Karuna’s Story

Karuna’s Story

From being photographed by Pamela Hanson for my first professional portfolio in the wheat fields of Colorado, I have navigated a journey of fantastic and sometimes blistering experiences with over four decades of yoga, meditation, and Ayurvedic diet. I started blind in Paris on a one-way ticket to “make it” as a professional model. After months of fruitless auditioning, on pluck and providence, Guy Bourdin, considered one of France’s most famous fashion artists and photographers, took one concerted look at me and booked me for 6 months at French Vogue. From his photos and legacy, my image is now in museums worldwide.

Then contracted as a model with Eileen Ford, who brought me from Paris to New York, exuberant and riding high on the energy, I broke both arms pedaling a bike down Fifth Avenue to a Mademoiselle shoot. Always intent on “Showing Up,” I went to the Ralph Lauren show the very next day, as I was cast to walk the runway and sadly had to observe instead, double-casted. This immediately sparked my advocacy for model protection, and I was one of the first to advocate for emergency insurance. When privacy on set for models became a reoccurring issue, I used my voice and championed those privacy rights along with Jerry Hall.

In my next “stage,” I stood on my head to audition for The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where I graced the same boards as Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Sir Anthony Hopkins. While still modeling and acting, I raised two very young children, living a very full householder life. I happened to be the daughter-in-law of Laura Ashley who created a fashion empire and left us a legacy championing women, a reason you often saw Princess Diana wearing Laura Ashley.

about the author

Q & A

1. Why did you write this book? What is its purpose? Why a Kundalini Yoga Lifestyle Guide and Daily Companion?

My Purpose in Life is to share the teachings of any practice that will give anyone at any age an advantage of how to change lives and serve in their unique authentic voices. A teacher is the highest caliber of a Human Being. To really be honest, my story is a young woman’s journey in hopes to eventually find inner peace and purpose to make this life full of love, humor, forgiveness and compassionately honoring myself to honor others more carefully.

2. There is the saying, “It takes a village.” In Light on Kundalini, you use the analogy of a village to help readers navigate through the offerings contained within. Why is it important to understand that different Kundalini Yoga practices may be applied at different times in life to varied experiences? Further, why is the general concept of “community” so vital to Kundalini Yoga?

Sanghat or community in Kundalini Yoga is a starting point to live in Ashrams, to cook and share meals, to learn how to be polite and have exceptional patience. The KY tools are specific for each step from Waking Up, Growing, Up, Cleaning UP to Showing Up. Meditation is vital in our lives now. KY gives you stamina and strength to serve each other in Community with like-minded beings.

3. You also talk a bit about “going down the rabbit hole,” and how Kundalini Yoga aids in navigating the challenges associated therewith. When did you first “go down the rabbit hole,” and how did you know that Yoga was helping you to climb out of, or at least find strong handholds and footholds to mitigate the plunge?

The minute you sign a contract with a Modeling Agency or any workforce, you have this idea you have “made it.” Well, let me share with you, it’s only the beginning. You will get poked, provoked, and confronted; eventually, your ego has to surrender and make a change necessary to complete the task handed to you.

I first went down the rabbit hole when I was given a one-way ticket to Paris from a French Agency. I made the decision to go immediately and thought everyone spoke English. For a long period of time schlepping across Paris, I never got a ‘call back’ or received an opportunity to work. Finally, I had to change my approach, dig very deep, and make my heart know I was going to work. Once I connected with my inner guidance, I opened a magazine and saw Guy Bourdin, saying to myself, “This guy would like me! Those women look just like me.” That very day, I answered the phone and accepted an invitation to lunch, wiping the tears from my eyes, which resulted in a miracle meeting with Guy Bourdin, the exact photographer whom I had seen that morning in the magazine. After all of those months struggling, as quick as that, I changed my agent and received an opportunity for 6 months of French Vogue through Guy, and henceforth was referred to as “Miss Bourdin.” KY only makes you try harder, listen more deeply, and own up to yourself in a very defined, organic lifestyle. KY gives you a discipline like no other practice I have experienced because it changes you, your body, your metabolism on its own. KY raises your frequency to its highest vibration which changes the subconscious patterns that no longer serve you. It opens the being to new possibilities and fresh energy to reopen, re-engage, remember what we are capable of while at the same time providing mature discernment of situations that leads us out of the rabbit holes and into prospering gardens for tea. Even with little exposure to classes or teachings of Yoga, it is innate, this mastery, in our deep Self, which is always, from the moment of birth and rebirth, working on our behalf for awakening. When we go deep into the beloved loka of the heart, natural Yoga, the guidance and gifts are there.

Hopefully, my stories of being poked, provoked, and confronted, which eventually led to surrender, change, and elevated awakening, will resonate with your experiences and provide guidance and support as you find a way in and through your challenges to make your life full of love, humor, and forgiveness, compassionately honoring yourself, others, and the planet more carefully and intimately. Let us meet and greet each other with love along the way, blending our hearts, communities, and paths into One.

lifestyle guides to

yoga and awakening

Yoga saved my life. May it help you live yours. Embrace the opportunity – take this journey, explore your inner world, and redefine your reality. Through the practices in this book, find your authentic voice and true self, alter engrained narratives, and upshift your life. Release blockages and rediscover joy with Karuna and Kundalini Yoga.