11:11 Yoga provides a space for locals to heal the mind, body, and soul.

For Darcy Smith, owner and creator of 11:11 Yoga, yoga has many functions. It is a tool, a source of community, a light to guide a person through the darkness of grief, and even mind control.

Darcy opened 11:11 Yoga in May of 2021 after the tragic death of her husband, Jasen Smith. The couple were leaving a concert at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater when Jasen was struck by a chair thrown by an employee. He died from the blow to the head, leaving Darcy to raise their two 10-year-old boys alone. Thankfully, five years before Jasen’s death, nine years into their marriage, Darcy started yoga and found that it helped build both mental and physical strength.

“You gotta build strength in your mind just like you have to build strength in the body,” she says.

Despite living through tragic circumstances, Darcy feels gratitude for all the close deaths she has experienced. One of Darcy’s most difficult experiences with grief came after the death of her mom at 20 years old.

“I am thankful for all the close deaths I went through because it helped me maneuver Jasen’s death; it helped me help my kids,” Darcy says. “It helped me teach them how to carry anger, helped me walk them through sad moments, helped let them cry, and helped me teach them how to be happy and not feel guilty.”

While working as an instructor of yoga for the last 10 years, Darcy has also been able help students walk through various painful experiences.

“I am no guru,” she says. “I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve just been through a lot of stuff, and I want to help people walk through painful stages.”

According to Darcy, yoga helps the person practicing remember they are in control of their emotions and to be the captain of their own ship.

The years after Jasen’s death were not easy years for Darcy and her boys. They grieved while living in isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic. Darcy learned how to parent on her own, and she missed the strength she felt within her yoga community.

“I stayed home with the boys for two solid years after Jasen died,” Darcy says. “We needed to get all our roots back in the ground. It was devastating. I wasn’t practicing during that time, but people reminded me everywhere I went. They’d ask, ‘Are you going to teach again? Are you going to teach again?’”

There was no yoga studio to practice at during that time. There were various gyms and the YMCA, but they weren’t the same. Darcy thought if she could find a simple, small location that could maintain itself, she could open her own studio.

11:11 Yoga had a soft opening on May 11, 2021. The grand opening on May 15 was the same date that Jasen was hit.

“It felt like a way to move forward,” Darcy says. However, Darcy is adamant that 11:11 Yoga would not be financially possible without Jasen.

“Every time I go see Jasen at his grave, I say thank you,” Darcy says.

The studio’s name is in honor of Jasen, and one striking portrait of him in virabhadrasana two (warrior two pose) can be seen hanging on the wall of the studio.

“Jason and I used to say, ‘11:11, make a wish,’” Darcy says. “After he died, I kept seeing it everywhere. There were so many connections to the number 11 that kept appearing.”

Darcy credits the community in aiding her through grief.

“The people here think they need me. The truth is, I need them more,” Darcy says.

Many of the individuals practicing at the 11:11 Yoga studio have known each other since Darcy taught at Wilson’s Studio on Dunklin. Her co-instructor at the studio, MJ, has been with her since the beginning; and Erica always subs for classes when Darcy needs her to. Though Darcy owns 11:11 Yoga, she does not view herself as a business owner.

“This is not a business to me,” she says. “I pay the bills, and I go on. This is a community. I don’t look at this space as mine. I look at it as ours.”

For those interested in practicing, Darcy welcomes everyone with open arms, regardless of who they are.