Dorcas Quynn McWilliams is a true Fredericktonian and there’s no doubt about it. “I was born in Frederick to a John Quynn and there has been a John Quynn in Frederick for the past two hundred fifty years. So my roots run quite deep in Frederick.”
Her Mom, on the other hand, was “sort of plucked from the beaches of Southern California.” But, Dorcas grew up in Frederick and feels a very strong connection to the community.
The family traveled extensively due to John Quynn’s entrepreneurial interests. His being a land developer who was into real estate “took us to so many places.” And, there were a lot of “non-traditional living experiences.”
For example, Dorcas recalls living in an Airstream travel trailer “long before tiny houses were cool” as her father developed sixty acres of land off Reels Mill Road.
She admits there was a time when she thought Frederick was “too small and closed-minded” and she wanted to be elsewhere. That perception turned around after “meeting a boy, falling in love and traveling around the world.”
Frederick was “the perfect place to live and to raise a family.” Three kids and a home on 5th Street later, Dorcas has created her own local roots. “I started a couple businesses, bought properties and just did what I’ve always known in my family.”
In her spare time, she enjoys anything pertaining to yoga and spending time with friends and family. She also likes to think of new ways to build community.
She’s now living in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, running her Frederick business, Sol Yoga, remotely. “My two worlds are very anchored in Frederick.”
Yoga Is A Return To Your Natural State
“Yoga has been around for thousands of years. The expanded view of yoga is that it’s a return to your natural state. It’s this state of bliss and connection to yourself and the natural world around you.”
“In America alone, there are 38 million people practicing yoga and I can see why.”
* Yoga is about being in a harmonious state with yourself and the environment.
* There’s a deeper understanding of those values in life that make you happy; that bring you balance.
* There are deeper community connections.
* There’s less individualism and less separateness.
* There’s a lot more connection with nature, ploughing the Earth and praying.
* It’s noticing the sun is rising.
Serendipity, Synchronicity & The Birth of Sol Yoga
Dorcas had already been practicing yoga for a number of years. It all started at Inchworm Yoga. She spent three years there, became a teacher and was fully steeped in the experience and in the community. Then, the studio was suddenly closed.
“I was sort of lost, in a sense, and felt a little bit abandoned.” Where was she going to practice? What about her students? “It inspired this inquiry into what’s next.”
The requirements for teaching and practicing yoga are minimal. “It just requires a space for people to gather, throw their mats on the floor and do their thing.”
Dorcas happened to be in real estate at the time. And, she happened to be working at McIntosh Realty. And she happened to casually ask a fellow commercial agent, Ken, if he knew of any yoga spaces that might be available. Yes. Yes, he did.
The ideal space just happened to be two tiny flights up from her office at McIntosh! It was an old two-bedroom apartment that had stood vacant for years. It happened to be the perfect space and it also just happened to be available.
So, in 2005, Sol Yoga was born!
The Biggest Challenge Of Owning & Growing Sol Yoga
“Because this is a business of passion and the business of yoga, there are some inherent conflicts there. Yoga is ultimately a transformational process that reveals layers of yourself and takes you deeper into connection with your physical body — connection with your clarity of mind.”
Over the past twenty years, Dorcas has become fully immersed in the practice of yoga. It has become a part of her. “Its not something separate. It’s not that I go to work and do yoga.”
Dorcas continues, “Taking on the values of that doesn’t always line up with modern day Western-world business principles of making money and forward movement — thinking about things from a money perspective.
“It was never meant to be monetized. So, there are conflicts there that make it very challenging and it’s one of my biggest challenges because I really intend to be authentic in my yoga practice.”
A second challenge is virtual communication. “Even just in the past ten years, the increase of e-mail and text and the move away from personal live connections has really influenced — and on some levels, threatened and deteriorated — relationships.”
Dorcas is very conscious of being 8,000 miles away and unable to give a handshake or share a beer or a hug. It keeps her very mindful of her communication, “especially when it’s virtual.”
Advice Dorcas Would Give Herself If She Could Go Back To The Beginning
“Production over perfection. Instead of being hung up on perfection, just roll it out. Whatever it is. A piece of writing. A program plan. Or just a little marketing piece or a phone call.
“Just roll it out without that hangup of ‘it’s got to be perfect.’ Go for it!”
Lifetime Memberships Confirm The Difference Sol Yoga Makes In Lives
Dorcas notes that Sol Yoga has been around for more than a decade now. A few years ago, the studio began offering lifetime memberships. The moment people said yes to that, it showed they were dedicated and committed. “That is only a result of something that’s effective.
“The practice is effective. It’s impacted them in such a way that they’re willing to commit to a lifetime relationship with this community. That is so powerful! And, it extend to the staff as well.”
Dorcas sees the needle moving because of yoga. “People’s lives are changing because their nervous systems are relaxed. Because they’re more mindful. Because they’ve been practicing yoga now for a number of years.
“And, that job that they were in that they hated? They found the stability and the courage to get out of it. And, it’s largely related to this thing that they do called yoga.”
The Resources That Keep Sol Yoga Running From New Caledonia
* Vonage
“When we moved from Frederick to Caledonia, I had a cell phone number that I’ve had for eons. My husband converted that number to a Vonage number. Now, that number rings right in my living room.
“So, when anyone calls me on that old number I had for decades in Frederick, it rings right in my living room in New Caledonia. And, people have no idea and it doesn’t matter.”
Of course, this means that sometimes the phone will ring in the middle of the night because that’s the middle of the day in Frederick. “But, Vonage is really whats made this possible. It’s reliable and it’s a good connection.”
“I started it three years ago when we left. I would not say that I’m a social media person. I would not categorize myself as someone who wants to sit on my phone all day. But, it has been a beautiful, simple, easy way to stay connected with people that I love and people that I just meet.
“For me, I love beautiful things and photography. It’s been a nice way to marry an old hobby with something useful — staying connected.”
Dorcas Shares The Long & The Short Of It With Two Quotes
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson
“Fear and faith cannot exist together.” – Rudy Quynn, ex-Navy Seal
Stop in at a Sol Yoga studio today to embark on an incredible journey back to your natural state. Three locations make it so easy to do!
256 West Patrick Street,
Unit #4, Frederick MD
Sol Yoga at The Grand
20 W. Washington Street
Hagerstown, MD
52 West Main Street,
New Market, MD
Sol.yoga
dorcas@solyoga.org
877.SOL.YOGA
Contents Provided by Frederick Advice Givers Podcast Episode #102: Eric Verid Interviews Dorcas Quynn McWilliams
