About Karma Yoga Center
Yoga ~ Community ~ Spirit
A Spiritual Sanctuary in the City
All are welcome here at Karma Yoga Center. We are a spiritual sanctuary in the city offering Studio Classes, Yoga in the Parks, Livestream/Online Classes, 200Hr & 300Hr Spiritual Teacher Trainings, Spiritual Retreats, Workshops, Free Community Events & Gatherings, Spiritual Counseling, Meditation, Energy Healings, Astrology Workshops, and Astrology Readings. We offer community for all paths and all seekers in life.
Karma Yoga Center is your home for Bhakti (devotion of the heart), Spiritual Exploration, and Yoga. Located at 1760 S. Broadway St. Denver CO 80210. Our studio is a Healing Sanctuary for the Mind, Body and Spirit. We are a welcoming community that is open 7 days a week, offering yoga and healing for all paths and levels. Our main focus is to create a community where all feel welcome and at home.
Why is the studio named Karma?
Katrina was inspired many years ago by a quote from the Upanishads, written by the ancients of yoga:
Be mindful of your thoughts because
your thoughts become your words
and your words become your actions
and your actions become your character
and your character becomes your karma
How simple and joyful our lives could be if we open our hearts and imagination to positive vibrations. The practice of yoga allows us to come into awareness of what we are giving our thoughts to, and is a beautiful path to learn how to still our minds and open our hearts.
The Shaman & The Mermaid
Katrina Gustafson
Owner & Founder, Lead Teacher, Crystologist & Spiritual Counselor
The mermaid of the mountains, Katrina Marie seeks the heights of the peaks and the depths of the oceans in her practice. Through the wisdom of the heart, her purpose is to help guide others to open their own. She has studied in the temples of India, the pyramids of Mexico, and in the crucible of modern life.
As the owner and founder of Karma Yoga Center in Denver, she brings the bhakti from all wisdom traditions to her yoga classes — singing, chanting, dancing, and journeys into the heart. She weaves in the teachings of her yoga mentor Saul David Raye and the cosmic knowings from the lineage of Evolutionary Astrology. She offers Spiritual Counseling, Crystal Healing Sessions, and incorporates her innate understanding of astrology.
Michael Shankara
Co-Owner, Yoga Teacher, Mayan Shaman/Priest, Astrologer, Sacred Geometer
Michael is a certified yoga teacher, Mayan Shaman, Priest, and Astrologer. Initiated into the sacred wisdom of the Maya, Michael is the sole apprentice under elder, priest and shaman Dr. Don Miguel Angel Vergara — former director of the sacred Chichen Itza Archeology Site in Mexico. Michael is also a musician and sound healer, providing live music for yoga classes, retreats, journeys and meditations.
With over a decade of study in Western, Mayan, Greek, Vedic, Native, and Chinese astrology, he brings deep wisdom to his teachings. Together with Katrina as "The Shaman & The Mermaid," they create a loving community offering teacher trainings, retreats, spiritual immersions, classes, workshops, events, and free Full Moon astrological forecast videos.
Katrina's Story
From an interview with Voyage Denver
My yoga journey began out of necessity 17 years ago when I got pregnant and needed to quit smoking. I joined a big fitness gym to replace the nicotine itch and discovered their yoga classes. I haven't been off my yoga mat since then.
Although gym yoga opened my eyes to this ancient practice, I quickly developed a desire to dive deeper into a more authentic yoga practice that steeped itself in the truer purpose of yoga. I knew in my heart that yoga was much more than just a workout so I sought out studios that offered the whole yoga practice of mind, body, and spirit.
I quickly found such a place and began to see the powerful effects it had on me. I dove in head first — I completed a 200-hour teacher training — I quit my 12-year career as a high school English teacher — and started teaching yoga. I loved it.
All the questions I had about life and myself were getting answered through the practice. I soon found a master teacher named Saul David Raye and began studying under him. I completed another 200 and 300-hour training — which put me at a 500hr certification.
I decided to write a business plan, apply for a small business loan and open my own studio. This was in 2009 and the economy was just hit with a recession. Most of my contemporaries were skeptical that I would get the loan or survive the opening year. But contrary to what they thought — all things fell into place. I opened up in June of 2010 in the Wash Park area of Denver.
Soon, I had 50 teachers working for me and over 100 classes offered a week. I put a strong emphasis on staying true to the origins of this ancient practice. Instead, I amplified the spiritual qualities. I wasn't afraid to bring that component into the class. We chant in Sanskrit and teach about the Vedas and other ancient wisdom traditions. We encourage prayer, meditation, loving-kindness, and selfless service.
Shortly after I opened, the transformations that had occurred in me because of the practice led me to file for divorce and start a new life as a single mom. It was shortly after that when I decided it was time to go to the motherland of yoga. So, I went on a month-long pilgrimage with my teacher to India. That trip took everything to the next level for me.
During this time I had met my now husband Michael Shankara. He has joined me in not only sacred union of the hearts but also as my business partner and an amazing father to my sons. He is a Mayan shaman and astrologer, as well as a yoga teacher and together we have taken our spiritual practice and teachings to a whole new level.
Today, Karma Yoga Center has an incredible yoga community. We have graduated 14 yoga teacher training groups and hosted a dozen plus retreats around the globe. Most importantly, to me is that we have established a safe and sacred place for people to come to for healing and rejuvenating their mind, body, and spirit.
Come Practice With Us
All are welcome. Open 7 days a week at 1760 S. Broadway, Denver.