Teacher Spotlight: Katrina Kurdy

The wonderful Katrina Kurdy is currently teaching Wednesdays at 7pm (new time) and Saturdays at 11am. We put her under the spotlight.

Which pose can’t you get enough of at the moment?

Any side bend. I could stay there all day. If I had to choose, maybe janu sirsasana leaning to the outside of the leg. Or sukhasana with a lean away from the front leg. My recent home practice mainly consists of these and then rolling around on the floor stretching my back and hips. 

How does yoga inspire you in your life off the mat?

Life is yoga and yoga is life for me. They inspire each other. I’m fortunate to be able to have a career teaching yoga, because it encourages me to carve space into my life to dive deeper into the work. I remember in my first teacher training “live your yoga” was tossed around a lot. It took me many years to learn how to truly live my yoga. In the same breath, life inspires my yoga. We often teach/practice what is resonating deep within us, which translates into genuine and heartfelt teaching/practice. It makes me a more honest person. It’s my anchor into what is truly important, and it keeps me in check when I’m wandering off course (which, with two little ones, happens often around ‘bedtime’ or anytime we need to quickly leave the house). 

Who do you love to teach and why?

I love to teach anyone, really; maybe especially those who are curious and willing to take responsibility for their own experience.

What does yoga mean to you?

Yoga to me means truth, connection, and wholeness. Yoga  is learning how to see what is true-learning how to separate the stories from what’s real. Yoga is connecting with that truth. Yoga requires compassion, and compassion for all beings, especially ourselves, can take work. Realising that peace and joy are always within us, but that anger and sadness can be too. We are not one or the other. We are all things. We are everything. And when we truly realise that, we can just be. And when we can just be, we can feel the pulse of joy and peace that resides within us all. 

How do you encourage people in your life to start doing yoga?

I’ve learned that the best way to encourage people to start doing yoga is to take them to an appropriate class...usually more than once. 

If you had a superpower it would be:

To be completely confident, all of the time. Not oblivious. Just confident. Is anyone? I would say that’s a superpower I’d like to have.