Karen Sheingold, RYT, PhD, has practiced yoga since 1990 and has been teaching since 2005, first in Princeton, New Jersey, then in Amherst and South Hadley, MA. For many summers, she taught in Rangeley, Maine. She now teaches year-round in the Portland, ME, area.
As a student, Karen practiced many styles of yoga (Iyengar, Kripalu, Ashtanga). As yoga became an integral part of her life, she was inspired to become a teacher (See blog, “Yoga Becomes Me,” for the story of Karen’s journey.). Through her teacher training with Todd Norian, as well as her studies with many other outstanding teachers, she became deeply committed to using heart-based themes and clear alignment principles in her teaching.
Through hundreds of hours of education beyond that required for her initial certification, Karen has expanded her knowledge of yoga teaching, philosophy and especially of how to use yoga to enhance health and well-being in people of all ages with a range of physical constraints. An older yogi, she has a deep interest in the many ways a consistent yoga practice can help older people stay healthy. She is a certified Yoga for Healthy Aging teacher.
With the pandemic, all of Karen’s yoga teaching became virtual. In winter and spring of 2023, the options included virtual, in person in studio, and hybrid. In summer of 2023 she moved to Maine, and now teaches in the Portland area.
With warmth, humor, clarity and a calm presence, Karen teaches classes that are life-affirming, heart-opening and empowering. She encourages students to explore and appreciate the potential of their hearts, minds and bodies. In her classes, workshops, private sessions and retreats she honors each student.
Karen had a long-term career in educational research. Though her research and yoga teaching professions are very different, they both have at their center her commitment to students’ deep and engaged learning. Becoming a yoga teacher has expanded her understanding of what it means to teach well.
Karen is grateful to the many teachers who have guided, encouraged and inspired her as yoga student and teacher. Special thanks go to Deborah Metzger, Karen’s first teacher, to Todd Norian, whose encouragement, gifted teaching and teacher training enabled Karen to become a yoga teacher, to John Friend, whose elegant system of yoga provided the initial foundation for her teaching, and to her students, who teach her in every moment.
Read an article about Karen in a Pioneer Valley magazine, Hampshire Life.
