About

Linda VALDEZ Karl: Teaching Yoga with Art and Soul

My Teaching Philosophy

I teach an intuitive, breath-based, and eclectic practice. A global Yoga teacher and long-time activist, I’ve been called a maverick, an innovator, and a facilitator of deep holistic healing.  Seeking a paradigm shift in the local Yoga scene I take students beyond asana into the deeper dimensions of traditional Yoga. I teach “mindful yoga“, a vehicle for transformation. I believe authentic Yoga is not only what you do on the mat but is a lifestyle.

The words of my teachers in India are the keystone of my teaching:  teach to people where they are and how they are and whatever happens, happens. I believe in the therapeutic benefits of Yoga+breathwork+meditation properly applied to the individual. I am a lineage holder for the teachings of TKV Desikachar and his father Sri T Krishnamacharya -- Yoga for everyone, Yoga for every BODY.

Yoga & Yoga Therapy

First certified to teach in 2002 at Suddha Weixler’s Chicago Yoga Center.

From 2005-2015 I studied yearly at the prestigious Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, India with TKV Desikachar presiding. This school’s approach focuses on the breath; the specific needs of the individual; the emphasis of the function over the form of the pose; and the use of repetition into and out of the postures.

A Yoga Therapist since 2005, I completed the Svastha Yoga of Krishnamacharya: Therapy Program. This program brings together the most effective and holistic healing aspects of traditional Yoga and Ayurveda.

Yoga After 50 (Prime of Life Yoga®)

A Yoga After 50/Prime of Life Yoga® Teacher (Levels 1-3), the only POLY teacher in Illinois. Prime of Life Yoga® focuses on Yoga for midlife and beyond. POLY is based on the Krishnamacharya Yoga tradition, meaning that it is a breath-centered practice that includes meditation. The style is accommodating for everyBODY, covering everyday biomechanics, management of common aches and pains, and stress reduction.

Earned a Certificate from Duke Integrative Medicine (Duke University, North Carolina) in teaching Yoga for Seniors, a Master training where I learned from Duke medical school experts including licensed physicians, physical therapists, and health psychologists.

Trauma Sensitive Yoga

As a Trauma Informed Specialist, I hold a certificate in Trauma Sensitive Yoga from The Trauma Center, Brookline, Massachusetts.  This training enables me to teach specialized Yoga classes for people who have experienced trauma or those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I also completed the Mindful Resilience for Trauma Recovery Training conducted by the Veterans Yoga Project. This is an evidence based, clinically tested Yoga program to help military veterans, active duty, caregivers, and first responder families and communities with post-traumatic stress recovery. Lastly, I hold a certificate in Psychological First Aid.

Vinyasa Krama Yoga

In the early 2000s Srivatsa Ramaswami (a private student of Krishnamacharya for 33 years) introduced me to the Vinyasa Krama method of Yoga and I became one of his first Chicago students. I am humbled and honored to be mentioned in the Acknowledgement of Sri Ramaswami’s book The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga as being one of the teachers who has “studied vinyasa yoga in-depth with me” and who has “incorporated essentials of vinyasa krama into…teaching and practice even from Day 1.” Vinyasa Krama Yoga is a movement and sequence methodology. As Srivatsa Ramaswami describes it, Vinyasa Krama is a “systematic method to study, practice, teach and adapt Yoga...the yoking of mind and body takes place with the breath acting as the harness.”

Yin Yoga

Certified by The Yin Yoga Institute founder, Paulie Zink, I was one of the first Yin Yoga teachers in the Chicago area. I also completed multiple Yin Yoga teacher trainings with Sarah Powers and Paul Grilley, who told me, “I am very gratified to know you are presenting a broad view of yoga and sharing with people more of the philosophical and spiritual sides of yoga.“ It was an honor to introduce Yin Yoga to the Arusha, Tanzania yoga community in 2010.

Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation

Completed the first Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Studying with the world’s leading teachers of Yoga and Buddhism, the training offered a solid experiential grounding in an integrated Yoga and Vipassana practice, as well as an in-depth exploration of the entwined history, philosophy, and techniques of classical Yoga and Buddhism.