Kara Schmidt

I took my first yoga class in January of 1997. I was in my early twenties, feeling restless and unfulfilled. I was looking for a spiritual practice to give me guidance. Through Kripalu Yoga classes with Jenny Bartlett in Elkhart, IN, I began to catch glimpses of the person that I wanted to become - someone at home in her own skin.

Through yoga I began to tap into parts of myself that I had forgotten. I gained confidence and began to feel more creative. The significant impact yoga had in my life gave me the desire to share it with others.

In 2002 I began Hatha Yoga Teacher Training through All People Yoga Center in Indianapolis under the direction of Nancy Schalk. As a part of the requirements for Teacher Training, I had to explore different teachers and styles of yoga. It was through this process that I discovered Anusara® Yoga.

In my first Anusara® Yoga class in 2002, I knew I had found what I had been seeking. The life-affirming philosophy, emphasis on community rather than competition, and the alignment principles brought so much clarity to my body and my practice – I was hooked. 

Since then, most of my yoga practice, study, and teaching has been in Anusara Yoga®.  I have had the great fortune to study with incredible instructors of the Anusara ® tradition including John Friend, Sianna Sherman, Betsey Downing, Todd Norian, Desiree Rumbaugh, Jamie Allison, and Martin and Jordan Kirk.  I am deeply grateful to each of these teachers for their wisdom and guidance along the way. 

I opened the Spacious Heart Yoga studio in Goshen, IN in 2004 and moved full time into teaching in 2008 after 12 years in the Natural Foods Industry.  In 2009 I discovered the practice of Acroyoga, founded by Jason Nemer and Jenny Sauer-Klein. To put it lightly, the Acroyoga practice blew my socks off and has opened me to a whole world that I thought impossible.  In 2011, I had the great honor of attending the Acroyoga Teacher Training in Corfu, Greece. I now offer classes and workshops throughout the Midwest, inviting others into the practice of full Metta (lovingkindness), for themselves and others, through Acroyoga’s genius combination of Yoga, Acrobatics and Thai Massage. 

It just keeps getting better if you are open to that possibility.  I invite you to step into the current of the impossible and see where it carries you. 

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