Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Haight.
Melissa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It really all started with discovering yoga about 9 years ago, at age 35. I had a knee injury and could no longer long-distance run, which I had done for years. A friend encouraged me to try out a yoga class, and I was honestly pretty righteous about the whole thing. I was looking for an intense workout, and I didn’t think yoga was going to be challenging enough. Lots of stretching, is what I thought. I was deeply wrong, and it kicked my ass! But, my deepest struggle with the class, was the breathwork (pranayama)—it made me annoyed, and almost angry. I wanted it just to be over so we could get to the ‘yoga’. I now realize it WAS the yoga. I had spent my entire adult life, and probably most of my childhood, running from emotions that I didn’t have healthy coping tools to process and integrate. I was on a pattern of moving all over the country on about a two year circuit. As soon as I landed in a new place, I’d be plotting where to move next. I kept myself busy with social engagements, always seeking adventure. And I drank. A lot. For years, these all served as my very dysfunctional emotional bandaids. I was putting all of my energy into pretending I was fine, while internally I was a tornado with deep layers of grief, sadness, turmoil, and anger. Sitting still in a yoga class, focusing on my breath, was forcing me to be present with myself and my emotions. I felt nauseous, and anxious, and I didn’t know how to do that without all of the delicately held together pieces crashing down; I had created an entire life around avoiding that exact thing. But, by the end of the yoga classes, I always felt more centered and more calm than I had ever experienced until then. I wanted to know more. I moved again, this time to Charlottesville, VA. I signed up for a Yoga Teacher Training course at (what was) Opal Yoga, and one of my teachers, the lovely Liz Reynolds, incorporated principles of Ayurveda into the course. And again, I wanted more. At the end of the four month course, I moved to Portland, OR and started a year long Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor program through Kerala Ayurveda Academy. It changed my life. And it continues to change my life, seven years later, always leaving me in awe of it’s beauty, and wisdom, and intelligence.
After the course ended, I moved back to Charlottesville, VA, just a few moths before COVID shut the world down. In 2021, I opened KALA Ayurveda in hopes of creating a space where, through Ayurveda and yoga, people can return to themselves again and again.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Looking back, my two biggest struggles were probably creating my own website, and my stubborn refusal to do smarter marketing. Creating my own website was a master class in patience! It was way out of my skill set. But, I was determined to be the creator so that I could have creative control and autonomy over making changes to the website as the business evolved. So, I did it—slowly, and not without many frustrated groans, sighs, and probable screams. When I first started KALA Ayurveda, I didn’t have much of a social network in town, nor any pre-existing clients, and I knew marketing was going to be my weak point. I took a training course on Instagram marketing, and walked away from the course wanting to use IG even less than I did before taking the course. I knew it would be helpful, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care—it just wasn’t the way that I wanted to interact with the world around me. So, I knew it was going to take time to grow my business, and it did. I was fortunate to be working as a Massage Therapist at an establishment that paid very well, and who was very supportive of my new venture, and all of the constant scheduling changes. I gave myself a two year goal of being fully independent, and it was two years and one month that I was able to quit my part-time job. In that time, KALA Ayurveda grew almost entirely by word-of-mouth. There were definitely times that I wondered if I had made a terrible mistake. And then a client would come in and take my breath away with their story, strength, and perseverance. This continues to happen, repeatedly, constantly, without fail. The people that surround us are incredible! Everyone has a story, and what a beautiful privilege and honor it is to be a part of their experience. I’m constantly inspired and changed by the people who find their way to my space. Charlottesville has offered me a home. She has supported me, held me, and has helped me grow in ways I never could have anticipated when I moved here. For the second time.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
KALA Ayurveda is a boutique wellness space – integrating massage, yoga, and Ayurveda – located in Charlottesville, VA. With Ayurveda as the heartbeat, a wide range of therapeutic offerings can be scheduled tailored to your specific needs. Various body treatments are available, all of which are created to support, nurture, and allow space for rest. This includes many Ayurvedic body treatments (abhyanga, garshana, shirodhara, netra tarpana, hrudaya basti, swedana), as well as more traditional bodywork (Swedish, deep tissue, cupping, hot stone, myofascial release techniques, prenatal, etc.). Reiki and Cranialsacral are also offered, for those seeking more energetic healing.
In addition, one-on-one Ayurvedic consultations offer individualized guidance that help give a more accurate view into your unique blueprint, and a better understanding of how best to understand and approach balance, through an Ayurvedic lens. Ayurveda is an ancient, holistic system of wellness from India that dates back around 5,000 years. It views the body as as whole, with the mind-heart-soul-body intricately interwoven and connected. As an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, my scope of practice is in the preventative realm. In Ayurveda, we view ‘health’ as more than just the absence of disease—but, rather as the dynamic state of harmony between our physical body, mind, senses, and soul. The loss of balance between these aspects of ourselves can be reflected as stress, anxiety, emotional fatigue, and eventually physical symptoms of disease/disorder. Ayurveda is a sister science to yoga, and sessions together incorporate yoga philosophy, breathing exercises, mindfulness tools, customized herbal & dietary recommendations, various seasonal routines, and rejuvenation practices that are tailored to your specific body type (prakruti).
Currently, the only yoga I’m instructing is a workshop called, YoMa that is offered intermittently throughout the year. YoMa is candlelit Restorative Yoga with Thai Massage compressions and guided meditation & body awareness woven throughout, for the ultimate nurture and reset. We end by gathering together in community with herbal tea. I have some plans in the making for day-long Ayurveda and yoga retreats, so stay on the lookout for those! I’m also in the process of starting a small Ayurvedic- inspired skincare line that has been a lot of fun creating. Another project I’m actively working on is a course called, Ayurveda for Yogis that helps offer practical applications on how to weave Ayurveda into your yoga practice. This is something I’ve been excited to share for a while.
What am I most proud of? Always a tricky question! Kala, in Sanskrit, represents the importance of timing in one’s life while also embodying the constant fluidity of change and growth. It really honors the evolution of change, and this looks different for everyone. One of the things I’m most proud of is creating a space where people can show up as they are, without judgement or expectations. Because who am I to judge? We’re all on our own journey, with different peaks and valleys, past experiences, obstacles, and visions. I just hope to be a place where people can rest, restore, and lay down their story and stresses for a moment. Where they can go a little deeper into themselves. A space that holds them in whatever way they need, in that moment. I feel proud of what KALA Ayurveda continues to become, with this as an intention and a guiding light.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Oh goodness, so many lessons! And I know they’re not over. It’s hard to pick one, ‘most important’ lesson. I’m constantly reminded that healing and change take time and tenderness. Layer upon layer. And while it is an inside job, it takes the support and love of community. We need each other. This has been one of my most important lessons. I’ve been stubbornly independent my entire life, and allowing the support of others has been huge. Transformational, actually. Creating this business has been a significant part of my own healing process, and I have grown immensely from this experience. Allowing the support of community has shape-shifted what KALA Ayurveda has become, what it is becoming, and how I personally continue to change and evolve because of the interplay and support of those that surround me. The most important lesson I’ve learned, and give as advice, is don’t do it alone! You have nothing to prove; you’re already whole. Be open to the power of support, it’ll change you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kalaayurveda.com/
- Instagram: @KalaAyurveda_healing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070308699996
- Other: info@KalaAyurveda.com
