Audra Carmine
Meditation Teacher, Yoga Instructor, Mindfulness Coach
"How many identities can we shed to get to the heart of who we really are?"
This is Audra's primary inquiry in her life, her practice, and her teaching.
Audra is an internationally known teacher of yoga, meditation, and philosophy. A dedicated practitioner and student of both Yoga and Buddhism, Audra brings delight, humor, compassion, levity, love, and a multi-faith perspective to her classes. The physical practice is an invitation into flow, where students have the opportunity to drop into vastness and connect with the largeness that exists both inside and outside of themselves.
As a dharma and meditation teacher, Audra weaves the esoteric teachings seamlessly with the personal, inspiring students to take the two wings of practice-- wisdom and compassion--into the simple moments that make up the content of their daily lives.
She is deeply connected to the fact that even the practice can become a trap and an identity, in and of itself. It is through humor, lightness, and not taking herself so seriously that she continues to to disentangle herself from spiritual materialism, the white supremacist hierarchy, the patriarchy, and the spiritual bypassing that is so prevalent in the wellness world.
Pre-Pandemic, Audra owned and operated a chain of highly successful yoga studios in Portland, Oregon--Love Hive Yoga, and Free Love Yoga. Currently, she continues to teach in person at The People's Yoga, and offers online classes with Charm, her own baby company. You can catch up with her on her podcast and listen to her change her mind, think it over, and try again. Once a year, Audra teaches an international retreat. We are going to Portugal in 2024--grab your spot before they are all gone.
Audra earned her Masters degree in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, and is certified as a meditation and mindfulness teacher with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Through this training she has connected deeply with the work of Sebene Selassie and Konda Mason. She is grateful to her longtime, steadfast teachers Manorama, Todd Jackson, Christina Sell, and Jasmine Tarkeshi.
I take what Audra teaches me in yoga class into my own teaching. How to be authentic and real with my students. I even have used the sentence--we are all humans having a human experience--to help my students be kinder to themselves. I say one of the greatest gifts of the pandemic is that I've had to learn to be more self-compassionate, something Audra demonstrates to her students every day.
Then of course there are the amazing flow sequences. Free Love has been my touchstone through such a difficult time. I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through it mentally or physically without this community.
Rebecca Wolfe
Professor at The University of Chicago
