About Karen Wightman
Karen Wightman is the founder of Creative Yogis. She is an experienced, local and international children’s yoga instructor, yoga teacher trainer, and children’s art teacher.
Karen began her yoga practice in Thailand in 1995 and began assisting in children’s yoga classes in Bangkok in 2003, under the guidance of yoga master Justin Herold at the Iyengar Yoga School. She went on to coordinate a 2-year yoga program at Satit Kaset International Program in Bangkok.
In 2006, Karen moved to Australia to follow her passions and immerse herself further in the study of yoga. She studied the foundation, intermediate and pregnancy teacher training with Nicky Knoff in the Knoff Yoga system and completed the 200 hour Yoga Alliance RYT. She then went on to complete her second yoga teacher training in the Ishta system with world-famous Rachel Zinman, from 2007 – 2014.
Karen continued to develop her skills in children’s yoga by completing Level 1 and 2 trainings in “Yoga for Primary School children” with Kylie Peters of Simply Kids Yoga in 2006/7, and also studied “Yoga Therapy for children” with Loraine Rushton of Zenergy Yoga 4 Kids in 2011.
She currently facilitates local and international teacher trainings and workshops in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Taiwan, and is part of the faculty for Rachel Zinman’s ISHTAM teacher training. Karen also dedicates her time to teaching yoga to children of all ages, from pre-school to high school, with 14 years of experience.
Karen has taught children’s art for 30 years, and is passionate about offering a variety of unique educational yoga resources to stimulate the imagination and capture the hearts of children. Check out her beautiful yoga colouring books in the Creative Yogis shop!
Yoga Alliance Registrations:
- E-RYT 500 hours, Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher
- Specialty RCYT, Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher
- YACEP, Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider
ABOUT CREATIVE YOGIS
Creative Yogis is a vibrant, passionate yoga provider in the Byron Shire, NSW, Australia.
Karen Wightman (founder, director and senior trainer) started Creative Yogis in 2007. Karen recognised the need for teaching yoga to children in her area, and began instructing at the Brunswick Heads Public School. Her client base expanded quickly, and she currently caters to many of the local primary and high schools, offering both whole school yoga programs and yoga as a sports elective.
The opportunity to begin to teacher train came from an invitation to go to a Spirit Yoga studio in Osaka, Japan, in 2012, and train Japanese students how to share yoga with children. This was the catalyst which began Karen’s role in teacher training, and a consolidation of her years of experience and knowledge.
After facilitating trainings in Japan, Karen began offering teacher training in Australia, in the Byronshire.
In 2016, an exciting collaboration began with renowned Pure Yoga, taking Creative Yogis to provide children’s yoga teacher trainings in Asian destinations, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Shanghai.
Creative Yogis is a Yoga Alliance Registered Provider who offers:
- Specialized teacher trainings
- School yoga programs for children
- Special events and parent/child mini retreats
- Professional development workshops
- Creative, educational ebooks
- Fun fact: Creative Yogis has taught yoga to children in 30 schools and has educated 300 teachers! In 2016, 130 children attended her weekly yoga classes.
