Kelsey Dalrymple

I am the child of international development workers and grew up for the first 6 years of my life in sub-Saharan Africa, moving around every two years. I eventually did much of my growing up in Wisconsin, though traveling regularly with my family for holidays and family visits. I earned a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I then became trained as an English language teacher and taught in international schools in Tanzania, Thailand, and Turkey for three years. I taught children from pre-kindergarten through 6th grade. I then earned an M.A. in International Education from George Washington University and became a humanitarian aid worker, primarily delivering education programming in refugee contexts. I most recently earned my Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, again focusing on refugee education. Currently, I continue to consult for humanitarian organizations on education in emergencies programming, while also teaching undergraduate courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I began playing tennis at the age of 3. I come from a long line of tennis players, including my father who briefly played on the pro circuit. Being coached by both my mother and father growing up, I played tennis at various Club Meds throughout my childhood, was trained by various pros in Madison, WI, and regularly attended intensive summer tennis camps throughout my adolescence. I began playing competitively in high school where I competed twice at the state level. I taught children summer tennis lessons through the local YMCA during this time and since then have informally taught family, friends, and colleagues.

I began informally practicing yoga at the age of 16. Over the next few years, I experimented here and there with different elements of yoga that I was able to access through fitness videos. But it wasn’t until much later that yoga became a permanent fixture in my life. In 2018, I had the privilege of participating in a yoga retreat with teacher Shari Hochberg, which allowed me to experience yoga in a way that not only helped bring balance to my body, but also my mind and spirit.

In 2020, I completed my 200-hour YTT certification at the Studio in Madison, WI through Alex Pfeiffer’s 21st Century Yoga on the Mat program (now accessible through Main Street Yoga Center). This training helped to improve my personal yoga practice, and also inspired me to share what I had learned with others. In 2025, I completed Dianne Bondy’s Yoga for Everyone teacher training and the Prison Yoga Project's Trauma-Informed & Mindfulness teacher training to further enrich my practice and teaching. While I teach a variety of classes from slow-flow Vinyasa and Yin styles, to high-intensity Power Flows, to restorative mindfulness-based sessions, my goal is always for my students to listen to their bodies and do what is right for them in the moment, while respecting those around them.

Going forward, I intend to continue my learning around the practice of yoga and plan to earn certifications in pre-natal yoga and children's yoga.