Q&A with Karen Kirkness, about Pregnancy, training, and beyond

Karen is Charlene’s yoga teacher and friend (some of you may be familiar with Charlenes classes). Her teaching that is firmly rooted in scientific understanding was one of the major things that first drew Charlene to studying with Karen. Her breath of yoga knowledge underpinned by scientific understanding is something she found so valuable in learning about how to support people with yoga..

So!! Tell us abit more about your background, and how you bring your combined knowledge across your different specialist fields into this CPD?

Hi everyone! My yoga background is Ashtanga Vinyasa, a strict practice that I now modify continuously to suit the needs of my changing circumstances. 

From my academic roots in art and anatomy, I have developed a system for understanding how we humans move in rotational patterns. The Five Filaments is a movement rubric that helps us teach and learn spiral motion, and it is especially useful for understanding the biomechanical journey of the maternal pelvis.

Just for a moment, visualise the pelvis not as a bowl, but as a butterfly. Just as a butterfly’s wings flutter with movement connected through its body, the hips also move independently as two wings through a third element: the sacrum. Of course, the pelvis is a basin that holds the base of the torso canister. The bowl-like shape of the integrated pelvic tissues supports the viscera (organs), complete with the baby’s body if and when the time comes.

However, if the mother hopes to have the baby pass through her pelvic outlet (yes, she very much does want that baby out eventually!), then we need to understand how the rotational pelvic articulations dance around the baby’s spiralling body during pregnancy and labour.

My Prenatal Yoga CPD brings together the physiology of pregnancy and all the magic of hormonal feedback loops with respect to relevant biomechanics. 

It is important to me that we understand the A&P of the prenatal experience and build suitable yoga practices that not only relate to pregnancy/postpartum healing, but also relevant for keeping our mums-to-be feeling strong and confident at every stage. 

What aspect of putting together the CPD did you enjoy the most? 

As much as the theoretical aspects of writing CPD fascinates me, I am definitely a pragmatic practitioner most of all… I love the doing. During my two pregnancies, I developed two different styles of practice to support the two polar maternal energies: quiescence (quietude, compliance) and power. I’m currently putting the print manual together for the Prenatal CPD and loving the movement as I revisit the postural and movement techniques I used during pregnancy. 

 

How has your practice been evolving from your 20s, into 30s, into now- through traversing changes in life like motherhood, a phd, family life, work?

Oh wow – so much evolution! I really needed the discipline of my Ashtanga practice in my early 20s, no doubt. The daily morning ritual, the focus on philosophy, all the gifts of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as experienced through tristana (breath, bandha, drishti)... these elements were the scaffolding I needed as a young, solo practitioner. 

I still draw deeply on my Ashtanga roots, but the changing layers of being (known as koshas) need a practice that evolves just as our tissues change.

Being a woman, our hormonal trajectory is so much more influential on our experience of having a body.

Finally, I think we are seeing this fact become normalised, that the phenotypically female experience is much different to that of the phenotypical male. Menarche, fertility issues, PCOS, fibroids and endometriosis, hormonal issues, pregnancy, labour/birth, postpartum physical and mental health issues… then the long haul of parenthood if it comes… followed by the cliff jump of peri/menopause… 

What stands out for me now that my kids are in school, my book published and PhD in the bag? Having closed my studio, Meadowlark Yoga, after 15 years, I am so happy to be deep into creative teaching and mentorship. A shout out to you, Char, holding bricks and mortar together takes so much courage and we all owe bows of gratitude to our brave space-holders.

I’m so humbled by it all, yet still so curious, and feeling incredibly empowered to adapt my practice in light of experience. Whereas before kids, I had a tendency to hide behind the scripture of lineage, to whisper my findings… now, I feel a sense of responsibility and confidence to own my experiences and use them to help others on a similar path of seeking education, healing and fulfilment. 

 

As it’s a CPD course, the content is designed to support existing yoga teachers to feel confident helping students in their general classes continue to practice through pregnancy. You’ll also gain a wealth of practical resources to support your professional development in offering pregnancy-specific yoga classes.

The main practical takeaways are Sky Flow and Earth Flow, “seed” sequences designed around the female reproductive experience that you will learn off by heart. 

You’ll learn several mini-sequences that flow into postures designed to support pregnancy and postpartum circumstances, as well common clinical concerns that require specific protocol.

For example, we’ll get to grips with the very common experience of symphysis pubis dysfunction (spd) and how best to approach that with clients in your classes.

This course will provide you with a solid foundation in A&P to understand what women go through during pregnancy and how you can best support them in your classes. I would love for you to join me on this Prenatal CPD if you are a yoga teacher, pregnant yogi, or anyone in the field of family support. For clarity’s sake, this course will not result in a Teaching Certificate for those not previously qualified to teach yoga. 

If you are feeling called to better understand pregnancy to serve your existing students, simply curious about pregnancy & yoga, or you’re now pregnant/trying, I have crafted this course for you!

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Thank you for your time Karen! For those interested, do email over any questions, or pop on your deposit of £162 for the CPD happening in May and June 2025 over these weekends!

May 17th (Sat) 12:15pm - 5:30pm
May 18th (Sun) 12:15pm - 5:30pm

June 7th (Sat) 12:15pm - 5:30pm
June 8th (Sun) 12:15pm - 5:30pm