Shelle Kuntz - Mountain Song Yoga
RE: Inspired
If you would have told Shelle Kuntz, a few years ago, that at 57 she would start her own yoga company, create retreats and workshops for women and design her own line of essential oils, she would have called you C R A Z Y!
From all appearances, Shelle seemed to live the perfect life.
She was the woman that joyfully volunteered for every event, dutifully tended her gardens, cooked all meals from scratch, worked at a growing company and selflessly put others ahead of herself. She was everything for everybody.
But appearances are deceiving and we all know the perfect life doesn't exist.
Something shifted in Shelle. She was on an endless treadmill going nowhere and needed to find her self again.
Hidden behind the exhaustion and stress, she began to discover her awareness. Through quiet meditation and mindfulness, her true self emerged and she starting saying Yes to her life again.
If there is one person I know who can power out the positive vibes, deflect the negative nellies and master a new version of herself - it's super star Shelle.
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. What's your inner-voice saying to you? Are you ready for a shift during your second adult-hood? Have you ever asked yourself, just maybe, it’s time to make a change and reinvent yourself?
"A woman's past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses. Her own music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself, I mean. We're always trying to persuade ourselves of things "
- Before We Were Yours - Lisa Wingate
Can you describe the moment that you knew your life was going to radically change?
It was in the fall of 2017. I had signed up to take an energy medicine yoga level 1 certification class. It was open to teachers and practitioners who had a pretty steady yoga practice. I talked to Mollie, owner at Yoga Hive because she was my yoga teacher, and I asked her if she thought my practice was enough that I could take this course. I was just super interested in finding more out about energy medicine.
She said absolutely!
It was a four day intensive training, which I loved, and on Day 3 we were doing an Energy Medicine Yoga practice and came to Electric Warrior which was a warrior 2 pose with a movement as if you were shooting an arrow out in front of you.
As we were prepping for this pose, we had already been doing a lot of energy work so I was wide open and Lauren Walker said - “pull your arrow back and I want your arrow to be your intention and I want you to shoot it out into the universe.”
As I pulled the arrow back and shot it forward, I said - “I want to be out of the office.”
Which was odd because at that time I was still happy to be at my current job, at least that’s what I was forcing myself to believe but in reality, I wasn't. My sub conscience was telling me my situation needed to change.
But then I immediately started to back-pedal with these fear based thoughts inside my head - no, no, no I didn’t mean it, I don’t want that, its just not me, etc…but I knew the universe clearly told me to stop. This is me. It is what I needed. It was the realization that my current situation needed to change.
It was over a year - another 16 months - that I did indeed leave my office job.
After this experience, I became fully aware that in this situation I was trying my hardest to make lemonade out of a very sour lemon and no amount of sugar (positive thinking) was going to sweeten the experience.
You’ve mentioned to me before that some of your friends and even family members were not ready to accept this shift in you. Were you surprised?
Yes & No.
Yes, I was surprised just because I’m one of those people that honestly doesn’t think that something will fail. I have such an outrageously positive attitude that I literally manifest things to happen and I know in my heart that it will.
Things happen because my mind makes them happen. If things don’t happen - I don’t look at it as failure but timing. And I move on to Plan B.
And no, I wasn’t surprised because when I started yoga, I had friends and family who thought I was just diving into something else, the next activity.
When I started the teacher training, that’s when some people took a step back, their reaction was part of not fully understanding what I was doing and questioning me.
You’re going to be a yoga teacher? Isn’t that what young, skinny, 20 year olds do?
It’s not my job to convince others to be on board with my changes. It’s my job to just love them and accept them where they are.
Lack of support is really fear of the unknown. I never took it personally; their journey is not my journey. It’s not my job to convince them to be on board with my changes. It’s my job to just love them and accept them where they are.
Where did the idea of MSY originate?
Back in January 2017 - I was taking a six week course offered by Yoga Hive.
My friend Jenny reminded me that during that course, I told everyone that I felt like I was being called to bring generations of women together and to connect them. I felt like that was a missing piece in society. I just put it out there even though I had no idea what that would like but I knew in my heart I needed to bring women together to connect in a meaningful way.
Even before I left my job, I knew I wanted to have a retreat center out of my home. But I didn’t have all the details.
I left my job in January 2019, and a few months later, I began yoga teacher training with Yoga Hive. This school in particular teaches you more of how to be a yogi who happens to teach yoga.
During one of my meditations, the name Mountain Song came to me. It was very appropriate because:
# 1) I love where I live in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. I feel so blessed to call where we live, home.
# 2) I love music, the connection of music and vibration give me so much and ground me.
It was perfect combination and I knew that the words together would be the name of my yoga company.
People don’t realize that Yoga is so much more than the poses that you do on a mat. Yoga is 98% what you do off the mat.
What did you daydream about when you were a kid?
I dreamed about being a teacher. In my adult life, I was always able to share knowledge - whether it was through the church, or as a master gardener, or as a business manager. Ultimately, it all led me to Mountain Song Yoga - teaching my passion for mindfulness and yoga.
What is your favorite thing about your studio or workspace?
I love a cozy, warm atmosphere! I like my space to be totally inviting - somewhere that people WANT to come in for a practice of mindfulness and yoga, for a cup of coffee or tea, sit back, relax, and have a chat.
What have been some of the greatest challenges in your career?
Without a doubt the biggest challenges in my career were the naysayers and the doubters. It doesn't matter which task or job, there are always people who can't get on board. Most of the time, I tried to find time to chat with those people and share more of my vision. When people understand your "why" they're less likely to challenge what you're doing. It also made me become very firm in my convictions for the job.
What’s the saying, “Growth happens through the difficult times”.
I've seen some good growth!
What does success mean to you?
I have always thought that by helping even one person to live a better life is my measure of success.
How do you deal with self doubt or insecurity?
I turn to mindfulness and keep a positive attitude. I meditate to remove the negative self-talk and am a firm believer in "what's in your mind rules your world."
Who or What inspires you?
People who follow their intuition and live their dream/passion. They often overcome big obstacles but work doesn't seem like work when you love what you do!
What advice has been the most helpful in your life?
A very long time ago I was offered the advice of,
“There are always two sides to every issue and multiple ways to live life. Respect and honesty are imperative."
Tell me about a failure that you learned from?
I don't recall that I've had failures. I manifest my life -- people often say that I'm lucky and always have good things happen in my life. I honestly see what should happen and I make up my mind that it will.
I have had plans that didn't work out, but I always have back up plans. I enter into projects and jobs thinking that everything will go just as planned. I think through them before I begin and I'm pretty good at problem solving.
If something doesn’t go as planned, the timing wasn’t right for it!
Tell Me - Why you do What you do?
Yoga and mindfulness really helped me through some chaotic times in my life. Without it, I don't know that I could have come through with grace!
Because someone taught me yoga and mindfulness, it's now up to me to share the lessons, to share the teachings, to share what worked for me.
Do you have a favorite song, book or quote that motivates you?
"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle."
"Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly, and Leave the rest to God."
Name 1 or 2 women who you admire?
I admire women who overcome adversity, who have a positive attitude and a trust in God that their life will turn out just as the universe intends. Those women who push forward and help others even through their own situation may not be good.
If you could look back and give yourself some advice as you were starting out, what would it be?
Don't worry about what others think, do, or say - follow your heart and make a difference in this world.
What one piece of advice would you give to young girls who are trying to navigate their future?
Trust your intuition and don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. There's no sense in holding back - you only have one life to live and never get the moments back again.
Ready to start your Yoga practice? Check out Mountain Song Yoga classes & retreats. Follow Shelle on Instagram
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