At the same time, she appreciates the beautiful choreography of our yoga community moving and breathing together. Karen considers yoga the ultimate exercise of body, mind and spirit, making it a completely unique and individual effort. Her daughter, Lydia, (now a certified 200 hour RYT with a trauma-conscious certification,) found Bayou Yoga in 2017, and Karen and Lydia accepted the 21 Day Challenge together. She started practicing yoga in 2015 after multiple breast cancer surgeries and chemotherapy left her physically weak and emotionally spent. In her view, our yoga community, affectionately known as Tribe 985, thrives on the love and support we give each other on and off the mat, and this community is what Karen believes makes Bayou Yoga so special. Karen is Bayou Yoga's Director of Client Care, what she calls, 'a fancy title for someone who loves people and loves Bayou Yoga!' Whether it is your first visit or your 100th, you can be sure that Karen will reach out to you to say hello and get to know you better. Kaitey obtained her 200 hour RYT certification in 2017.

When Kaitey is not in the studio, you can find her skateboarding her German Shepherd, paddleboarding, skydiving, backpacking, traveling as much as she can, and all around adventuring. She hopes her deep reverence and gratitude for this practice shines through in her teaching. Kaitey believes in the transformative power of yoga to nourish and heal the mind, body and spirit. Through regular practice, the lessons of presence, connection, equanimity and balance that we cultivate on the mat, begin to extend into daily life. Yoga helped shine a light on my darkened spirit and allowed me to connect with my strength of spirit.” A time for self-reflection and introspection.

“My mat became my life raft- a safe space where I could show up as I was, to move and breathe, and just BE… without expectation or judgment. Once she arrived home, Kaitey established a daily practice and found sanctuary. On a trip out West in 2015, a friend reacquainted her with yoga, and that is where her true journey into healing and yoga began. Yoga found its way back into Kaitey’s life after the sudden loss of her husband. Although a regular practice wasn’t a part of her life at that point in time, the seed was planted. In 2004, while attending college and working as a photographer in Washington DC, Kaitey tried her first power yoga class. Understanding life beyond the yoga mat brings enough seriousness of its own, Elizabeth believes yoga can bring physical and spiritual harmony to our daily lives. Elizabeth’s approach to yoga focuses on the whole, pulling us back to center with asanas integrating strength, movement, and of course, balance-all of which carry over into everyday life. She is certified in power vinyasa yoga, but like many students of this discipline, Elizabeth's practice uses a hybrid of techniques to respond to the individual needs of each class. Yoga offered nourishment where dedicated workouts and a marathon or two failed. Elizabeth quickly discovered that a life of lawyering could be hectic and stressful, depleting the body's energy. So, naturally, as any daughter would do, she did everything to fight it, including graduating from Loyola’s College of Law. With a yogi for a father, Elizabeth grew up in a house where “downward dog” was not reserved for canine discipline but rather spoken in everyday life. Amy loves sharing Tuesday and Thursday night with her Sculpt Squad but when she’s not with her Bayou Yoga family you can find her as a dental hygienist by day, honing in her grill skills, whipping up tasty treats in the kitchen, snuggling with her dogs, and laughing with friends. In January 2020, Amy began leading Yoga Sculpt with energizing music and plenty of jokes and laughter. In November of 2019, Amy completed 200 hour Registered Yoga Training. Amy took that as a sign to begin her next yogi adventure. In July of 2019 Bayou Yoga became in need of Yoga Sculpt instructor. Amy quickly feel in love with Yoga Sculpt, a combination of yoga movements with weight incorporated and small burst of cardio. After meeting fellow instructor Kaitey, Amy signed up for the 21 Day Challenge at Bayou Yoga and from there she was hooked. After moving to Louisiana in 2016, Amy tried out the big designer gyms but got bored easily with the same workout routines and never felt quite at home at these gyms.

Nourish move love yoga sculpt