Over the past 15 years, Dennis Kelly has helped bring yoga and meditation into the mainstream in Des Moines. He has created and led popular community programs like Yoga in the Park and Meditation Around Town.
Writer: Lily Allen-Dueñas
Photographer: Duane Tinkey
Over the years, Dennis Kelly’s vision has brought a breath of fresh air to mental health awareness in Des Moines. As the founder of the city’s beloved Yoga in the Park program, Meditation Around Town and the innovative Yoga in Nature series at Brenton Arboretum, he has championed the transformative power of yoga and meditation, especially outdoors.
He recently discussed his passion for these practices and explained how they can change lives. The following conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
What first drew you to yoga and meditation?
I worked for John Deere in the Quad Cities, where I met a family from Kolkata, India. This meeting proved the saying true: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” As I went through my own journey of self-discovery and released old patterns, teachers would appear at the right place and the right time to take me to my next level of awareness and consciousness. Indira, from this family from Kolkata, became my yoga instructor. When I was transferred to Des Moines, she encouraged me to teach yoga, saying, “Go teach.” While I don’t hold any formal yoga certifications, I carry the blessing from my teacher, and that is all I need.
You’ve founded several inspirational programs. Could you tell us more about them?
Over 15 years ago, I started Yoga in the Park, inspired by a similar event I attended in Chicago. I launched the program with the help of Des Moines Parks and Rec. I organized classes every Saturday at Gray’s Lake for a decade before the city took it over. Similarly, I created Meditation Around Town, which meets monthly, has visited over 50 community locations and recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. All the programs are free and self-funded.
What’s your philosophy toward yoga and meditation? How do they influence overall health?
We are beginning to understand the connections between the physical, mental and emotional aspects of our being. Louise Hay, a pioneer in this field, highlighted how physical ailments, like knee issues, can reflect emotional challenges, such as fear of moving forward. My philosophy centers on the idea that we are all just energy. Any distortion — fear, anxiety, drama or trauma — can disrupt our energetic field and throw us out of balance. I practice yoga and teach yoga in nature because nature is the healing clinic of the future. I firmly believe that doing meditation and yoga in nature is a critical part of the healthy living equation.
So what are some of the benefits?
Yoga and meditation can have amazing benefits for our human bodies, including lower blood pressure, improved blood circulation, enhanced mental activity and reduced stress. We’re fortunate that today we have yoga and meditation, tools that provide a sense of reassurance that we are OK. Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had to endure a world filled with trauma, fear and anxiety and often did not use these tools. These practices lead to a quieter mind, better relationships and healthier lives with less disease, more energy and a more positive overall experience.
Do you have any tips for someone just getting into yoga and meditation?
Begin exactly where you are and be honest with yourself. Are you excited to wake up each morning? Out of the stillness, out of the silence come the answers. You may have no clue what the answers are. You have to trust without knowing.
If someone is hesitant to try yoga or meditation, what advice would you give them?
Explore online yoga and meditation resources, as well as local classes. Many apps offer short meditations. Start with just one minute of quiet sitting. You likely will find this challenging and it could reveal a busy “monkey mind” that keeps you from enjoying life or fills you with anxiety. This realization might show you how much you’re caught up in the past or anxious about the future, preventing you from living in the present moment. Remember, life often seems complicated, like a competitive survival game, but when you start to sift through that noise, you realize that life is what you make of it, and that you are more than you might currently see. Once you embrace this, everything changes.
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