Kate has served as the Director of Shelburne Falls Yoga since 2011. Drawing from over twenty-five years of experience as an instructor of movement, including 12 years as a full-time teacher of yoga, Kate seamlessly weaves together elements from the tradition of Kripalu Yoga with somatic exercises, movement training & conditioning, and meditation & pranayama techniques to create a rich and evolving yoga experience enjoyed by both long-time practitioners and brand-new beginners.
She values a straightforward and consent-based approach to yoga teaching, where students are offered a number of choices in the classroom and the freedom to execute them. This fosters a learning environment where students have the ability to grow and evolve at their own pace and in their own direction. She favors the sometimes messy process of embodying integrated movement skills rather than merely replicating shapes in the classroom, a process which both research and experience has shown to lead to more favorable and longer lasting results. Kate values accessibility, and strives to create an inclusive and welcoming environment at the studio, where work-study & sliding scale options are available for those with financial need.
Kate completed her initial professional trainings at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, where she also returned several times to assist in the advanced yoga teacher training program. Following a years-long, intensive period of asana, pranayama, and meditation practices in the Kripalu tradition, she began an in-depth study of anatomy and kinesiology, and also began to incorporate evolving, evidence-based, and trauma-informed practices into her teaching with the aim of helping each to student work toward clarity, health, and vitality in ways that are as applicable in day-to-day life as they are on the yoga mat. Kate has been influenced by the teachings of Swami Kripalu, T.K.V. Desikachar, Amy Matthews, Jonathan Foust, Dr. Fritz Smith, Paul Dennis, Lisa Leizman, and many others. She was certified as a practitioner of Zero Balancing, a bodywork modality that draws from the wisdom of osteopathy, acupuncture, and yoga as it cultivates a harmonious balance of structure and energy in the human body. She incorporates this wisdom into her yoga classes.
At the intersection of yoga and collective change, Kate’s work is based on the understanding that individuals’ capacity to maintain balance and self-awarness within challenge is a necessary but insufficient condition for systemic change. In 2020, her work grew to include cross-community anti-poverty movement building. Today, she continues to support individuals in their personal journey toward self awareness, strength, and purpose while also building and strengthening relationships throughout the region in a collaborative push for collective change. In her other professional role, Kate supports Western Massachusetts organizations in the creation of food pantries and meal programs as the Agency Recruitment & Onboarding Coordinator for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
