MindBodyGreen Contributor
Karen Fabian

Karen Fabian is a Certified Baptiste Power Yoga Teacher and an ERYT 200 HR with Yoga Alliance. She is the founder of Bare Bones Yoga, her yoga company based in Boston. Karen has her Master's in Health Care Administration, her undergraduate degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and has a 25-year corporate background in a variety of healthcare and software company settings. She teaches both adults and children and is the creator of Women's Wellness Groups, her approach to providing yoga, meditation and wellness information to women. Her instructional DVD, "Bare Bones Yoga: Keeping Yoga Simple" is available on Amazon. She writes a weekly wellness column for charlestownpatch.com and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and on her website.


05.15.12 01:35 PM
5 Things You Should Ask Yourself About Your Yoga Teaching Career

One of the modules in my Teacher Mentorship Program, Resume Creation and Marketing, helps teachers...More»

05.07.12 02:00 PM
11 Tips for Finding & Booking Corporate Yoga Classes

I’ve spent a large part of this week confirming the payment details for a new series of classes I’ll be...More»

04.27.12 03:00 PM
10 Tips for Teaching Yoga in a Corporate Setting

One of the wonderful things about yoga in today’s modern world is that it has made its way out of the studios and is taught in a...More»

04.16.12 03:40 PM
4 Themes to Build Into Your Yoga Class

While many yoga teachers stick to a fairly regular sequence from class to class, there are...More»

04.07.12 10:00 AM
8 Most Common Questions from Yoga Beginners

When new students come to yoga class, they have a number of questions. The experience can be overwhelming for a...More»

03.30.12 10:00 AM
Top Questions Asked by New Yoga Teachers: Part II

Last week, in my article "Top Questions asked by New Yoga Teachers - Part I," we reviewed five common questions asked...More»

03.23.12 10:40 AM
Top Questions Asked by New Yoga Teachers: Part I

I love working with new yoga teachers. I remember when I was in teacher training, everything was so new and unknown. It was helpful to...More»

03.16.12 10:40 AM
8 Signs You're in a Yoga Teaching Rut & How to Get Out of It

When you start teaching yoga, it's pure joy. Everything is new and even though you're...More»

03.08.12 11:00 AM
10 Challenges You May Face as a Yoga Teacher

Before I started teaching yoga full-time back in 2003, I was working in a corporate job. I had gone to two teacher trainings and was...More»

03.02.12 10:25 AM
10 Tips About Money for Yoga Teachers

As an independent yoga teacher with my own business, I do a number of different things each day. The biggest thing is the...More»

02.24.12 10:40 AM
10 Ways to Exude Confidence as a Yoga Teacher (Especially When You're Nervous)

When I was in teacher training, we'd practice teach to the group. The group consisted of around...More»

02.16.12 10:45 AM
4 Fears You Might Experience Teaching Yoga

Feeling fear when teaching yoga is nothing new. One of the personal challenges you may experience as a yoga teacher is being faced with self-doubt and...More»

02.08.12 11:15 AM
10 Steps to Take Before Teaching Your First Yoga Class

With the large number of yoga teacher training programs out there, many people are graduating from training each month. I met a recent...More»

02.03.12 11:35 AM
5 Things to Ask Yoga Teacher Colleagues

When I was a new yoga teacher, one of the biggest challenges was finding time to spend with my fellow teachers...More»

01.25.12 12:20 PM
5 Tips for Yoga Sequencing

When I was a new yoga teacher, I had a lot on my mind: alignment, instruction, room temperature, offering modifications, building connection with my...More»

01.19.12 02:20 PM
7 Tips for Teaching Yoga to Beginners

Now that we're in the middle of January, yoga teachers are seeing beginners regularly showing up in class. This is a great time for them, as they gain a little traction in terms of regular attendance, start to feel more solid in their...More»

01.13.12 12:00 PM
5 Teaching Tips for Keeping Yoga Safe

As teachers and students, we have an intention to practice yoga safely. Whether you call it "mindfulness" or "practicing with compassion," the underlying idea is that we wish to be...More»

01.05.12 12:55 PM
10 Tips for Working with Yoga Beginners

We're seeing lots of new students in our classes these days, excited about starting a yoga practice. While there are usually lots of articles out this time of year about "How to start a Yoga Practice," they are geared towards the student. As teachers, it's helpful to...More»

12.29.11 01:00 PM
Effective Language for Yoga Teaching

As teachers, we often speak the desired actions for a yoga pose from a variety of perspectives: 1) how the pose feels in our own bodies; 2) how we've been taught; 3) the desired action we wish to see; 4) what we have...More»

12.20.11 03:05 PM
10 Tips for Teaching Yoga Private Lessons

As a new yoga student I took a private session from one of the senior teachers at my local studio. She was an excellent teacher; one that I admired greatly. I arrived at her...More»

12.12.11 01:15 PM
Covering a Yoga Class? 5 Tips to Keep in Mind

I was covering a yoga class once and on really short notice. Something had come up for the teacher and I was able to cover. It was on such short notice, the website of the studio could not be adjusted to indicate the change. I walked in and immediately one of the students jumped off her mat, out to the front desk and said...More»

12.05.11 01:00 PM
5 Personal Experiences to Use for Teaching Yoga

When I was a new teacher, I went through a romantic break-up. It unfortunately, coincided with the opening day of a new studio location. There was no way I could avoid teaching but I could barely stop crying.More»

11.26.11 06:00 AM
4 Tips for Building Connection with Your Students + 4 Traps to Avoid

You can strive to teach challenging, fun and inspiring yoga classes but without connection to your students, the class may fall flat. Sometimes you’ll teach a class and your head will be filled with imaginary feedback ("She looks really annoyed; she must be...More»

11.16.11 03:00 PM
6 Reasons to Teach Yoga Part Time

Recently, I wrote an article called "14 Tips for Starting Your own Yoga Business." In it, I outlined some of the things to consider when you start off as a "yogi-preneur." While it didn't necessarily speak to the set up of the business as full time or part time, the implication was...More»

11.08.11 02:00 PM
5 Reasons to Do a Yoga Teacher Training (Even If You Don't Want to Teach)

Sometimes I'm asked to share thoughts on Yoga Teacher Training with people interested in signing up for a program. I recently wrote an article called '7 Tips for Selecting a Yoga Teacher Training' and it explored how to go about...More»

11.03.11 03:15 PM
Yoga Teachers: Are Students Pushing Your Buttons? Watch Out for These 5 Themes

There are many themes that may come up in the context of teaching yoga. These are found in our interactions with students, our observations of their practice, in the dynamic between you and your class. But it's often in those interactions...More»

10.26.11 03:00 PM
True or False: 10 Yoga Teaching Scenarios

Once you start teaching yoga, different scenarios will arise. You'll think back to teacher training and realize that many of these "real life" situations weren't discussed. There will never be a teacher training that covers all of what may arise and...More»

10.19.11 11:45 AM
14 Tips for Starting Your Own Yoga Business

When I transitioned from working full time in the corporate world to working for myself, I did a few things to create structure.The start of any business is a fun time but it's also scary.More»

10.13.11 03:00 PM
6 Things to Vary in Your Yoga Teaching

Once you've been teaching yoga for a while, you may start to feel more comfortable playing with different aspects of your teaching. While the first few years are spent getting used to presenting the sequence, assisting your...More»

10.06.11 03:00 PM
10 Non-Studio Locations Where You Can Teach Yoga

Studios, by their nature, are set up so that the student comes to yoga. But, once you start thinking in terms of bringing yoga to the student, a host of other options arise. Plus, because you're...More»

09.29.11 11:30 AM
10 Tips for More Compassionate Yoga Teaching

I consider myself a compassionate person. But the other day, as I was teaching a class, I had a lesson in compassion. A newer student arrived right as I was about to start. She scooted in, got set up and then in the middle of class, she began to...More»

09.23.11 03:00 PM
10 Qualities of a Great Yoga Teacher

I spent most of this week with a group of people who love yoga at the Baptiste Power Flow Immersion led by Baron Baptiste in Estes Park, CO. Over the 3 days, we spent time practicing yoga, meeting each other, sharing ideas and...More»

09.14.11 01:00 PM
7 Tips on Making the Switch from Corporate Job to Yoga Teaching

The first time I made the switch to teaching full-time, it was after a year of planning, saving, moving, downsizing, researching...More»

09.08.11 02:30 PM
Remembering 9/11: 8 Things I'm Recommitting To

As the 10th anniversary of September 11th approaches, I find myself getting emotional every time I hear one of the stories associated with that day.More»

08.31.11 01:00 PM
Teaching Absolutes

When I was a new yoga teacher, it was suggested that I never use music in my classes. For years, I didn't and I didn't teach in a studio that supported music during class, so it was a non-issue.More»

08.25.11 11:45 AM
7 Tips for Selecting a Yoga Teacher Training

I've recently had some wonderful conversations with people interested in attending a yoga teacher training program. These conversations have spanned the continuum; there have been those that are...More»

08.17.11 11:00 AM
Keeping Yoga Simple: Tips for Assisting Students in Class

After my first teacher training, I started teaching a group of friends once a week. Eager to put my training into practice, teaching friends was...More»

08.10.11 02:00 PM
Women's Wisdom: Simple Inspirations on Health & Wellness

In August of 2010, a few women in my area shared their interest in a home-based yoga program. Looking for a smaller group environment within which to learn and practice yoga, they were interested in...More»

08.05.11 10:30 AM
Keeping Yoga for Kids Simple

I had a blast teaching a group of 8 year-olds today. Sharing yoga with kids never ceases to amaze me. They dive in, fully...More»

07.27.11 02:00 PM
The Intersection of Business & Mindfulness

Before I was practicing yoga, I worked in the corporate world. Hardly thinking about mindfulness, it was all I could do to find time to eat a decent meal. Working at breakneck speed didn’t leave much time for reflection, healthy eating or finding time for...More»

07.19.11 01:15 PM
Keeping Yoga Language Simple

The other day I was teaching a yoga class and a voice went off in my head: "Be quiet and watch." I realized that I was so busy speaking that I wasn't...More»

07.08.11 03:15 PM
Keeping Teaching Simple

When I finished my first teacher training with Baron Baptiste in 2002, I immediately looked for a chance to start teaching. Funny, because I wasn’t even sure when...More»

06.30.11 03:00 PM
Keeping Yoga Simple in a Complicated World

When I started taking yoga classes, I had no yoga experience. A blank slate, I absorbed the poses, the philosophy, the teacher training, the music, the mindset. I didn't think twice about...More»

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