You Never Know Where Your Kindness Goes: Meet Scholarship Recipient Kara Eaks
Cheerleading in middle school was about the extent of Kara Eaks’ early relationship with movement. Wellness, as a practice or a community, wasn't something that found her until later — and when it did, it came with something she hadn't expected.
People who believed in her.
Meeting People Where They Are
Kara brings something quietly powerful into every room she enters: the understanding that everyone is carrying something. That awareness didn't come from a training manual. It came from her own life.
"I feel it gives me more awareness to the fact that everyone is dealing with something, so I'm not alone," she says. "And it gives me a healthy alternative to dealing with stress."
That's the kind of knowing that makes a teacher truly safe to be around — not the kind earned from a textbook, but the kind earned from living. Kara knows what it is to feel behind, to wonder if a space is really for you, to need someone to meet you where you actually are rather than where they wish you were.
Because of that, she can do the same for others.
Teacher training is demanding. It asks you to show up fully — in your body, in your knowledge, in your belief that you belong there. For Kara, the moments that carried her through weren't the curriculum. They were the people.
"When we would practice with each other and having wonderful people support me in class — people that believed in me — that meant the world," she says.
A Goal With Deep Meaning
The Breathe Foundation scholarship wasn't just financial support for Kara. It was permission.
"In some ways I'm able to meet others where they are because I often feel behind," she reflects. "It also allowed me to achieve a goal that has deep meaning in my life. It's a beautiful way to give back to the community."
Equity-based access doesn't just open a door. It says: your growth matters here. Your goals are worth investing in. For someone who had rarely experienced that kind of investment, the scholarship landed as both resource and affirmation.
Where She's Going
Kara's vision for her teaching is personal and purposeful. She wants to offer events for domestic violence survivors — bringing movement and community to people who need a safe place to land. She wants to host fundraisers for dog rescues. She's even keeping an eye on the bigger horizon — maybe one day be part of the franchise — with the kind of humble, open-hearted ambition that tends to quietly move mountains.
What ties it all together is her understanding of what yoga actually is. Not a workout. Not a performance. A place where people can come as they are, be held, and leave a little more whole.
"You never know who has struggled or is struggling. You could change someone's life and it could create a domino effect. You never know where your kindness goes — and that's beautiful."
DONATE TO THE BREATHE FOUNDATION →
The Breathe Foundation, by The Hot Room, provides equity-based scholarships for BIPOC individuals, LGBTQIA+ community members, people from low-income households, individuals with disabilities, and those who have experienced trauma or adversity — because representation in wellness isn't optional. It's the mission.