Melanie King

On a splendid fall afternoon, I had the pleasure of the company of one of Yoga Community's sunniest personalities, teacher Melanie King. We had a chit-chat while doing some research on Mexican eateries in The Springs. The food was ample; the pace, leisurely, pleasant and warmly welcoming. That's a sentence I could apply to Melanie's classes. Oh, you won't be eating food in her class, but it will be flavorsome. And her Wednesday night Level 2/3 class would only be leisurely for Bionic Woman.

I invite you to pull up a chair at the metaphorical dinner table, and prepare for a repast of yogic thinking with Melanie King. Melanie is as sharp, intelligent and down to earth as they come. And she'll put you at ease in an instant, no doubt about it. I had the pleasure of her casually elegant charm and wit over tacos. Have a read here, then step into the studio for one of her classes. You'll find it, and Melanie's way, delectable.
-Barbra

BB: Melanie, tell us how you came to yoga.

MK: It was when I moved to California in 1995, at the Berkeley YMCA. I had a great teacher there. At the time, I was 22, and wanted to be young and cute. I was using it to augment my regular workout routine.

BB: You were working out at the Y and noticed they had yoga classes?

MK: Exactly. And I fell in love with the practice. Then I moved to San Francisco, and started taking classes from a woman named Ivy Meyer at Gorilla Sports; she was a student of Sarah Powers. She was the first teacher who made a huge difference with me. Actually she is one in Paul Grilley's video with the crazy backbend. That's her. I loved her classes very, very much and I was sad when I moved from San Francisco and wouldn't have her anymore. She was the first one who got me thinking it might be something I'd enjoy teaching.

Then, I put that thought on the shelf, because I figured I had to have a regular 9-5 job to support myself, and just did my practice. I went to Piedmont Yoga and 7th Heaven. Then I moved to Fairfield when I met Brian, my husband, and there was just one yoga studio in town. It was Ashtanga. The woman who owned it noticed I had a good practice, and she was thirsting for teachers, because there were no other studios in Fairfield (Squarefield!) so she asked me if I'd teach. So she did her first teacher training with me.

While it gave me a good foundation, her knowledge was rather limited; she only knew Ashtanga, she didn't know much about anatomy. I missed my training with Ivy. Ivy had done my first Yin yoga with me in 2000. I started teaching there, and adding more to my compendium of teaching, which made the owner unhappy. She wanted me to stick to a script.

BB: You were incorporating what you had learned from other teachers and disciplines.

MK: Yes, I had been reading voraciously and loved learning more and more in-depth.

BB: When I'm studying a discipline, I want all the knowledge!

MK: It's more fun! I'd gone to all these different classes, and just loved the whole breath of yoga. So, I had outgrown that position. She and I actually had a big falling out, and she fired me. It's the only time in my life I've been fired from a job.

BB: And it was from a yoga job. (Both of us laughing.)

MK: I was fired as a yoga teacher! My students were upset, and some followed me to Vallejo, where I started teaching. I then realized there were holes in my training. I didn't know enough about anatomy. I decided to go to Kripalu. They had a great faculty for things like Ayurveda and structural anatomy, and history and philosophy. I wanted a more universal basis. Plus, being from the East Coast, I kind of have an East Coast snobbery about schools. (Chuckling.) There is an emphasis on education, which is one of the few positive things about the East Coast.

I went for my training right after I got back from Indonesia, and then came back to Sonoma, and started teaching here. I love going to teacher trainings. (Melanie has since studied Yin Yoga more in depth with Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers).

BB: Who were some of your favorite teachers at Kripalu?

MK: Stephen Cope.

BB: I was just reading a short piece by him, and he really resonated with me. What books would you recommend?

MK: The Wisdom of Yoga is his more recent book. He took a lot of criticism for his first book for being inaccessible. I talked to him about it. So, he made The Wisdom of Yoga a lot more personal. He took Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and put them in a contemporary light.

BB: We have a copy of it!

MK: It's great, it's not some strange series of fortune cookies. It's placed in everyday situations. Personal growth issues, relationship issues.

BB: He doesn't teach Asana does he?

MK: A little, but it is mostly history and philosophy.

BB: I like that you quickly mentioned him as your favorite teacher there, given that that is his primary focus.

MK: I think you and I think alike that way, we both enjoy the history and knowledge. The books. The "fancy book learnin' yoga!"

BB: You mentioned Indonesia. I know you have traveled a lot. Tell us about some of your experiences. How many places have you been?

MK: Right now I only have 13 countries under my belt, but that's going to grow with every possible moment! Some of my favorite places were Southern India - I spent a couple of months traversing India. Sri Lanka, we only spent a few weeks, but I'd go again in a heartbeat. I loved Thailand, it is a beautiful place to travel. Nepal is fantastic and the people are wonderful. I definitely want to do a lot more of South America, although my attention is being turned more toward North Africa at this point.

I think it was David Letterman who said nothing will develop your character more than traveling. You're really dependent on yourself and trusting your instincts. You're dependent on what you believe yourself to be. That's what you are when you're traveling. Completely un-tethered to your culture or your home, to any of the things people could identify you as. All they see is you as a person, and the way you look. Maybe, maybe not a name. Maybe, maybe not a country. You are just completely fresh with each person you meet.

BB: That's a very yogic consciousness. Did you travel alone as well as with Brian?

MK: I went to Belize and Guatemala. I love traveling solo. I think a lot of women fear it, but it is incredibly empowering, and you meet so many more people when you travel alone.

BB: Did you do yoga in all of those countries?

MK: All of them. I didn't take a lot of classes, it was mostly pick-up groups, like pick-up basketball. I remember being in a big field at an organic farm in Guatemala, so I was in my tent doing yoga, and there were toucans flying overhead. I did it by myself one morning, and the next day a couple of British travelers joined me, and then a French couple. It was like a yoga U.N. in this field in Guatemala. That was before I started teaching, but it felt like a path.

And then I remember in India, when I was in Bodh Gaya. where Buddha became enlightened, I did my first meditation classes. People were wanting yoga, but there were no classes, so I started teaching there a little. It was always this strange request from people while I was traveling, for me to teach. Bodeghaya.

BB: Where you active as a child? Did you take ballet or dance lessons?

MK: I was a tap dancer for 12 years. I'm a fantastic tap dancer!

BB: Do you still tap?

MK: Every once in awhile when I'm cleaning my closet I'll put on my shoes and do a little bit. I'd love to do it again. I love dance in general.

BB: What else did you like doing as a kid?

MK: I liked to sew and create things. I used to take large cardboard boxes and reconstruct them into homes. Make curtain out of paper towels. I used to make models of the moon with bottle caps and matches and plaster of Paris. I was an only child so I was forced to entertain myself.

BB: What else do you love?

MK: Travel is number one. Wine, though that is on the back burner temporarily. (Keep reading to find out why!) I also love cooking. My garden, which has gone terribly this year. Astronomy is another. My father gave me a telescope, and I try to look, using my GPS, and red headlamp, trying to figure things out. But I suck! I also suck at pottery, but that's okay, you have to give it a try.

BB: I'm fortunate to know first hand you are a great dinner party host. It occurs to me in observing you doing that, there is a relationship there to what you're doing when teaching.

MK: Oh, thank you. I come from a long line of hosts. My great-grandmother had a rooming house, and my grandmother ran a restaurant. Hosting was a big thing in our family. My mother used to be the fry cook at Miss Florence's Dinner in Northampton, Massachusetts. One of those old cable car diners.

I've always loved that energy of hosting, when people come together. Yoga is kind of like that. A gathering of people for a common enjoyment and it should be social, it should be entertaining. I like to entertain people while they're there, because part of what I am there for is to guide you to having fun, and to get to know your body.

BB: What's your favorite quote?

MK: There was one on my tea bag the other day. From Booker T. Washington. Something like, "You can't judge a man's character by his accomplishments, but by the obstacles he's overcome in order to achieve them." Some people have easier access to goals, be it financially, or higher education they've had easy access to. Then, you meet, for example, a Mexican man who has come over the border, and works 12 hours a day just to get food and money for his family, and has overcome all these hardships to make that happen, which person really has the stronger character? You can't really measure people by outside appearances.

Yoga is the same way. You can see someone in the perfect asana, and think they have a great practice, and instead you find out they were a gymnast their whole life. And then you find somebody who is in a position, and they are smiling. And it's not the perfect pose, but they are happy, and they are smiling, and really in touch with themselves. That's what I feel like my job is, to help people find that.

BB: I totally agreed. Rod (Stryker, my teacher) was just talking about that when I was at a training with him. He said there are a lot of people who look great in a pose, but their life is totally screwed up (to put it politely for Rod!). The real practice is, what are you doing with your life?

MK: Yeah. Not to say that I am perfect in any way, but we're all helping each other, if there is a little bit I can share with you, and a little bit you can share with me, it will work out that much better for knowing each other.

BB: Yes! Any last words, Melanie?

MK: You can tell everyone that there is a bun in the oven! I'm growing a tiny yogi. And I love being a part of this community. I had a hard time finding home for a long time, but I really feel at home in Sonoma. It's nice to know I can go anywhere in town, any day, and run into someone I know. And I appreciate the studio's support. It's comfortable. I love Sonoma!