Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Moss.
Hi Karen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started walking down the yoga path in 2000 while training with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training for the Chicago Marathon, which I ran in memory of my father who died from Lymphoma in 1999. Prior to my father’s passing, I taught group and personal exercise lessons in a gymnasium located behind our house. I unintentionally stumbled upon yoga when earning CEC credits to recertify myself with ACE (American Council on Exercise). The yoga experience was profoundly transformational on both an emotional and physical level.
Yoga nourished my brain and uplifted my broken heart, hence reviving me after the devastating loss of my beloved father. Physically, it kept me injury-free before, during, and long after running the grueling 26.2 miles. It is often said that a personal crisis can be a gift to a spiritual awakening, which was the case with me. Yoga ignited a new spark of purpose and rejuvenation that ultimately led me to light a path for others to travel.
Decades prior to opening Better Bodies Yoga, my father wanted to purchase three houses on Brookhaven Circle, because he believed that one day the residential circle would eventually turn commercial, which it did. My dad purchased one house on East Brookhaven where my parents opened a successful jewelry store after selling their five Midas Muffler Shops, called “Sylvia Kirschner -Your Personal Jeweler.” In 2004, my husband encouraged me to open a yoga studio on Brookhaven Circle, and that was how Better Bodies Yoga came into being.
I knew that opening a yoga studio on the same street as my parent’s jewelry store, and a Midas Muffler Shop under new ownership wasn’t just a coincidence. I threw 18 cents, (eighteen is considered a special number in Jewish culture because it is the numerical value of the Hebrew word chai, meaning “life”), into the foundation, and as we say in Hebrew it was “ Bereshet,” “meant to be,” and in Sanskrit, it was my “Dharma,” life’s purpose.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Embarking on a yoga journey is not a promise of pure joy, unfortunately, it is still a business. It has been a personal, intimate experience with much effort, energy, and hard work.
There have been too many high highs and lows to count, but every obstacle, every amazing adventure, and every encounter during these last 18 years have been illuminating. When I am practicing and teaching, yoga continues to guide me with grace through the not so joyful moments of entrepreneurship.
I find joy in life’s most subtle treasures; my blessings, my family, my dear friends, my health, and in what I CAN do instead of what I cannot make the world a better place than how I found it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My professional life is my career. I am not the same teacher I was when I opened Better Bodies Yoga in 2004. In my opinion, success and longevity depend on personal and professional perseverance, growth, and adaptability. I learned rather quickly that dealing with the public in a service-oriented manner requires balancing a multitude of elements at the same time to make it work, such as placing instructors in positions to succeed.
I never anticipated the studio would grow into three buildings, be open seven days a week, and employ over 20 instructors and staff, but it did. We have a solid teaching staff to show for our efforts with yoga for every level and style of yoga. I use all the brains I have, and anyone else’s I can borrow!
Fortunately, my yoga education and certifications have been extensive and varied, which enabled me to teach yoga to a wide variety of students and lineages in and outside of the studio. When my mother had a stroke in her spine, I was drawn to learning more about anatomy and physiology, which subsequently led me to discover my teaching strengths and a passion for teaching Therapeutic Yoga. In 2017, I earned the C-IAYT Therapeutic Yoga Teacher status.
Training and Certifications Completed, TEACHER TRAINING
1. ACE Certified Group Instructor: 1995 and current with CEC’s every 2 years thereafter
2. Yoga West TT / Cathy Plato & Eddie Guerrera: 200 hours: January 2005
3. YogaWorks TT / Jeanmarie Paiello: 200 hours: January to June 2008
4. Bryan Legere / Yoga Wall TT: 18 hours: August 2008
5. Judith Hansen Lassater / Yoga Therapeutics: 20 hours each: January 2009 and 2017
6. Duke Integrative Medicine/ Senior Therapeutics / Carol Krucoff & Kimberly Carson: 60 hours: Nov. 2009
7. Himalayan Institute: Dr. Rolf Sovik, Shari Friedrichsen, Sandra Anderson, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD: 500 hour: 2010
8. David Swenson & Shelley Washington: Ashtanga Yoga Primary and Intermediate TT / 120 hours: August & October 2011
9. MD Anderson: Cancer Conference and Training for Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists, and Yoga Instructors: 20 hours: July 18-20, 2011: Speakers, Teachers, and Presenter
10. Annie Carpenter’s Smartflow 200-hour TT certification: 2014
11. Smartflow Advanced TT: 100-hours: 2015 / Annie Carpenter, Rachel Sellars, Leslie Kazadi
12. Reflexology Certification: Brighton School of Massage: Andrew Jang (included in the following training)
13. Therapeutic TuiNa Massage Certification: Brighton School of Massage: Andrew Jang: 500 hours: 2015
14. YogaWorks TT / Jodie Rufty: 200 hours: January to May 2018
15. LoveYourBrain TT Certification: 25 hours: October 2019
16. Memory Maintenance TT: Liz Hefferman and 20 hours: August 2020
17. IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists)
18. SME (subject matter expert) for IAYT: a selective committee to formulate yoga therapeutic test.
What are your plans for the future?
To provide a continued source of health and wellbeing to our community for many years to come. Planning a 300-hrs Yoga Alliance teacher training program.
Pricing:
- New Student Special: 30 days for $40 unlimited yoga plus 1 salt relaxation session
- New Student Special: 30 days for $99 unlimited yoga and unlimited salt relaxation
Contact Info:
- Email: info@betterbodiesyoga.com
- Website: betterbodiesyoga.com
- Instagram: @betterbodiesyoga
- Facebook: Better Bodies Yoga
BBY salt cave, Memphis,TN
