Take yoga off the mat and into the heart.
Return Yoga is a non-profit organization offering community based yoga classes, outreach classes, and deeper courses of study. Karin belongs to the Desikachar lineage, and does not consider āsana to be the whole of yoga. Because there is a lack of depth teachings in contemporary yoga spaces, she does not teach much āsana or provide workout style āsana videos. Instead, she focuses on 1:1 relationships with students who are following their own unfolding path.
This space has nothing to do with certification, Yoga Alliance, or hour long āsana classes.
Join Yoga Club, a Mighty Network, to connect with us. From there, you can join short Vedic chant classes (typically 4-6 weeks) or the longer philosophy courses (next up, Yoga Sūtras book Three, summer 2024). We occasionally host yoga teacher support meetings, or a practice session, or other special events. There is a library of resources available, from video tutorials to class marketing worksheets and some treasures from the Desikachar lineage.
For mental health providers who are yogis, are interested in incorporating yoga, or are yoga curious, Return hosts a once a month peer mentorship group. The hope here is to meet a need: while ‘trauma informed’ trainings and methods are popular, there are problems with certification that are tied into cultural appropriation, gatekeeping, and the whitewashing of Yoga. You do not need a certificate to share yoga. And, no training will make you a ‘credible’ yoga teacher. This group understands the beauty and potential of yoga, and is committed to holding these teachings with the respect they deserve. We are not ‘training’ anyone; but creating a mutual support and accountability network. Please reach out if you would like an invite to this group.
I believe in the raw power of yoga to transform, empower, and return us to a sense of aliveness. But I also think that yoga is exclusive. In studios, yoga is too tone deaf, too expensive, and too intimidating to be of use to those who could most use it. There are studios everywhere, and thousands of yoga teachers who can teach American style, workout based classes. In most cases, yoga is a business.
Not here. Not with me.
“Since leaving the St Cloud area, I have searched high and low for a studio that provides the same soul quenching energy that Karin provides. Nothing so far. Karin is a phenomenal teacher and person. Her way of describing movements and feelings and sensations in unlike anything I have ever experienced.
— Jordan Wolfrum”
Yoga is relationship
“I took a long time to decide where I wanted to study. Living in the Twin Cities area, I had numerous options. However, after discovering Karin’s writings and the integrity of her practice, I knew immediately she was the teacher I wanted to study with. I was thrilled when I found that her studio was only an hour from my home, because I was determined to study with her no matter where in the country Return Yoga was located. I feel so fortunate that we have a gem like Karin right here in Minnesota and am honored to have studied with her.
— Maerin Renee ”
