Karie graduated from Western Carolina University with a doctorate degree in physical therapy. She has been granted certification as a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Women's Health Physical Therapy and enjoys treating men, women and pediatric patients. Her yoga training includes the EmbodiYoga® 230 hour yoga intensive and teacher training program completed in May 2008, and Subtle® Yoga 200 hour yoga intensive and teacher training program in June 2020, and numerous yoga intensives.

Where and when did you complete your training?

I've completed two intensive yoga teacher trainings in North Carolina, the first in 2008, and the next one more recently in 2020.

Is there a particular practice or theory that informs your teaching?

My teaching has been very influenced by what is known as somatic practices. My initial teacher training was based on the work done in Body-Mind Centering® called Embodiyoga, and I've continued learning from a neuroscience-oriented yoga practice called Subtle® Yoga. Both practices have a focus on how you feel in your body while you practice versus a more fitness-based approach. I believe this makes the practices very valuable, as well as accessible for all bodies.

How long have you been practicing?

I took my first class in 1999, so over 20 years.

What is your favorite class to teach?

I love slow, challenging classes that incorporate some form of mindfulness or breath/meditation techniques.

What inspired you to start your personal practice?

Honestly, I struggled for years to have a regular daily personal practice. A few years ago I was introduced to a traditional sequence of movement, breathwork, and meditation which comes from the tantric tradition (which is very logical and organized) and this (versus a more etheric or mysterious approach) resonated with me and I've stuck with it. Yoga is a very practical tool.

What in-class memory warms your heart?

I was in a class years ago. It was a popular flow class with lots of weekly regulars. During the final resting pose, about 5 minutes into deep silence I started to hear a man's voice talking from the front row. And then it sounded like a female voice shushing him. He kept talking to her and eventually she gasped, and all 30 something participants in the room started to look up front at why these two were disturbing our savasana so blatantly. It turns out he had chosen that moment to propose to this women, his girlfriend. The studio was in on the plan but it was such a sweet surprise to her, and the rest of us. A celebration of their love in the same spot they met years earlier in this very Thursday night yoga class!

If there was one thing you could impart to your students, what would it be?

Our bodies have a lot to tell us, especially when we slow down and listen.