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Kimberly Roberts - Personal Biography

My grandmother Toppy was possibly my first yoga teacher. When I was a teenager and sat on the terrace with her late into the night listening to waves and talking about The Great Mystery, she often shared her simple yet profound philosophy: Relax and Enjoy.

Richard Freeman introduced me to Ashtanga yoga in 1992. While pursuing a masters degree at Naropa University in Contemplative Psychology, I was so inspired by Richard's teaching that I ended up practicing with him for 10 years in Boulder and eventually teaching with him. I still study with him regularly because he shows me how to stick with a program without being a fundamentalist. In 1997 I went to study with Pattabhi Jois in Mysore. After several years and a few more extended visits, I received his authorization to teach the Ashtanga system.

I first started teaching yoga in 1995 at a 3-month long dharma retreat. We were meditating for 10 hours a day and people were desperate for relief from aches and pains, so I shared what little I knew. Because of this auspicious introduction to teaching, and as a student of Tibetan Buddhism, I see the benefits of yoga practice as an aid to prepare the body for meditation.

Since then, I've taught yoga and meditation in a strange variety of settings: jail, a psychiatric hospital, by correspondence with prison inmates, luxury hotels, embassies, schools, studios and retreat centers in North America, Europe and Asia. I taught privately in Paris while working in the Inter-Religious Dialogue department at UNESCO, ran retreats in post-tsunami Sri Lanka to help garner support for victims, and from 2006-07 directed the yoga program at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. Now, I make my teaching base in Bhutan, with time for summer retreats in Crestone, Colorado.