KAREN SANCHUK

While traveling in India in 1999, Karen and her partner met a couple who had just spent time at a Yoga ashram, claiming it had changed their lives. Already curious about Yoga (and not having any plans that sounded better than that!), they found their way to a Sivananda center. She was hooked.

Karen earned her teacher certification in March, 2004. She has studied various forms of Yoga, including Jivamukti, Sivananda, and Tibetan Heart Yoga and has also completed a 108-hour Anusara Immersion. Agama Yoga has been her primary practice since she discovered it in 2008, where she continues her in-depth studies of traditional Yoga and meditation under the tutelage of Swami Vivekananda Saraswati and Sahajananda.

Karen became a teacher in order to inspire others to discover and practice Yoga. To Karen, Yoga is much more than the asanas. “As my practice progressed, I began to realize how its effects trickled into the rest of my life. I’m gradually coming to understand things like the beauty of stillness and acceptance, the importance of kindness and letting go, and to indulge my ever-growing curiosity to find the Truth.”

She is grateful to all her teachers, especially Swami Vivekananda, for allowing her to pass these wonderful teachings on to others. And of course, she is eternally thankful to that couple in that dusty diner in Delhi.