Karma Yoga Center

09/07/2026

Virgo season asks us to turn our gaze inward.

After the exhilaration and outward energy of summer, the wheel begins its slow turn toward fall — toward rhythm, balance, routine and a return to ourselves.

Katrina describes Virgo through three practices:
Discernment. Discipline. Devotion.

Discernment to recognize what brings us closer to our highest Self — and what pulls us away.

Discipline to tend the inner fire, tapas, that helps us make those choices again and again.

Devotion to our own health and wellbeing, our spiritual heart, and the Light we bring into the world.

Virgo means “one who chooses themselves.” Not as an act of selfishness, but as an act of remembering: when we value ourselves enough to choose what nourishes us, we become better able to be of service to everything around us.

As summer begins to soften into fall, perhaps this is our invitation:

Choose yourself.
Return to your rhythm.
Tend your inner fire.
Come back to your mat.

✨ Discernment. Discipline. Devotion.

09/03/2026

In loving memory of Mandy Straw
September 18, 1983 – August 21, 2026

This week, we lost a beloved member of our Karma community.

Mandy was born with the congenital pigmentation disorder of albinism. Life was hard for her. We humans can be cruel.

Mandy persevered and found her places of joy and happiness—her communities that saw her for the beautiful soul that she embodied.

She loved snowboarding and playing in the Colorado mountains. She was an incredible musician and singer, and was constantly in service of others—particularly those who were struggling against the odds.

She was a yogi and a healer. And she was a beloved member of our Karma community.

We will miss her sweet smile and her loving heart. ❤️

A poem that Mandy loved is As I Begin to Love Myself, attributed to Charlie Chaplin. I share it here again as a reminder to see the value in ourselves.

Just because someone is different from you doesn’t mean they are less than you.

A kind smile to your fellow traveler can make all the difference in someone’s life. And an unkind word can destroy them.

In a world where we can be anything, be kind to one another.

May you be free from all your unfair suffering, Mandy.

Vaya con Dios. ❤️

08/31/2026

September brings us back to rhythm. 🌿

There’s something about this time of year that naturally calls us back into routine — steadier schedules, familiar practices, a little more structure after the openness of summer.

But as we return to our routines, we don’t have to leave behind the things that brought us back to ourselves.

Earlier this summer, Katrina wrote about spending time camping and noticing what happens when more of the day is spent outside beneath blue skies, watching clouds, stars, trees, water and wildlife. Away from the noise and distractions, something begins to settle.

She shared a line that stayed with us:
“One doesn’t go out into nature. We are nature.”

Maybe the invitation for September is to bring some of that remembering with us.

Take the walk. Sit beneath the trees. Watch the sunset. Put your feet in the grass. Look up at the stars. Let being outside become part of the routine rather than something we only make space for when life slows down.

As we move into a new rhythm, what practices help you stay connected to yourself and to the natural world around you?

Happy September, friends. 🌿

08/30/2026

A new chapter begins. ✨

Congratulations to our Spring 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training graduates. 🤍

Over these past months, they’ve studied, practiced, questioned, chanted, learned, unlearned, and gone deeper — not only into the teachings of yoga, but into themselves.

Teacher training is about so much more than learning how to lead a yoga class. It is an invitation into deeper practice, greater awareness, and a lifelong relationship with the teachings.

Today, we celebrate each of these beautiful humans as they step forward carrying what they’ve learned into their own lives, their communities, and perhaps one day, their own students.
We are so proud of you. 🌻

Congratulations, Spring 2026 graduates. May this be only the beginning. ✨

08/29/2026

Join us tonight for singing, dancing and divine ❤️. 7pm Little Rishikesh Revival Michael Shankara Katrina Marie Gustafson Karma Yoga Center

08/28/2026

Take a tour of the New Karma 3.0 studio! See the Main Studio, the Soma Spa Shirodhara Room, the Meditation and Tea Ceremony Space, the Teacher Training and Meditative Creative Art Room, the Spiritual Counseling Space, our Common Area and Lounge, the Retail Space, the beautiful light, and our Kitchen and temple space.

Come on by and visit, take a class, do a training, find a retreat, be in community, and make new friends :)

08/28/2026

Astrology Forecast Aug 27 - Sep 26 2026|
Powerful But Peaceful…Sthiram Sukham
Hello Cosmic Yogis~
There is a principle in yoga called “sthiram sukham” which means steadiness and ease. It can be considered another way to say “Yang/Yin” or perhaps “powerful but peaceful.” This is the way of the spiritual warrior and the initiate on the path to self-realization. One needs strength, steadiness (without tension), and will. This is balanced with grace, ease (without dullness), and flow. This principle applies at all levels of being, from the physical to the mental to the spiritual/astrological. In the Taoist tradition, you can say this is walking the middle way. This is always the dharma for all beings, but it is particularly poignant this lunar cycle.

The Pisces Full Moon arrives on Aug 27, with a partial lunar eclipse at 10:12 pm MST (visible in Colorado), opposed by the Sun and Mercury in Virgo. Here, Pisces is the sukam and peace. We are being asked to be peaceful and to trust our inner world, which is the Moon. Our outer self, the Sun, is being asked to stay determined, take action, be steady, and choose wisely. This is Virgo energy. It is a north node eclipse, so we are letting go of old shame and guilt and stepping into grace.

One of the bigger energies of the Month, Year and Decade is Jupiter Trine Saturn on Aug 31. Jupiter and Saturn have a 20-year cycle of consciousness that measures the decades and the rhythm of society. These two planets cunjucted in February 2020- along with Pluto in Capricorn. This was a challenging start to a cycle of purification for individuals and society. As they evolved, a square in 2025 brought pressure as a result of the last 5 years. Now this cycle has opened to the first trine and is a release, an ease, and an opportunity for change and movement in a harmonious way. Saturn is the energy of steadiness, direction, power, and karma. Jupiter is the ease, the flow, the peace, and the dharma. This is a mystical time of sthiram sukham and walking the middle way. It is also a harmonic and magical time for change, movement and fruition.

Sep 10 is a power-packed day with Venus entering Scorpio, Mercury entering Libra, Uranus going retrograde in Gemini, and the Virgo New Moon. This is both an energy of huge shift but also of going inward and being reflective during the retrograde and New Moon. Venus is about values, and Scorpio is about deep honesty and the power of vulnerability (sthiram sukham). Mercury is about perception, and Libra is about friendship and diplomacy. Uranus is the force of revelation and awakening in Gemini, the mind. Look inward for change rather than seeking it from others. “Be the change you want to see in the world”- Gandhi. Virgo New Moon is discernment found in intuition and tapas.

On Sep 17, retrograde Chiron enters Aries for the last time until 2069 and is the ending of an eight-year journey of the Wounded Healer through the masculine awareness. Chiron just began a sojourn into Ta**us but is returning to help close a cycle and offer those who have taken the journey of the last 8 years an opportunity to show up as the healer, rather than the wounded, and help others find their spiritual hearts and heal. Trust you are the one and that you are ready- sthiram sukham. Be the peaceful healer.

The Fall Equinox is Sep 22 as the Sun enters Libra and calls in equal day and night before descending into the underworld. Equinox is a mystical initiation into balance, relationships, communion, and reconciliation. It can be time for collaboration, creation, giving and receiving, and sthiram sukham. Hold steady but be at ease.

We are at a time when cycles upon cycles are turning on our planet Earth. You chose to incarnate at this time, and it is a beautiful time. For those who remember and choose to see, there is a rising tide of consciousness, reconciliation, forgiveness, and return to our spiritual heritage through the perennial teachings. What is asked of those who are here now is to be steady and find ease through joy, trust, grace, and, equally important, community with like-hearted souls. Be powerful and peaceful.
This takes us to the Aries Full Moon on Sep 26! We are in a spectacular portal of time right now. Be kind, find peace with each other, stay steady, and help each other out in words, actions, and prayers.
Much Love~
The Shaman & The Mermaid

Hello Cosmic Yogis~There is a principle in yoga called “sthiram su...