Karen
Karen Kenney is the owner and principal teacher of Quest Yoga Studio. Karen has been a dedicated yoga student for over 15 years and a full time yoga teacher since 2001. Karen grew up in Lawrence, MA and was introduced to yoga when she was a sophomore in college. She graduated from Boston University in 1990 and moved to Los Angeles where she became a personal trainer and played Women’s Baseball for coach Mike Boyd (brother of Red Sox pitcher – Oil Can Boyd).
In 1994, while in LA, Karen stumbled across the book, A Return to Love by best selling-author and lecturer, Marianne Williamson. The teachings in Marianne’s book, which are reflections on A Course in Miracles, opened a door to profound healing, compassion and forgiveness. A few years later, Karen was blessed to live and work closely with Marianne, who became her spiritual “mother”, teacher and mentor.
Karen explored yoga on her own through books and various classes until 1996, when she traveled to Egypt with Marianne on a spiritual pilgrimage. Marianne’s yoga teacher was also on the trip and Karen was invited to practice with her. They rolled out their mats right across from the Great Pyramids of Giza. The dynamic energy of mystical Egypt combined with the postures, breath and meditation was one of the most powerful experiences of her life. Both Marianne and A Course in Miracles continue to deeply inform Karen’s yoga practice and inspire her teaching.
In 1998, Karen returned to the East Coast. In early 2001, she received her yoga teacher certification from the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health and opened Quest Yoga Studio in March 2003. She did her teacher training in the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson and has also completed Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training with Avantika Waleryszak.
For the past two years, Karen has been a presenter at the Boston Yoga & Chant Fest. She is registered with the Yoga Alliance and is a member of the Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association and the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
Karen has created yoga classes for some of NH’s most talented and dedicated athletes. Her Yoga for Athletes class was originally designed for her friend, Ironman Triathlete & Multi-Sport Coach – Sean Snow and his S2 Coaching team. She teaches yoga to the Manchester Monarchs Hockey Team and continues to share the benefits of yoga with athletes from all over NH.
Karen is also a certified Thai Yoga Bodyworker and has studied with Shai Plonski, founder of the Still Light Centre in Toronto and Kam Thye Chow, founder of the Lotus Palm School, which is the foremost institution in North America specializing in traditional Thai Yoga Massage. She also continues her studies in Yoga Therapy with Jenny Otto of Body Balance Yoga. She’s assisted Thai Yoga Massage Trainings at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY and is a certified Reiki practitioner.
Karen is the creator and host of “The Yoga Show with Karen” on Concord TV, Channel 22 – voted best Concord TV Show in the 2010 Hippo Press! For the past eight years, The Yoga Show has brought free yoga classes into the homes of over 15,000 local residents, businesses and institutions in Concord, NH.
She is featured in two Quest Yoga DVDs that were filmed in beautiful Jamaica.
She is also a motivational speaker, published author and a member of the New Hampshire Writer’s Project. She has studied with Barbara Abercrombie, Nancy Slonim Aronie, Natalie Goldberg, Mel Allen and Mary Carroll Moore. Karen is currently working on a memoir and feels blessed to have the support of her incredible writing coach, Sarah Lovett.
Karen is a vegan, animal lover and a passionate believer in animal rights. She is inspired by the tremendous work of all the local NH Animal Shelters, the Concord SPCA, the NH SPCA as well as the the amazing efforts of Peace and Paws Rescue in NH and ADAR Rescue in Alabama.
Karen continues her education by attending yoga classes, workshops and teacher trainings whenever possible. She’s had the opportunity to learn from many teachers from diverse backgrounds and traditions including: the beloved Sri Dharma Mittra whose grace and wisdom has forever changed her, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Rangaswamy, David Swenson, Doug Swenson, Baron Baptiste, Philip Urso, Coral Brown, Todd Norian & Anne Greene, Deb Neubauer, Kathy McNames, Govinda Kai, Natasha Rizopoulos and the many gifted teachers at Kripalu, Omega and in the NH Yoga Community.
Karen also learns from reading the wisdom of various yoga texts and spiritual books. She has been influenced by the works of Swami Kripalu, meditation teacher Eknath Easwaran and Marianne Williamson. Swami Kripalu’s devotion to love and compassion, Easwaran’s Passage Meditation and his three volume translation on the Bhagavad Gita and especially, Marianne’s teachings on A Course in Miracles, have profoundly shaped her as a yoga teacher and human being.
She is deeply grateful for the women that took her under their maternal and spiritual wings along the way. “Miss” Kae LeFebre, Marianne Williamson , Daphne Rose Kingma and Sarah Lovett. Having lost her mother as a young girl, these women have played a huge role in shaping Karen’s life. She would not be the same without the support, grace, compassion and love of these amazing “moms”, teachers, mentors and friends.
Priscilla ~ “Patti” ~ My Mom
