Elkins Park Woman Finds Her Career 'Center’

Career transitions are never easy, but consider Elkins Park resident Amy Quigley; she put down her test tubes and Bunsen burner and successfully shifted to a new position teaching yoga. You can find her several days a week teaching yoga classes at the Kokikai Aikido studio near the Elkins Park train station.

So how did this unique metamorphosis take form? For 15 years, Quigley worked diligently as a synthetic organic chemist at Merck Pharmaceuticals. When her position was suddenly eliminated due to a corporate restructuring, Quigley took advantage of her 9-month severance period to explore new options.

Despite the fact that she had a good run at Merck, she never really loved the job. Quigley’s unfortunate unemployment status led to an opportunity to discover a new and more energizing career.

Her journey into yoga began when her husband purchased a 10-class card at a local yoga studio as a gift for Mother’s Day. Quigley went to one class, but didn’t like it at first. With her signature anxious personality, it was a challenge for Quigley to sit down and simply be present. Several months later, her husband bought Quigley another 10-class yoga card for her birthday, which added up to 19 classes paid for in advance. 

“I took that as a sign that he really wanted me to do yoga, so I committed to two days a week, Quigley said . “Pretty soon two days turned into three days, which quickly turned into four days a week.”

Although she was still pondering her future, she followed her passion for yoga and signed up for a training certificate program at the Blue Banyan Yoga studio in Mount Airy.

Quigley wasn’t sure if she wanted to teach since public speaking had always made her nervous. Her life as a chemist was more introverted and didn’t require a lot of socialization, so Quigley questioned her ability to teach yoga.

 “Could I do yoga and get in poses, yes, but I wasn’t sure I could use the right words and describe the poses in a way that people would understand,” she said.

After completing the 200-hour teaching certification program at Banyon, Quigley wasn’t offered a teaching position at the studio. Her ego was deflated at first. A good friend in the neighborhood convinced Quigley that she did have talent and helped her overcome her apprehensions by offering her a chance to teach yoga at her home.

At the same time, Quigley got a part time job at Elcy’s Café at the Glenside train station, which proved to further enhance her confidence.

“It was great because it put me in a social and community environment, and allowed me to come out of my shell,” Quigley said. “I went from making a lot of money to an hourly wage, but it works.”

As she developed her warm and unique style and continued to teach yoga in neighbor’s homes, more and more people showed up. It finally occurred to Quigley to find a larger public space in the community that would accommodate her fans, along with larger class groups. On a whim, she stopped by Kokikai Aikido to inquire about teaching yoga.

Now, Quigley teaches Vinyasa yoga, offering drop-in classes and five- and 10-class cards at reasonable rates at Kokikai Aikido. She also teaches a yoga class at the Abington Club. She said she believes that yoga offers many health benefits, and she especially enjoys the community connection.

“People come to my class, and they get to know each other,” Quigley said. “It builds a feeling of community that I really enjoy.”

When Quigley is not teaching yoga or working at Elcy’s Café, she enjoys spending time doing outdoor activities with her husband, Brian, who is an English teacher at Abington High School, and with her two children, ages 7 and 9.

Quigley’s advice about life transitions:  “Change is hard, but you can benefit if you see it as a learning experience. Try to let go of some material desires, and find more happiness in family and community.”