 What brought you to yoga? I have a really good friend who told me she thought I would really enjoy yoga. Not just for the physical benefits but for the spiritual and emotional growth you can experience through it. So she brought me to a yoga class and I loved it! That was about twelve years ago and ever since then, I’ve kept coming back. What is your approach to teaching? I think that if you’re going to plan or build a really good, solid class, you have to first know who your students are and what they need. Even if you don’t know them personally, you have to know what they want out of their practice and build from that foundation. My approach is to come into the moment, notice your breath, have a purpose for breathing, bring movement into your breath, and then practice different poses with the breath - always remembering that the most important thing you’re doing is linking your breath to movement. And then, ending a practice with a really nice, long savasana. Also, I try to give the message that you take the practice out with you in the world. It’s easy to come to a class, practice, then walk out the door and forget about breathing or mindfulness but that’s what I ultimately want to teach, is to use the practice throughout the day. Why did you choose to teach at 5KY? When I met Erin, I really and truly felt some kind of magical connection to this space. Erin taught exactly the way I wanted to practice and the way I wanted to teach. I was impressed with how much she knew, for example the chanting she does. I felt a connection. I felt this was a place that taught the way I’ve always believed in practicing and how great it would be to be a part of this community as a teacher. There’s such a good feeling here. This studio isn’t just the walls and the colors and the props. It’s the energy and the emotions that permeate the space that matter and makes me feel like I’m at a place that fits. What makes your soul sing? Feeling connected to people and to the wider world. My soul sings when I see that other people feel good and are happy. My soul sings when I know there is love out there in the world to be felt and to be given. When you have an opportunity to share that with people, it’s a beautiful thing. You can find Karen at 5KY on Fridays at 10:15 AM.
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 There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. - Rachel Carson I think if yoga were a season, it would be spring. Both the arrival of spring and practicing yoga are regenerative. As more and more research emerges, there is good evidence that yoga and meditation have some anti-aging benefits, such as lowered inflammation, increased gray matter in the brain, and protection for our chromosomes.
Just like spring, this regeneration is not just physical. Yoga (and the arrival of spring) brings profound emotional - even spiritual - regeneration. How do we feel after a yoga class? Lighter, less encumbered by stress, and as if we are seeing everything with new eyes. But one of the things that makes me saddest when talking to some yoga beginners is that they think it’s too late for yoga to have these positive effects on them. That could not be further from the truth. I’ve taught yoga to people of all ages, from 7 weeks old to 77 years old. |
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