Kara Keating has always felt a desire to help people facing illness.
She has seen her fair share of suffering. In 1998, soon after opening her Arlington business, Movement Arts yoga studio, Keating discovered that she was facing a second episode with a brain tumor. She closed her business for several months and traveled to North Carolina for surgery. At the time, there was only one neurosurgeon in the United States who would attempt the difficult task of removing a tumor that was wrapped around her carotid artery.
“It was touch and go,” Keating said.
“I really had to let go and be ready to die.”
Now Keating is offering a special four-week class April 13 – May 4 for people dealing with serious illness, both chronic and life-threatening. She will guide students in exploring different strategies, from discussion and yoga to sound and breath work, and hands-on healing techniques as well.
Keating has been teaching yoga for more than ten years.
Using her own background of living with serious illness, she designed this class to help others who are facing difficult decisions and emotions.
The surgery was successful. After six months of double vision in one eye and getting her strength back through yoga, her Movement Arts yoga studio re-opened and celebrated its tenth year in business recently.
The brain surgery was not all that she faced. In 2005 she was diagnosed with Addison’s disease, a potentially fatal auto-immune disease that must be treated daily with several medications.
Due to the lack of health insurance, she was not seeing a doctor at the time, and her symptoms had her slowly wasting away.
“It was another brush with death,” she said.
For Keating, it’s a puzzle, why she has experience so much illness, since she practices a very healthy lifestyle.
“It is difficult to face those who ask why I have these problems even when I practice yoga and eat right.”
Her answer is that without these practices, she would most likely not have made it this far.
“The important thing is, how I am dealing with it to stay as healthy as I can for as long as I can.”
Keating has two teenage daughters, one in college and one in high school, and she wants to be here for them, as well as for her yoga students in Arlington and Camano Island.
Lately, she has been seeing more people show up at her studio with diseases like MS and cancer.
While all the classes at Movement Arts can help, she said, she decided to offer this free class as a way of giving back to the community.
“I hope to offer this class several times a year, and through it, facilitate a deeper experience of healing for those who need it. As we heal ourselves, we also heal each other. “
The free class is limited to ten participants on a first come first served basis. It runs on Mondays from 5:45 – 6:45 p.m. April 13 to May 4 in the Big Red Barn on 204th Street near Island Crossing.
To reserve a space in the class, call 360-435-7193, or e-mail to kara@movementarts.com.
Keating also serves the public by helping plan the entertainment schedule for the Arlington Street Fair, along with MaryRose Denton, of Denton Wellness Center, and they have announced a call for talent for that event. The street fair is July 10 – 12 this year, and they are looking for musicians, magicians, story tellers, clowns, jugglers, actors, dancers, acrobats, and others who wish to share their talents with the local community. For information call 360-435-7193, or e-mail to kara@movementarts.com.
Movement arts will also be at several other events coming up:
• Cascade Valley Health Fair, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. April 18 at Arlington High School
• Women’s Expo at Camano Senior & Community Center, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., booth, possible demo or class.
