Unlike many of my fellow teachers and practitioners, I was not an athletic child or young adult. I could not dance ('two left feet' don’t even begin to describe my skill level in this area), and I don’t have a martial art to my name. Somehow however, yoga had always seemed intriguing.

I finally began to explore yoga at a health club in my late 40s while looking for some type of physical activity that did not involve bouncing about to loud, annoying music, and for some relief from chronic pain. For years I fiddled around “doing” yoga off-and-on. I studied with Matt Huish after moving to Portland and, with his expert guidance, began to practice more consistently to develop a personal practice which continues to sustain me in all dimensions of life.

I began teacher training a few months before my 50th birthday, which included apprenticeship with Jody Kurilla. I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach at the Yoga Shala over the past several years. I am a Registered Yoga Teacher with the International Yoga Alliance. To look me up, search 'Catherine Fine' instead of 'Kate'.

Workshops with visiting teachers, including Shandor Remete, Srivatsa Ramaswami, Sonia Nelson, and others, continue to enrich my growth as a practitioner and teacher. It is my hope to share the many blessings of yoga with others, encouraging and empowering them to step beyond their perceived limitations.

My yoga teaching endeavors combine with my life as a busy “householder”: speech pathologist working with young children, enthusiastic if rather novice gardener, “mom” of 2-plus cats, to keep me busy and off the streets. I am profoundly grateful to all my teachers, especially to Matt, Jody, and Bhushunda the Long-Lived Crow.