About Karri
Karri currently works for Comfort Keepers, a leading provider of in-home care services, in West Michigan. Karri also served as a yoga teacher and instructor for Certified Nurse Assistant courses (CNA) at Muskegon Community College. She teaches Senior Chair Yoga at Four Points Center for Successful Aging, Gentle yoga at the local YMCA, and Hatha yoga at Lakeshore Yoga Center.
About Yoga Therapy
Yoga, originated in India, and is a mind-body medicine modality that has been practiced for millennia. Yoga has proposed physical, mental, and spiritual benefits. However, yoga therapy appeared only recently. According to Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., an appropriate description of yoga therapy is that “yoga therapy” is the first effort to integrate traditional yogic models and techniques with Western medical and psychosocial knowledge.
The Absenger Cancer Education Foundation adopted the just mentioned definition of yoga therapy as a guiding principle as we develop education, integration, and research programs for West Michigan’s cancer survivors and their caretakers.
Karri has a passion for sharing her knowledge of living a well-balanced life, which is shown through her nursing and teaching experience. This expertise will make the Absenger Cancer Education Foundation’s yoga therapy program for cancer survivors and caregivers one of the leading, evidence-based programs in West Michigan.
As a licensed nurse and registered yoga teacher, Karri is keenly aware of potential contraindications of yoga in cancer survivorship. She will work with you, one-on-one, or in a small group and tailor your yoga practice to your specific needs.
With Karri’s help, ACEF is currently developing a small pilot project to investigate the impact of a yoga chakra-balancing program on quality of life and the proinflammatory cytokine milieu in cancer survivors and caregivers.