Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Onkar Ryan.
Hi Mary Onkar, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey with Kundalini Yoga began over 20 years ago, and I’ve now been teaching for 18 of those years — as an E-RYT 500, healer, and meditative counselor with more than 2,200 hours in the seat. I’ve practiced and taught across Colorado, Los Angeles, and Austin, always carrying this work with me.
It was in LA that everything shifted. The studio and community I found there became a true home away from home, and being in service to others there taught me something I still live by: the upliftment I offer comes back to uplift me tenfold. That experience left such a mark that when I eventually moved on, I knew I wanted to build something like it myself one day.
When I landed in Austin in 2019, I came in teaching — no studio yet, just renting space and building community one class at a time, all under my brand House of Onkar. Through it all, Casa de Luz kept calling to me. It’s a rare, special haven in the midst of the city, and I fell in love with the heart it holds. I kept showing up, kept teaching, and over time it magically fell into place: the second floor became The Sunshine Haus — the physical home for House of Onkar, and the space I’d been longing for since LA.
So House of Onkar is my brand, and The Sunshine Haus is where it lives and breathes — the full-circle version of that home-away-from-home feeling, built here in Austin, in a space I now get to hold for others the way one once held me.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
None of this came easy. There were countless days I showed up to teach a class of two or three people, when it would have been simple to question if it was worth it — but I kept showing up, because the technology of Kundalini Yoga has never asked me to wait for the “right” numbers to be of service. I’ve had to learn not to compare, not to push — but to trust and allow.
Along the way I’ve had to hold it all: becoming a single mom, running a business, being a friend, being a mentor — and still remembering to take care of myself in the middle of it. That’s exactly why I teach this technology. It is a true beacon for how I do all the things I do and still find joy, love, and life on the other side of it. I’m living proof of the resilience, vitality, and heart Kundalini Yoga can continue to give you — one day, one challenge, one love at a time.
I’ve also been trying to open a physical space for the last three years, and it hadn’t happened — until it did. But when I have a calling, I don’t back down. I keep moving forward, trusting and allowing rather than forcing. My consistency, and my knowing, is what has always seen me through.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I hold space and facilitate from intuition. My work style is artistic and creative — I teach from what’s alive in the room. I specialize in guiding people back to themselves through the technology of Kundalini Yoga — breath, movement, sound, and stillness used as real tools for real life. That shows up in everything I do: teaching classes, leading workshops, holding space for private clients, and training the next generation of teachers through House of Onkar’s teacher trainings, all rooted at The Sunshine Haus.
I’m known for making this ancient technology feel immediate and usable — for meeting people exactly where they are, including some well-known faces who’ve trusted me with that work over the years. What I’m most proud of isn’t a number or a title — it’s that I’m living proof of what I teach. I’ve built this while being a single mom, a business owner, a friend, and a mentor, all at once, and I’ve done it by staying consistent and trusting the calling rather than forcing an outcome.
If I could choose what people say about me, I’d want it to be that I held space with integrity — that I taught from intuition and heart. I’d want to be known as someone who showed up fully, again and again, and who helped others find their own resilience, joy, and vitality along the way. That’s what sets me apart: I don’t just teach the practice — I live inside it, in the mess and the beauty of real life, and I bring people into a space that’s held with that same honesty.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
One of my biggest inspirations over the years has been my relationship with God — that connection is really the foundation everything else is built on. Alongside that, I’ve been shaped by incredible teachers: my teacher Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, and the late Guru Dev Singh, both of whom poured so much wisdom and depth into my path as a teacher and healer.
And I have to give credit to my studio manager, Breanna Smith — she is this beautiful light and also a total boss babe. She keeps everything organized and helps keep me on track with all the amazing things we’re doing and planning to do next. Having someone like her in my corner makes it possible for me to stay in my zone of genius — teaching, creating, holding space — while she helps hold the structure underneath it all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.houseofonkar.com
- Instagram: @the.sunshine.haus , @maryonkar
