Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Leverett.
Hi Thomas, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Claudia and I met in kindergarten in Houston, TX, shortly after she had moved here from Nicaragua fleeing from Communism and a war torn country. We went to the same elementary, middle and high school together, and then continued our path to the University of Texas and moved to Austin in 1994. Within the first couple of years, we found Yoga and Kung Fu, and dreamed of the day we’d be on our own property, have our own studios, live close to the land, and pass on the practices that had done such wonders in our own lives. To see it all coming together now, 20 plus years later, is quite surreal. Almost like switching places with the one having the vision all that time ago.
Upon graduating from UT in 1998 and beginning our careers, we continued to train, dream, and work. From then to 2006, we trained diligently. Claudia went through the Natural Epicurean, a culinary school, under Dawn Ludwig before it was bought by Yoga Yoga. At that time classes were held in the upstairs room at Casa de Luz and it was one of only three schools in the States where you could become a Macrobiotic Chef. Claudia’s mother had just passed from Cardio Myopathy and the idea of healing first with food became the center of our household. She went through the program and taught cooking classes as well. At the same time, she went through Yoga Teacher Training with Yoga Yoga and would often teach for us at my teacher’s kung fu school. That was the start of her Sunday 11am “Yoga Temple” class that has been a big save for so many in our community over the years, myself included- she still teaches it to this day. It’s when the whole Del Sol Sangha gets a chance to see one another.
Those days were kind of like the golden years of training, when there is nothing to do but take the next step forward, so life, to some degree, is a little more simple in that regard. We continued to keep moving forward. By day Claudia worked in the medical industry and I was a middle school teacher. In the evenings and on the weekends we’d be taking or teaching classes depending on what our teachers needed from us. In our style and lineage of kung fu a person needs a minimum of 10 years of training before they can become a Sifu teacher. It just so happened that at about that ten years mark, we got pregnant.
Myself being a Middle School Teacher and Claudia working in the Medical Industry, it seemed like the best step forward would be to make a jump at starting to teach. My salary was a joke compared to hers so the plan was for me to stay home and take care of Isa during the day and to teach at night.
By July of 2006 we had Isa, Claudia was on maternity leave, and in August I was teaching four friends in a backyard. In March of 2007, we opened our first storefront in Cedar Valley, and in 2009 moved to Circle drive and 290 where we changed the name to Del Sol. We stayed there for the next 11 years. People often would ask, “are you gonna have another baby?” and we would laugh and say that Del Sol was Isa’s “little sister”. She was born right after and indeed they grew up together. Isa would often be taking a nap or on me in a sling while classes were going on. Hanging from the monkey bars on the Crossfit side of the studio or teaching her stuffed animal’s yoga in the yoga studio. In those days, we had Crossfit, Yoga and Kung fu.
Over that time, we took yoga groups to Nicaragua, India, and places in the Hill Country. We continued to travel, practice and learn ourselves. We lead Yoga Teacher Trainings every Fall and Spring from 2012-2020 and had just finalized a deal to buy 10 acres overlooking the Texas Hill Country where we were going to put two studios, one for Yoga and one for Kung Fu. That journey is itself its own story, but suffice to say that everything fell where it needed to and we were able to keep the deal going and have been able to watch the studios going up over the last year during the pandemic.
Suffering a huge setback, like all movement-based studios during these times, we have been able to hold on and had to shift gears a bit to keep everything going. The property is on Fitzhugh Row across from Jester King Brewery and has a view that just pulls you in. Our long-term dream was always to be on a piece of property where we could live our ideals and provide the learning for others to empower their own lives calling. It’s the perfect place for events, weddings, festivals, etc. So now, as the buildings finish we are turning towards those ideas and seeing how we can gather in positive ways and with positive events that really celebrate all of us together-the land, all of us beings borrowing it and the big blue sky that pervades the whole thing. Having to teach the entire last year outdoors has been a gift in so many ways, but the biggest is the relationship with nature, just her presence can set the most troubled at ease.
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?
They say that smooth seas don’t make for skilled sailors, and I don’t think any Mom and Pop shop that holds on for as long as we have hasn’t seem some tough times.
Our biggest challenge, however, was to take all of our retirement and put it on the line to buy our own 10 acre location and build our own studios. That is a scary place to jump into. Getting our permits was central to the deal and what was supposed to take six months took 18. The deal was almost lost 3-5 times, but with a lot of community support and the help of an angel investor, we were able to get everything finalized to start building May of 2020 at a time when the bank was pulling out of lots of deals. Covid was heating up and the first shutdown was about to end.
Luckily we were able to continue teaching in person outdoors on the property under some amazing shade sails. We also continued to record every class and send it out to our at home attendees. We have now spent a whole year teaching outside and have seen every type of weather go by. We’ve taught in the rain, in the dark, in the heat and in the bitter cold. And through it all, we have been fortunate to have people show up, albeit few compared to pre covid, but still- it’s something.
Our old location is already a new business and we know some have no idea what happened or where we went. We know that once we’re up and running and indoors things will swing back in the direction they were heading before the pandemic, however waiting for that pendulum to swing isn’t always easy.
We’ve been impressed with Del Sol Yoga & Kung Fu, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Del Sol is the home of our community, it’s where and when we gather, and although the place changes as it is now, it’s still the energy created by the people that makes it special. A group of like-minded individuals meeting on the path towards finding out who we really are and what makes us happy. Everything at Del Sol, from Yoga to Kung Fu, is set up to help one move closer to answering these questions for ourselves. Students are more like family than clients. We bring them in wholeheartedly and give them what we have.
For the Kung Fu students, we are trying to give them the coping tools of resilience and self-reliance as well as the ethic of hard work. We teach them how accomplishing our goals is nothing more than being good at working hard and staying focused. They learn that working hard is really more a skill than anything else. The Martial Arts, Kung Fu as it is taught here anyways, is the delivery system for these ideas. Once one knows how to work hard, how to fall down and get back up, how to be non attached to outcomes but to give it all you’ve got when the moment calls, and how to stand firm in their own inner voice, the rest of life is enjoyable because one has learned to sail its most turbulent waters. Once a person realizes the overlap from their training to the real world, they become deft at maneuvering through their lives and become an active participant vs passive.
They also become part of the 7 Star Praying Mantis Lineage, our kung fu style that dates back directly to Shaolin Temple over 400 years ago.
In the Yoga program people are learning to deprogram a lifetime of expectation. How to witness the part of ourselves that feels it has to live up to a bar to be worthy. How to reconnect with what moves us inside and how to appreciate all beings for their own intrinsic value as part of the greater whole. Oddly enough when a person connects with their breath and they are given the tools to introspect and listen to their own inner voice, they open to a whole new world, a much larger vista. Life changes are made, and people shed a layer.
Whether it’s Yoga or Kung Fu doesn’t matter both create a focused mind that develops a strong mental fortitude. When the mind becomes strong, no matter what the practice it will start to self examine and either be able to face reality and change or make up excuses, lay blame or even lie to not face that reality. Either way, the practice is to observe until you See your own Truth.
“Del Sol” is Spanish for “From the Sun” or “of the Sun”- So in this way it’s about bringing more light and awareness into our lives. We believe that when each of us finds a method to work on ourselves, the whole world can come out different for it. When we work in a way that lets us appreciate one another vs compete with one another, we find that there’s actually room for everybody and that the party is just that much more fun, nobody is left off in the corner.
“Knowing others is Wisdom, Knowing the self is Enlightenment”- Lao Tzu
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Falling asleep on the phone while talking late at night with Claudia in middle school.
We met in kindergarten and started dating in 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th – then didn’t talk for a couple of years. Of course, we then became best friends and have been together ever since. That was 11th grade. I’ve been trying to keep up with her my whole life.
Pricing:
- Mention the article and get half off 1st month
Contact Info:
- Email: delsol@delsolaustin.com
- Website: www.delsolaustin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delsolaustin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DelSolYogaAndKungFu
Image Credits
Allia Michelle Photography Malia Rae Photography
