Yoga For Every Body  

KAREN CATALANO, M.ED., NCC, RYT, CSYT

Karen has studied and practiced traditional styles of hatha yoga regularly since 1978.  However, after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue in 1994, she struggled with intense chronic pain in her back, neck, and shoulders in spite of her regular yoga practice.  She eventually also developed arthritis in her spine and neck.

After practicing Svaroopa® Yoga for only two months, Karen experienced complete relief from the pain with which she had lived for almost ten years.  The gentle, supported poses of Svaroopa® Yoga not only relieved the chronic, debilitating pain in her back, neck, and shoulders, but also restored a sense of peace and well-being to her life as a whole. 

Karen is a Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher (CSYT) as a result of completing the 600-hour requirement.  She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, the national registry of yoga teachers. Currently she is working toward certification in Svaroopa® Yoga’s Advance Teacher Training Program.  As a Certified Meditation Teacher, Karen periodically offers a Meditation Workshop - check back here on our website for future dates and times for this special class.

Because she has been able to dramatically decrease her pain and increase her energy level, stamina, mental clarity, and vitality through this practice, Karen wants to share Svaroopa with the world! She continues to be inspired by reports from many other Svaroopa students who also experience such positive results from this style of yoga.

A nationally certified professional counselor (NCC), Karen has more than 30 years of experience teaching and counseling students and adults in areas related to stress management, wellness, and maximization of learning skills. Before becoming a Svaroopa® Yoga instructor, Karen worked as a program coordinator, instructor, and counselor at Binghamton University, United States Military Academy at West Point, and Louisiana State University. 

LYNDA DURST-SCHMIDT, RYT

Lynda worked ten years in an Engineering environment before wanting to learn a trade and eventually own her own business.   Because she also wanted the flexibility of giving time to her three wonderful and busy children, she became a licensed Cosmetologist.  Although she enjoyed the personal aspect of that career for nearly 13 years, the physical strain of the job began to take its toll as she experienced constant pain from both carpal tunnel syndrome and neck and shoulder tension.  She also battled the pain of plantar fasciitis from standing all day. When the prescribed wrist supports and orthotics offered minimal relief, Lynda decided to try yoga as a therapeutic release.  

Lynda began studying and teaching traditional styles of yoga in 1997.  Two years later she began attending Svaroopa classes regularly and developed a Svaroopa yoga home practice.   The overwhelming change in Lynda’s physical and mental health proved to be the impetus for her present path of educating others in the benefits of yoga. In 2006 she entered the Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher Training program and in 2007, became a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, the national registry of yoga teachers.  She is continuing her training and study in Svaroopa® Yoga -- working toward the 500-hour Svaroopa Teacher certificate. 

Svaroopa® Yoga has become a way of life for Lynda, and she is excited to share her growing knowledge with you.  Lynda is confident that her students will be able to receive both the physical and emotional benefits Svaroopa® Yoga has to offer.