Meet Kimmie Thomas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimmie Thomas.

Hi Kimmie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My career began as a professional dancer after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Performing Arts & Dance from Oklahoma City University. In 1991, I became Founder and Owner of Gotta Dance Atlanta, one of Atlanta’s most successful and well-known dance studios. Gotta Dance was Atlanta’s anchor studio that created a home for not only dance beginners and enthusiasts but also a training center for dance industry professionals and it developed an artistic environment that encouraged new relationships and partnerships. I was actively involved with the dance community for more than 40 years.

My current career focus is yoga. This journey began as healing therapy from many years of dance injuries but it transformed into so much more. Yoga completely changed my life facilitating such a positive physical and mental change. It was then that I knew it was my absolute passion to not only continuously learn the positive impact of yoga but to teach it to others.

After years of dedicated personal practice, I have since earned a 200-hour Ashtanga yoga certification through S.A.M.A. in Newport, RI, a second 200-hour certification from Buddhi Yoga in La Jolla, CA, and a third 200-hour certification at Asheville Yoga Center in Asheville, NC and recently completed a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (YRT) certification from Asheville Yoga Center. I also hold an aerial yoga certification through Vita-Prana Yoga and I am registered with Yoga Alliance as an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-YRT) as well as Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP).

I am now Founder and Owner of Just Breathe Yoga Center in Douglasville, GA since July of 2019. I believe that when we learn mindfulness and how to slow ourselves down, we are able to serve and help others with a greater capacity of kindness and compassion. Yoga helps build strength of body and mind. Our studio offers a welcoming space to explore yoga and our goal is to share the practice in a way that is accessible to all. Yoga helps me learn more about myself every day and I pray that Just Breathe Yoga Center will be the safe haven for others as they pursue their path toward personal expression.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
After several years of planning, Just Breathe Yoga Center opened in July 2019 building a wonderful community-based clientele. Running any business comes with inherent challenges but our primary struggle was opening the doors six months in advance of the Covid-19 pandemic creating the need to creatively overcome the tremendous challenge to keeping the business operating during this time. We had to quickly adopt a new perspective and offer both limited in-person and online virtual classes. I remind myself every day that we can find ways to breathe through it instead of waiting for it to be over.

I would like to add that the majority of the credit for our success belongs to my wonderful staff of experienced and dedicated instructors.  The studio would not have survived without them, especially our lead instructor, Katie Barron!  The entire team is very passionate about creating an environment where everyone feels safe, valued, and welcome and I am honored that these instructors call Just Breathe Yoga Center their home.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have been fortunate to experience so many wonderful things in my life and I strive to find new ways to learn and grow every day. I have owned a dance studio, owned a yoga studio, I am a wife of 32 years, and I am a foster parent for the past four years. Through all of these experiences, I truly believe I have influenced, taught, and positively changed the lives of so many people.

Now as an instructor of yoga, I teach from the heart and love helping my students thrive. I teach as I practice, encouraging students to find better alignment that is personal to them. It’s about what a pose feels like, not about how complex it looks. Being part of my student’s yoga journey is very rewarding, whether their goal is to touch their toes again, or loosen up tight muscles, or to simply allow themselves to have some fun, undisturbed time on their mat.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I have so many favorite memories that I could write a book on this question. I look back on my childhood with warm feelings of love and happiness. A day did not go by where my parents didn’t say I love you and we always received lots of hugs. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up but we never knew that. What makes my memories so valuable is the love, time, patience and encouragement that my parents provided me. I learned so much from their sense of discipline and have cultivated that same discipline in my own yoga practice and everyday life. Today, my memories from childhood are a gift to me and my practice.

Pricing:

• New Student Special-One Week Unlimited for $25
• Drop Ins $17
• Active and Retired Military, Veterans and Police/Firefighters/EMT receive a 20% discount on our class passes
• College students receive a 20% discount on our class passes

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.douglasvilleyoga.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justbreatheyogacenter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justbreatheyogacenter/?ref=profile_intro_card