feel. I also believe in the power of laughter.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
According to my parents, I was born on a PBS special on Natural Childbirth.
Contact Info:
- Email: Kimberly@KimberlyWharton.com
- Website: https://www.kimberlywharton.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimberlywhartonyogaaustin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyWhartonYoga
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbwharton
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqCLkigbrYyDeiggV34KHgw
