Karma Yoga Center

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. ❤️

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. 🌿

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. ✨

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

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 :)

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

Astrology Forecast Aug 27 - Sep 26 2026 | Powerful But Peaceful…Sthiram Sukham Hello Cosmic Yogis~There is a principle in yoga called “sthiram su...

Read Full Newsletter Here: https://conta.cc/4wT6LWQ
❤️ Choose Wisely... ❤️ Kirtan Aug 29 ❤️ Intro Microdosing ❤️ Sacred Spain Retreat ~ Sep 2026 ❤️ Ayurveda Workshops ❤️ Soma Spa @ Karma ❤️ Enneagram Series

Namaste Friends,
Michael’s 50th birthday was yesterday August 26th! Happy Birthday to my soulmate, my halfside, my dearest friend. Michael is a special breed, in that I know very few people who have his discipline and devotion and discernment. He is a pure Virgo through and through.
We just entered Virgo season on the 22nd of August, which is about the same time that everyone gets back to school and their routines. Summer is ramping down and the steadiness of fall is slowly rolling in. Gladly so.

It gets to be too much to be constantly in social mode or go-go gadget mode-to use the catch phrase of days gone by. Its important to find some down time and quiet the mind.

The wheel is turning toward fall equinox this month. We come into equal days and nights. We start to find some balance and rhythm again after a long exhilarating play in the summer sun.

Its not surprising that in the late summer we transition from Leo, the sun sign, to Virgo, the sign of discernment, discipline, and devotion. Its time to turn our gaze inward toward our spiritual heart (hridyam) to get clear, centered, and connected to our True Self, or our High Self.

Virgo means “One who chooses Themselves”. The symbol depicts a beautiful maiden holding a sheath of wheat with a halo of light around her. The vestal virgin archetype. These young girls were chosen to hold the torch for living a pure and chaste life-in efforts to keep the pure goodness of life alive and well. They were taught discernment around the choices we are given in life. They are able to hold themselves steady and true to their heart while they review their choices.

As we enter the sign of Virgo-the Universe is asking us to look through this lens right now. The Sun is shining in Virgo saying this is the focus people: make good choices and put your health and wellbeing as a high priority.

Virgos who are true to their form strive for homeostatis- a balanced state of well-being where everything is working for the greater good and in its natural flow or ritam. They become disciplined, use discernment and are devoted to finding that harmony. They want to be the best version of themselves- mind, body, and spirit.

If Virgos are out of balance, they usually show up as OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or hypervigilant. They go from having a healthy sense of Self to being self-centered or having a distorted sense of self.
Usually very critical of themselves and others.

Astraea, (pronounced “Es-stray-ya”), the Greek goddess whose name means Star, is often said to be the embodiment of Virgo. She was the daughter of Dawn and Dusk, and was the last earth-bound Goddess to leave the human civilization, after Nemesis and Shame left. She stayed as long as she could- trying to help us remember who we truly were before we fell into an age of greed, lust and anger. Astraea was a beacon of Light and Love in an era that was beginning to fall toward selfishness and hatred. The Golden Age of truth, purity, compassion, generosity, and loving kindness had crumbled to the dark desires of the Iron Age, where the ego reared its ugly head.

Astraea is said to have decided all was lost and returned herself to the Beyond and was cast as the constellation Virgo. So when we cycle around the wheel each year and enter Virgo- it's a nudge to be the “ones who choose themselves”-to make good choices for ourselves and for the collective. As I said in my last newsletter, we are slowly beginning to rise out of the ashes of a long, dark period. But that doesn’t just happen. We have to do the work-we have to keep our eye on the prize. Which in this case the prize is lovingkindness, peace and harmony on earth. It is living to our fullest potential. It is knowing a depth of Love that heals all wounds and sustains a state of bliss that is beyond anything we can imagine. We can return back to the ways of the Golden Age, or the Satya Yuga.

This might be a stretch, but if the Universe had a non-profit, Virgo is the ultimate NGO. It reminds us to be of service to the greater good and bring more Light into the world; To be the embodiment of Astraea and shine like a Star and be a beacon of light for others. And to apply discernment, discipline, and devotion to this cause.

‘Tis the season to return to ourselves. Build our tapas- or inner fire-so we can withstand the temptations to cave to our unhealthy desires. Find healthy replacements for some of the negative habits, patterns, or addictions we have developed through repetitive use. For example, when I got pregnant with my oldest son Max, a mere 24 years ago- I was a pack-a-day smoker. I knew I couldn’t continue that nasty habit any longer so I took up yoga as an alternative to my craving of ni****ne. It worked. I haven’t had a ciggy since then.

Ironically, love of myself never got me to quit…but love of my unborn son was what it took. I learned a valuable lesson-I always believed I could never quit because I was too deep in the addiction. So I never really gave it my full discernment, discipline and devotion. This is where the Virgo lens is a good looking glass for all of us. Most of us have a need for a little clean-up on aisle 9 in the supermarket of our soul. And with a little tapas applied, we can find ourselves free and clear of the things that hold us back. I learned that I can change if I really want to-I just have to value myself enough to do it.

Remember, if something pulls you away from being in your highest Light, then choose to pass it by. Put a high value on yourself. Trust your inner knowing; if it doesn’t feel right -don’t do it. That’s discernment in action. Do something that does feel right instead.

So lets go get our back-to-school supplies-Now is the time. Who doesn’t love school supplies? You might not have a need for TrapperKeepers anymore, but the School of Life has a list of needs for you. Go to the supermarket of your soul and get these things:

Quiet time-Stillness
Tapas/inner fire/Self-Discipline
Strong dose of Self-Worth
Devotion to your High Self
Daily health routine for Mind/Body/Spirit
Discernemnt-make good choices
Trust-all of this is entirely why you are here.
Kindness-its the only currency that will never lose its value.
Truth-Be honest-including with yourself
Last but not least, Dancing Shoes-to help you move joyfully through this dance of life.

May you step into autumn with a sense of health and well-being, come to your mat as part of establishing those healthy routines. Now is the time…

Much love Star Beings,
Katrina