“The love and light in me honors the love and light in all of you.”
Keryn Hing-Avery closes her yoga classes with this quote three times a week at the Hofstra University Physical Fitness Center.
She currently holds classes every Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, where everything she teaches in the studio is an invitation.
It is encouraged for students to connect with themselves and decide what is best for their wellbeing in the moment, using Hing-Avery as their guide.
“Something that I teach that I also try to practice, which can be tricky sometimes, is this concept of releasing what no longer serves you,” Hing-Avery said. “I find that as I’m teaching it and saying it out loud multiple times a week, it serves as a reminder for me to do the same thing.”
She uses this theory throughout the day, whether she is experiencing negative energy in her personal or professional life.
To educate as many people as possible on the power of breath, her theory about practicing what she teaches is also brought into the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences department, where she occasionally teaches classes as an adjunct professor. She has virtual chair yoga for faculty and staff in the department and introduces yoga practices into her classroom.
“You might catch me at the beginning of any type of academic or clinical class guiding [students] through a meditation before we jump into the academic piece of it,” Hing-Avery said. “If I come in and I can feel the energy in the room, I’ll say ‘Okay, hold on. Close your laptops. Let’s just ground ourselves for a minute.’”
Hing-Avery discovered her passion in the early years of her life, knowing she wanted to help people from an early age.
“When I was in elementary school, I developed Bell’s palsy, so I had one side of my face paralyzed,” she said. “In my experience, other kids were very cruel. When it was all said and done, I remember saying to my mom, ‘Who helps the kids that don’t get better?’”
After this experience, Hing-Avery made it her life goal to advocate for the kids who need help communicating. Her mission expanded to individuals of all ages when she watched her maternal grandmother lose verbal communication after a series of strokes and her paternal grandmother suffer through Parkinson’s disease at an early age.
She began her career working at Lexington School for the Deaf for five years and moved to a public school district in Nassau County for ten years afterwards. At these public schools, she ran group and one-on-one therapy for school age students, working inside the classroom or pulling individuals out of their classes for personal therapy.
Along with being a yoga adjunct instructor, she is a clinical supervisor teaching graduate students how to conduct full speech and language evaluations.
“[This work] is important because in order for anyone, no matter their age, to receive speech language therapy, for whatever reason, you have to conduct a full evaluation so that you know what the diagnosis is in order to develop a good treatment plan,” Hing-Avery said.
Hing-Avery has grown up on and around Hofstra’s campus. She moved into her first dorm when she was 17 to come to the school for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She discovered herself and what her professional pursuits were going to be on campus.
“It is ironic and nostalgic to be an instructor [in the Fitness Center] after spending countless hours practicing there as a member and captain of the nationally ranked Hofstra University Dance Team,” Hing-Avery said.
She continues to work closely with the team today, offering support with mental wellness by implementing yoga for the dancers to practice mindfulness and breathwork.
“Hofstra is home to me,” Hing-Avery said.
