What is your favorite part of being a member of the YCC family? 

In the last 20+ years of teaching I have learned that teaching is not about how much I know, but about what my students each need, and we ALL need love, care, listening and kindness. I love that I get to help my students with their goals; it fills my heart when they tell me about their growth and progress, and I absolutely adore the teachers and staff.

Besides teaching Pilates, how do you spend your time?

I lead wellness and culture retreats all over the world! I love travel and I adore helping people find themselves as they fall in love with another culture. I believe travel and culture builds bridges and we need more of that now than ever. I am also a professional Belly dance and Bollywood dance performer. Over 2 decades of cultural dance performing has helped me gain the cultural knowledge and connections to plan and lead retreats to amazing destinations. 

What to expect in class: Karen's classes are rooted in tradition and informed by modern sports medicine and mindfulness. She understands working one’s way back from injuries, the challenges of making time for oneself, and the difficulties of making good habits last. Karen is passionate about encouraging the mind-body connection, and creating a nurturing, healing, and fun space for her students at their own personal level.

Karen has been teaching many different styles of fitness and movement classes since 1986. For the past two decades at the Yoga Center of Columbia, she has focused on Pilates. After feeling the effects of time and osteoarthritis, Karen developed her specialty Mobility Stretch classes for joint relief and comfortable movement. Karen is available for fitness expert interviews and consultations for journalists as well as public speaking. To contact Karen, email samira@samirashuruk.com