About Karen

ABOUT KAREN

“If there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.”

– Chinese Proverb

In this fast paced society, it is easy to become dis-organized and dis-connected. Karen wanted to use all her abilities to bring a sense of order and harmony to the world and share her knowledge to help others feel empowered and make the most of their lives. Karen combined her passion for the calm that yoga brings with the peace that an organized environment invites into one unique business - InnerSpaces by Karen.

Karen was introduced to meditation and yoga as a teen and has continued to deepen her practice over nearly 3 decades. That dedication has helped bring a sense of peace and balance while living in a world that seems to be spinning out of control.

Karen has been teaching in the fitness industry since 1990 and holds many certifications including her 200RYT through Yoga Alliance and is a certified Yoga Ed instructor. She is dedicated to bringing the practice of therapeutic yoga to all populations in a safe format that is rooted in exercise science. Her style is based on being safe and includes many modifications and adaptations. You will learn when to push, when to surrender and when to rest. Her approach focuses on falling in love with yoga and her students love her challenging, ever-changing classes and her upbeat, relaxing style. Karen is also the author of Yoga Bear: Yoga for Youngsters - a children's book published by Northword Press (2004) and Co-Contributor to Yoga in America (2009).

A life-long student of yoga, she has been blessed to have learned from many world renowned yogi masters. Karen takes what is most helpful and meaningful from a vast array of different sources including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara, Power Yoga, Jivamukti, Kundalini, Bikram, and Viniyoga... but her heart belongs to the teachings of Krishnamacharya and her dedication to her mentor Mark Whitwell. Mark is a gifted teacher and she is fortunate to have the experience of the true spirit of yoga and the authentic essence of how it was taught over 100 years ago. Karen is a master of progressive teaching (breaking poses down in a systematic way and teaching series classes that train students to master the actions and the inner attitude to progress in a logical and balanced way over time.)

Karen has donated countless hours to volunteering in her community and worked tirelessly as a Hospice Volunteer for 10 years. She has held positions in small offices as well as Fortune-500 companies that depended on her ability to create and maintain simple systems. She has a proven record of problem solving, paper management, time management, and seeing "the big picture".

Karen also has a home-based photo organizing business where she has trained nearly 200 consultants in addition to working privately with yoga clients from toddlers to teens, athletes to disabled, stay-at-home moms to executives, and several celebrities. Karen KNOWS what chaos looks like!

Organizing has always been a part of Karen's life so she decided to become a NAPO professional organizer. She grew up in an organized household that believed in giving back to the world. Both her parents were actively involved in humanitarian service in their community while raising 3 children and working multiple jobs. Karen learned that everything has a place and everything in its place and that it was important to always leave a place better than you found it! Even without her parent's influence, she was a natural organizer and wanted to do something that would impact the world positively.

Karen can see the order in the chaos, the systems within the mess, the harmony in the disorder, and the potential when everyone else has given up. Her husband calls her a "Visionary Extraordinaire".