Karen Dubs, founder of Flexible Warrior Yoga, Health & Wellness Coaching, is raising the bar on pre-wedding celebrations by offering healthier alternatives to a night out at a bar.
At her “Girls Night In” events, choose from a yoga class followed by smoothies or a juice toast with healthy snacks, a class on essential oils or a blend of it all for your wedding party.
“When you do something that’s a little more centering and calm, it gives people the opportunity to connect with each other in a way they otherwise wouldn’t, when the chaos of life is swirling around us,” shares Karen.
Karen, who has taught yoga to the Ravens for many seasons, leads private events in her Parkton home studio, her clients’ homes and during warmer months, at park and beach destinations. Or, consider surprising your wedding party the morning of your big day with a private yoga class before the makeup, hair, and getting dressed triathlon begins.
Karen’s Flexible Warrior philosophy centers on creating a flexible body and mind, with a combination of willpower and “chillpower.” The chillpower part came well into Karen’s now 30-year plus fitness career after she faced some health challenges. What seemed like a setback, inspired her to propel forward in a new way.
“When I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and autoimmune thyroid disease, I wasted years of my life fighting fatigue, feeling sorry for myself and resisting slowing down. I dealt with the diagnosis by pushing through, surviving on coffee, sugar and painkillers instead of embracing the situation and giving myself the time and TLC to heal. As a result, my health got progressively worse,” writes Karen in her book, Flexible Warrior: Think, Stretch and Eat for Balance and Resilience. Her experience inspired her to study at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and to balance yoga with nutrition and self-care.
Karen brings the same calming energy that changed her life to her clients, whether they face 9-to-5 stress, pre-race athletic jitters or pre-wedding ones. Learn more about her special events, individual coaching plans and online reboot program at FlexibleWarrior.com.
Read about Wedding411 publisher Karen Buck’s experience doing a Flexible Warrior online challenge.
Supercharge your Life:
Wedding411’s Publisher, Karen Buck Shares Her 14-day Flexible Warrior Online Reboot Experience.
What started as casual conversation this past March at a neighborhood party between two Karens supercharged a shift in Wedding 411 publisher, Karen Buck’s approach to eating.
Karen Buck first met Karen Dubs, founder of Flexible Warrior Yoga, Health & Wellness Coaching, a few years back when she took yoga at her Parkton studio. But then life “got in the way” and she stopped going.
Fast forward to this past St. Patrick’s day when the Karens were at a social gathering and got into a conversation about how Karen Buck wasn’t sleeping well and knew that she was substituting carb heavy cereal for too many meals. Karen Dubs suggested she try her Flexible Warrior online group reboot program, which encourages participants to work toward their intentions, backed by the support of healthy ingredient shopping lists, plant based recipes, daily supportive self-care tips, meditation, food journaling and yoga.
“I set my intentions to change my diet,” shares Karen, whose quest was about eating healthier and not losing weight.
“The exciting thing is I was tasting things and introducing things in my life that I have never tasted. I never knew ground flaxseed, dragon fruit, matcha powder, blueberries and kale with cinnamon and honey could taste so divine… It’s not like Weight Watchers where you weigh yourself. It’s not about the weight. It’s about feeling better and putting good things in your system,” says Karen.
“The Flexible Warrior program is not one you’ll go on or off of,” writes Karen Dubs in her book, Flexible Warrior: Think, Stretch and Eat for Balance and Resilience. “Make small, sustainable changes that fuel your life force and you’ll never have to feel guilty or count calories again.”
Karen Buck shares after the initial enjoyment of new flavors and eliminating processed food and sugars, came a tough wake up call around day five. “I thought I had become a diabetic. I was shaking,” remembers Karen, whose sister informed her it was “carb flu” and her body was detoxing. Karen stuck with it and felt better two days later. She found it was a challenge to eat enough fruits and vegetables to offset the calories from the carbs she had lived on before, and at first was losing two pounds daily.
Eventually, Karen leveled off at the lower end of her comfortable weight range. While she treats herself to an occasional ice cream, “I have no desire to go back to living on the carbs that I was living on and all that processed sugar… I see the health benefits.” Looking back, she wishes she had kept the food journal to track her experience.
During the program, Karen added one or two yoga classes a week to her activity line-up of horseback riding, refereeing girls’ softball and counseling congregants at her church. She plans to do more yoga moving forward.
Karen calls the experience “immensely life changing.” “The beautiful thing about Karen Dubs is you cannot fail. If you slip, nobody is wagging a finger at you. You are making an effort to change. It’s not about winning or losing,”
Written By: Rebecca Klein Scott