Her ‘soul’s purpose.’ At Lee’s Summit yoga studio, this ‘tribe’ connects to community

A local business born during the pandemic shutdown is growing and thriving as it seeks to help people create and live a better life through yoga.

“My life would not be what it is without yoga,” said Megan Sevart Culbertson, founder and owner of Megan’s Yoga Tribe in Lee’s Summit. “I experience that a lot here: People show up to yoga in crisis a lot of times. Sometimes I refer to our place as a healing house — physically, mentally and emotionally — because that’s certainly what it was for me.”

The local business owner first began attending yoga classes after having a baby and soon discovered the power of a regular practice.

“It became a work in, not a work out,” she said. “I owned other businesses that were sucking the life out of me, and yoga was the one place I could come to that would quiet my mind. Where I could really tune in and listen to my heart’s desire, listen to my soul’s purpose.”

Culbertson shared that she got into the tanning industry at age 20 and was $1 million in debt by age 21. “I was so ashamed but I was also stuck,” she said.

She sold the business after 15 years and made a promise to never again become involved in anything that was not in alignment with her purpose.

“That business stole 15 years of my life,” she said. “If you knew me 18 years ago, you wouldn’t even recognize me because I was so broken. I was living in such turmoil.”

By the time of the pandemic shutdown in 2020, Culbertson had been practicing yoga for around 14 years and had been teaching yoga for some time. She was also working from home with four young children.

And just when she needed yoga, all the studios were closed.

“I knew people still needed to feel connected and needed yoga,” she said.

Although Culbertson had never used Zoom or Facebook Live, she did have a basement studio and made the decision to provide online yoga classes for free for 60 days during the first months of the shutdown.

“It was something that I knew with all the unknown and the crisis that at least if I could get people to a yoga mat to breathe together, to just connect, to feel peace,” she said.

Megan’s Yoga Tribe operated for its first two years as an online yoga studio with Culbertson adding instructors while considering a physical location. In May 2022, she opened her first studio in downtown Lee’s Summit at 20 S.W. Third St. As the business expanded, Megan’s Yoga Tribe opened a second studio at 611 N.E. Woods Chapel Road in the Lakewood area. A third location opened in 2023 at 622 S.W. Third St. and includes Culbertson’s office, a teacher training school and space for private classes and small workshops.

The business has grown quickly from beginning with five weekly classes in 2020 to currently offering 55 classes — both in studio and via Zoom — taught by Culbertson and a team of 55 instructors.

“‘If you are truly living your purpose and you are serving your purpose, it grows and I think it resonated with people,” she said. “I think my community was ready. We say ‘feel it to heal it’.”

Culbertson credits the rapid expansion to her instructors and the studio’s focus on being authentic.

“The instructors are extraordinary,” she said. “They are passionate and purposeful about what they do. They are here to serve. They’re here to love. They are here to hold space. We’re so much more than yoga.”

Carly Duquette, an instructor at Megan’s Yoga Tribe who also went through the studio’s teacher training, said the studio has helped her find and connect with a community of supportive people.

“We don’t just practice yoga together, we have built relationships and friendships,” Duquette said. “What started out as a way to physically feel better has turned into so much more.”

Megan’s Yoga Tribe emphasizes studios with no judgment or competition while providing a safe space that features trauma-informed teachers.

The Lee’s Summit business has its own Community Cares Program with members helping others facing challenges such as a new baby or a member needing a ride to class. Each studio has a community room that is a part of the business model.

Stanci Soderstrom, who attends classes at the studio, said she and her daughter joined in June 2022 soon after her daughter graduated from college.

“Megan has created this community through her authenticity and deep belief that together we are better,” Soderstrom said. “Our purpose as humans is to put good in the world, and that is exactly what she has done.”

In addition to the yoga classes, Megan’s Yoga Tribe offers teacher training, pilates, barre and zumba as well as workshops, corporate wellness programs, studio facility rental and life/business coaching. Culbertson also organizes yoga retreats throughout the year, held both locally and in locations such as Arizona, Texas and Mexico. For more information, visit the studio’s webpage.

“We’re so much more than yoga,” Culbertson added.