We have a wonderful new Curvy Yoga teacher this month! I am excited to share them with you! To see a full list of our Curvy Yoga Certified teachers, please click here.
Karen Barker
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I was interested in yoga for about ten years before actually taking my first yoga class. I was afraid to try yoga because i thought my body was not a yoga body. I fell in love with yoga during that first class, and over the years since it has become my joy and passion to share yoga with others — particularly with those who are reluctant to try yoga for the same reasons i once was. I strive to lead classes that are inclusive of everyone present. I offer options for postures so that those brand new to yoga as well as long-time practitioners may benefit. All body sizes, ages, genders, ethnic backgrounds, and abilities are welcome, and it is my goal to make sure students are safe, respected, and have fun!
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I believe there are many people who could benefit from a yoga practice who do not see themselves in the popular images of yoga models. I want people to know that yoga is for every body, and to provide a safe space where they can explore yoga without feeling self-conscious or afraid.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? My classes are gentle, yet challenging, offering options to make each pose accessible to everyone present. One of my students described my teaching style as “an invitation” — I invite people to move into their unique version of each pose, find their own edge, and go deeper or pull back as their body indicates. We take time to notice and honor what our body needs in each moment. No pressure, no expectations!
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I loved learning from Anna’s wisdom and connecting with other teachers, but i believe my favorite part has been what i’ve learned about myself through the process. As a curvy teacher i’ve struggled with my own self-consciousness and insecurities, and this course has helped me use these feelings to create a deeper connection with my students and to view my body size as something to be proud of rather than ashamed of. I feel empowered and i want to pass that feeling on to everyone who takes a class with me.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, Facebook and on Twitter!
Lindsey Porter
Location: Falkirk, Scotland
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. “Keeping me real” that’s my yoga summed up in 3 words. Yoga is my companion. My dynamic practice during the years I worked hard and played hard in the banking world helped me to download and balance. My gentle, restorative practice during pregnancy and early motherhood helped to restore inner harmony. Now, in my 40s my teaching practice encourages deeper self-exploration and inspires me to share and support others. Being able to offer yoga in a real and accessible way is hugely satisfying. My journey continues!
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? To help spread the benefits of feeling more connected with ourselves in a way that explores finding our own version of acceptance, new (rounder) edges and giving ourselves permission to have fun with our practice too – taking our yoga seriously and ourselves lightly in the best way possible!
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? C – curious. You’ll feel encouraged to be curious about how yoga works in your own body
U – understanding. Explore more about yourself from within
R – revealed. Taking an opportunity to be present with yourself through your practice, tuning
in to what is best for you every time you come to your yoga mat/practice.
V – voyage of discovery – feel that you are on it!
Y – yoga and lots of it in many ways 🙂
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I love the various pose analysis that we have gone through, the pencil drawn pics of Anna in poses are so beautifully simple and effective. This along with the style of calling things as they are, no flowery language or ‘beating about the bush’ has helped my journey of bodily acknowledgement and acceptance.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, Facebook and on Twitter!
Mandy Glitzer
Location: State College, PA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I stumbled upon yoga about 15 years ago and was immediately hooked. While I was able to see my yoga postures progress over the years, that isn’t what kept me coming back to my mat. Rather, it was the grounded feeling that I received from practicing yoga. I have the kind of mind that takes something happening in the moment and can see a string of events unravel into what will surely be something horrible two years from now. (Ok, probably not, but my anxiety would have me think otherwise.) When I practice yoga, the “what next, what if” worries, concerns and chatter fade away. Within a year of my first yoga experience, I joined a yoga teacher training program, purely to deepen my own practice and learn everything I could. Little did I know that I indeed would teach, and go on to become a yoga therapist, a yoga studio owner, and now a Yoga Teacher Trainer.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I seek to make yoga classes more approachable to all. To me, yoga is such an inward experience. It isn’t about a picture perfect version of a posture. I mainly teach beginner students and I hear a lot of concerns from people who think they can’t do yoga. They have back problems, they aren’t flexible enough, their bodies are too round, etc. But, that’s the thing – we ALL have something going on. It’s about finding the right experience that works well for your body, and your goals.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? I truly try to meet people where they are. I believe that anyone can do yoga, with the right modifications. I do my best to offer a non-judgemental atmosphere where everyone feels welcome.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My favorite part has been challenging my own edges and continuing my own personal growth.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website and Facebook!
Liz Norell
Location: Sewanee, TN
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. My first experiences with yoga weren’t all that great — my first class was at a gym and, looking back, was probably of the “hot power yoga” variety. I felt completely out of place and only occasionally able to keep up with the rest of the class. Given that inauspicious beginning, it’s a bit of a miracle that I ever came back to the mat at all. But… I did. I’ve been drawn back to my yoga mat for years, because I’ve found that I was able to find myself on the mat. The practice of yoga requires us to listen to our bodies and our minds, and to try to find a closer relationship between the two. My yoga practice now is very much driven by listening to myself and staying present in the moment. That’s what my teaching also aims to bring into the room for my students as well.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I know so many women (and men!) who think yoga is only for the tiny and bendy among us. Honestly, up until about my second teacher training module, I thought that, too! But I knew that yoga could be a powerful tool for anyone. I very much wanted to create a space specifically for those who don’t think of themselves as yogis. The feeling of empowerment we can achieve when we do something we didn’t think we could … I love that feeling, and I want to bring it to others.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? My classes are gentle, playful, and fun. We laugh. We joke. We share. I ask a lot of check-in questions. My goal is to create a space where each student can listen to what his or her body needs without feeling like they need to compare themselves to others or apologize for what they need.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? Meeting the other aspiring yoga teachers was, BY FAR, the biggest blessing of this process. The group of us who assembled to make this journey together was incredibly supportive from the first moments. That experience has shown me what’s possible when people come together and welcome each other without judgment or reservation. I think my experience of yoga teacher training has inspired me to find ways to create similar small groups of women who both practice together and share their lived experiences.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, and on Facebook!
Leila August
Location: Gallatin, TN
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I started attending classes in 2008, when a local studio gave my husband and me a two week pass as a wedding gift. I’ve been hooked ever since. I didn’t start teaching until last year, in an effort to bring an affordable class to the hospital where I work.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Our class may be small, but we have a wide demographic range, from ages 8 to 65+, mostly female, but a few males, beginners and experienced yogis, and a wide range of physical issues including arthritis, joint surgeries, vertigo, and yes weight issues. My teaching partner and I are trying hard to make our classes accessible to everyone.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Long holds, core awareness, and more than a little irreverent silliness.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? The live interaction with Anna, her accessibility, and her oh-so-positive feedback!
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on Facebook!
Arlene Thayer
Location: Hanover, PA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I am a Certified Yoga for All Instructor, Curvy Yoga Certified and have trained at Om My Yoga in Camp Hill, PA. I have a passion for helping people to explore and practice yoga on their own terms. Based upon my own experience, I know that yoga is for EVERY body and I am committed to helping others coming to the mat as they are to live more joyfully and skillfully.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? There is a significant need in my community for yoga class options and approaches that are inclusive of all body types. I personally struggled to figure out how to make poses work for my plus-sized body and want to help make people more comfortable in their practice from the outset.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? That I have walked in their shoes! I know what it is like to walk into a class and feel totally self conscious and wondering how to fit in. My classes are geared to making sure everyone feels comfortable in their practice while keeping things fun and relaxing.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? Learning how many options there truly are for curvy people when it comes to practicing yoga — there truly is something available for everyone!
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website!
Theresa Conroy
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I began practicing while working as a crime reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. I eventually went on to take my 200hr teacher training, leave the paper, open a Yoga studio in Philadelphia and become a Certified Yoga Therapist. Some of my specialties include neurological movement disorders, anxiety, back injuries and non-traditional students.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I am not only a curvier Yoga teacher, but I’m also an older one. I have spent most of my Yoga career dedicated to helping people like myself–what I prefer to call the non-traditional Yoga student or the non-stereotypical–feel comfortable and welcomed in my classes and private sessions. But it’s more than just comfort. Students need to receive the benefits from the practice. At times, that means adapting it or modifying it to better meet the needs of the student. That’s what Yoga Therapy is all about. The principles behind Curvy Yoga complement that desire so well!
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Inclusion, a safe and welcoming atmosphere, acceptance, empathy and humor!
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My background as a professional writer (26 years in journalism!), led me to appreciate the refinement and examination of language in the studio. I enjoyed learning the most inclusive, body positive ways of leading a class, describing the body and creating a welcoming atmosphere.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, Facebook and on Twitter!
Desiree Robinson
Location: Laurel, MD
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. My relationship with yoga has transformed greatly in the past 6 months. I fell in love with Kundilini Yoga back in 2012, and embrace this as a personal practice. It was not until this summer, when taking a restorative yoga workshop, that my brain connected the desire that there is more to yoga that the typical vinyasa flows (that I averted constantly). Restorative yoga taught me the importance of being able to work with people in regards to their attachment to their bodies. As I learned more about teaching yoga, I realized this is something *I* could do, outside of my house…and if I am hidden, who else is in the same space? Why not make that space in my community? That is when I decided I was committed to not only becoming a yoga teacher, but also to being more connected to myself as a woman through my practice. I celebrate Curvy Yoga for showing that yoga is for everyone and I love that it supports my personal mission “to create a world of celebration and understanding for everyBody”.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I want to be a part of the movement allowing individuals to feel comfortable outside of their homes doing yoga. I bring a culturally sensitive and diverse background as a Mental Health Practitioner and Intimacy Coach that allows me to affirm to individual ” you and your practice is more than your asana (pose/posture”). I am so excited to share the tenants of Curvy Yoga at the intersection of mental health, trauma, intimacy and overall well being while also being able to have A LOT of fun in different community and corporate settings.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Classes with me have a variety of themes but people can always expect a great deal of warmth, energy and guidance throughout the class. My YTT (yoga teacher training) class dubbed me the “Knowledgeable Yogi” so keep an eye out for my Yoga, Self-Care and Sensual Wellness workshops in addition to classes!
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My favorite part of the Curvy Yoga certification process was actually trying out the positions in a way that can be more accommodating as opposed to sitting in a resting pose or having my mind wonder in certain positions. I love that I can feel more confident in the work I am doing. This has helped me to reaffirm that I am in charge of my yogic journey and encouraged me to continue the relationship with my own body.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, Facebook and on Twitter!
Barb Schaan
Location: Young, Saskatchewan, Canada
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I took my first yoga class in 2000 in a local town hall and I was hooked. I loved that even though I was not that fit or flexible I felt I could participate fully in the class. I gained confidence, self acceptance, and pure joy at yoga. Living in rural Saskatchewan means that actual yoga studios are few and far between. We get together to practice in town halls, community centres, dance studios, church basements. It doesn’t matter where we gather, just as long as we gather together to practice, encourage each other and share our most positive energy.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I want to bring yoga to my communities that is accessible to everyone regardless of age, size, shape or yoga experience. I want people to know yoga really for every body.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? I bring gentle flow yoga to several communities in a safe and welcoming atmosphere. People of all ages, shapes, sizes and fitness levels are welcome. This relaxed approach to yoga will have you moving and stretching, building flexibility and strength,breathing deeply and smiling both on the inside and the outside. We connect the mind,body, and heart through movement and meditation in a way that works for you and the body you have today. My goal is for you to leave every yoga class feeling better and more relaxed than you came and have a little fun along the way.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I loved the information we received and the message that yoga really is for everyone. We just have to meet our bodies exactly are they are today and celebrate our bodies with self love
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website and on Facebook!
Jac Patio
Location: San Marcos, Ca
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. Yoga has allowed me to become closer to myself by moving my mind out of the way. I walked into my first yoga class lost and afraid, never feeling good enough to do anything. I fell in love with the challenge and the way that it made me feel; the spaciousness it created for me. I never thought in a million years I would be a yoga teacher, especially without the stereotypical yoga body, but it just proves that this practice helps remove judgements so you can become who you are truly meant to.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I think it’s important for people to understand that yoga is for everyone! If you can breath, you can practice yoga. I would love to offer a safe place for people to learn about the practice, no matter what size you are or what stage of life you’re in.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? They can expect a class focused mainly on the breath and spacial awareness. I love to offer modifications, play sounds bowls, and help yogis find a deeper understanding of themselves, even for just an hour.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? Learning new modifications even for myself and my practice! It has been a true treat in my own journey of body awareness and love.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website!
Hema Ganapathy
Location: San Jose, CA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I’ve practiced yoga on and off since my early 20s but it’s only as I’ve gotten a little older that I’ve really started to appreciate yoga and what it can do for my mind, body and spirit. I live in the Silicon Valley in Northern California and spent a lot of my career in high tech working really long hours. I woke up one day and realized that there had to be more to life than just sitting in my cubicle and that’s when I got certified as a yoga teacher with Kripalu 200 hour teacher training. I’ve been teaching for 4 years and it gives me so much pleasure to bring the joy of yoga to my students. I especially want curvier students (both men and women) to feel how powerful and wonderful their bodies can be. My motto is to make you feel more empowered about your body and yourself.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I have a curvier body and for most of my life, I have had a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with my body as I’ve tried to fit in with what my family or media has been telling me about what my body should look like. With yoga, I’ve come to have a deeper appreciation for my body and what it can do and am on the path to self-love. I want to instill self-love in all my students and I think the first step is learning to love your body. Often my students feel so good after completing a series of poses and realize that their body is meant to be move and stretched and loved! Yoga is such a compassionate way to get back in touch with your body and I am passionate about making sure that everyone feels comfortable in my classes.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? I really work hard at fostering an open and loving environment in my classes. The first thing I usually tell my students is that my classes are a “no judgement zone” meaning that I am not judging them and they should not judge themselves. Often we are so hard on ourselves and compare what we are doing to others only to find that we tell ourselves that we don’t measure up. I want to be a positive role model for other curvier students and show them that if I can do the poses, they can too!
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I’ve loved finding a like minded community that is accepting of all body types. It’s really great that so many teachers want to learn to be more sensitive to curvier bodies in their yoga teachings. And of course Anna is awesome!
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, Facebook and on Twitter!
Ashley Alker
Location: Alexandria, VA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. Yoga became a safe place for my body. I came from a competitive environment, and yoga was a place where I didn’t have to be competitive and could just be. I want to create this safe environment for my students where they can cultivate their own yoga practice.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I am excited to share with everyone that bigger people can do yoga! Yoga is so much more than a posture practice. Yoga is about connecting with your body and being a health relationship with yourself: body, mind, and spirit.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Expect to learn “it’s yoga practice, not yoga perfect.” I give variations of postures to suit your body for that moment. Just because you could do the pose a certain way yesterday, doesn’t mean you need to do it the same way today. And expect chair pose!
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My favorite part of the certification process was learning modifications of postures to make them accessible for larger bodies. The techniques I learned work great on my body, and I am excited to share them with others.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on Facebook!
Carina Lyall
Location: Copenhagen, Sealand, Denmark
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I have always really enjoyed my practice, but often felt my body as a hindrance for becoming a ‘real’ yogini. As a teacher mostly felt a little like a fraud. Aren’t you supposed to be skinny teaching yoga, I know that for some students it was an issue and they went elsewhere. But mostly my own relationship to my body kept be from fully embracing the practice. That has shifted a great deal and the Curvy Yoga training did allow me to drop any bits and pieces of that story that still floated around.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Because I know so many women want to try, but feel that this just isn’t for them. Or that they have to look different before they embark on this journey. I want to invite women to experiencing their body just as it is and really seeing how amazing the body is and how yoga feels.
The practice isn’t an exclusive club.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Humor and down to earth practices and lingo. Everyone is welcome and I want them to walk away with the feeling and trust that they belong and are worthy. I really believe that to be true. It isn’t fat vs. skinny but finding the connection to your body, and not cut off at the head. To really sensing being present, even if you don’t look the way you dream of.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? All the aha’s and realizing the inner work I had to do. On a practical level creating the classes and getting creative was a lot of fun as well. Anna is an inspiration and it has been great to get a chance to soak up some of her knowledge.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website and on Facebook!
Bernie Zmitrovich
Location: Hummelstown, PA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. Yoga saved my life! 5 years ago I was doing my morning Yoga in my home before leaving for work as a stressed out hospice nurse. I noticed that something wasn’t quite right. I listened to my body and went to the hospital and received treatment for a stroke. If I wasn’t practicing Yoga and aware of how I was feeling, I wouldn’t be writing this today. In May of 2015, I decided to begin Yoga Teacher Training 200 hours to deepen my Yoga practice. I didn’t plan on teaching, but once we got into it, I knew that I would teach! In June 2016, I became certified and registered as a Yoga teacher, and in July I began to teach! Offers to teach at several venues began to pour in! I am currently teaching Chair Yoga at 3 places, Gentle Flow Yoga at 2 places, Restorative Yoga, and Aqua Yoga at 2 pools! I received my Aqua Yoga certification in August 2016.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? So many people who think they can’t do Yoga or else they have has a not so positive experience with Yoga can benefit from Yoga! I am a Curvy lady, I am living proof that any one can practice Yoga.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? When folks take a class from me, they can expect a compassionate Curvy teacher who provides a safe environment for each student to experience Yoga for their highest good. Modifications and props are provided as needed.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My favorite part of the certification process is finding out how many like minded Yoga teachers are out there. It has been rewarding to communitcate with the other students during the webinars to share information. I am always a student, and I welcome all information that will help my students. I also learn so much from my students! I am honored to be able to share Yoga with all!
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website!
Share the blog!
Tweet: Welcome the new January 2017 @CurvyYoga teachers! — http://bit.ly/2j92IWx
Tweet: Learn more about the newest @CurvyYoga teachers in this blog post – http://bit.ly/2j92IWx