Yogi Unpacks All Her “Junk” and Now Inspires Yogis Everywhere - Karly Lou

Oshunjo
May 17, 2021
2 min read

Karly Lou is a natural health and yoga success story. She credits yoga for healing multiple ailments, including chronic pain and bleeding. To Karly, yoga is not only meditation in motion but medicine in motion - which has become part of her multidimensional identity. Karly Lou wears various hats throughout the day, including a massage therapist, dance fitness instructor, mother, and bulldog breeder. Once camera shy, Karly's Instagram page is now blazing with advanced yoga poses, notably, her inversions. She currently practices yoga at Watonga Nutrition.

Tell us more about your yoga journey. How long have you been doing yoga, and why did you start?

I started doing yoga in August 2014. I saw a video of a woman doing a handstand with two men. The men kept falling and kicking back up, and the woman never so much as a wobble. I was a stay-at-home mom at the time and had all the time in the world to try such things.

How has yoga helped you along your self-love journey? Has it helped you with body issues or internal issues such as anxiety or depression?

When I first started yoga, I was on hormone and migraine medications because I had been bleeding heavily for three months straight and had migraines almost every day. My back would go out regularly, I assume from the spinal taps of multiple c-section births. The medications caused me to have kidney stones and other side effects. After my first three months of doing yoga daily, I was completely off all medications with no bleeding, headaches, or back pain. I also hated being in front of a camera. Being in pictures made me incredibly uncomfortable. I got used to taking yoga pictures for accountability and eventually gained the confidence to be in photos no matter how it looked. This is me, and people see me in person every day anyway, so why not?!

Is there a particular story you'd like to share about how someone or something has inspired you along your yoga journey? Or how you've inspired someone else along your journey? Any particularly memorable situation in a yoga class?

My kids are the best example of inspiration from both ends. They have watched me do yoga the majority of their lives, and I've watched them grasp the importance of staying active. Their bodies are young and resilient, and they can do many more things easier than I can do!

Looking back on when you first started, overall, how would you say yoga changed you as a person?

Yoga has helped my body heal and evolve. It has helped shape my confidence and creativity. It has given me a solid foundation for many other physical activities. It also helped me appreciate the significance of doing something for myself and regaining my own identity.

What advice can you give to help those who are just getting started with yoga?

Don't ever stop trying something because it's difficult or uncomfortable. It's supposed to be hard. That's what makes it so great when you finally accomplish whatever it is you're trying to do. If it were easy, everyone would do it.

You can find her Karly on Instagram @inversionjunkie.