Karren Perry
Karren discovered yoga in the late 90‘s, she had always been interested in health, fitness and natural therapies. She started to explore the practice of yoga at the suggestion of her osteopath to help relieve sciatica. In the beginning she didn’t attend classes as there didn’t seem to be much around on the northern end of the gold coast. Instead she learnt from a DVD and BKS Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, from this initial self practice she experienced great relief from her sciatica. Karren realized there was something more to be explored with this Yoga.
After some time Karren began to attend regular classes usually once or twice a week. The more she practiced the better she felt. She explored a medley of styles over a number of years including Iyengar, Hatha, Kundalini, Astanga and Bikrim. She also trained in Martial arts for 5 years.
Karren attended her first yoga retreat in 2006, 5 days of yoga in Byron Bay with Sue Hawkins. It was amazing and sealed the deal for her love of yoga. Karren’s passion for yoga was growing, the thirst to learn more about this ancient practice was becoming a priority.
In 2008 Karren completed a 200 hour Level 1 teacher training course with My Health Yoga and began teaching the following year. Her first teaching job was to take over the class where she had been a student for many years. She felt quite honored and taught this class for a further 3 years. In that time she had began practicing Iyengar yoga again, and instantly knew she’d found her niche. She was also teaching another 2 classes a week, these were small private style classes in a natural therapies clinic. This is where she discovered her passion for the therapeutic aspect of yoga, working closely with her students, getting to know them and their particular health conditions. She witnessed so many positive changes in these students over a period of time.
For years Karren was attending up to 5 classes a week, teaching 3 classes, going to workshops, intensives and the occasional retreat, as well as working full time managing a busy restaurant. Feeling that some kind of ‘burn out’ was looming she decided to steer her life in a new direction.
In 2012 Karren packed a bag, gave away all of her material possessions and headed overseas. The plan was to travel, live simply and teach yoga. She accomplished that goal over a 12 month period.
In 2014 Karren resettled on the Gold Coast in beautiful Burleigh Heads, with almost two decades of yoga experience behind her, she felt it was time to make some lifestyle changes, banish some demons, reinvent herself and explore a deeper level of yoga.
In 2015 Karren embarked on a 3 year post graduate diploma in Yoga Therapy with Yoga Therapy Australia, with the most accomplished teacher in this field, Dr N. Chandrasekaran. Karren graduated in 2017 and recieved her certification as a qualified Yoga Therapist after an internship with her teacher in India.
Karren is a dedicated student of yoga, she has a steady daily practice, enjoys studying yoga philosophy, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and vedic chanting. She applies the principles of yoga to her own life, with constant self reflection and the hope to improve the quality of her own life and those of others.
