120: Karen Fabian on Sequencing, Anatomy, Confidence & Teaching Yoga Since 2002

In this episode of the Yoga Teacher Training Podcast, Jeremy Devens welcomes Karen Fabian, founder of Bare Bones Yoga, for a straight-talking, deeply practical, and inspiring conversation for yoga teachers at any stage of their journey. Karen shares how her unique 10-step anatomy-based method helps teachers feel more confident, clear, and connected in their classes. With a background in rehabilitative medicine and over two decades of experience teaching yoga and anatomy, Karen breaks down what actually builds confidence for teachers—and it’s not what you think.

You’ll hear insights on:

• Why repeating sequences actually builds more confidence and connection with students

• How perfectionism, childhood conditioning, and limiting beliefs show up in the teaching space

• Why teachers who practice the whole class with their students are missing the opportunity to actually teach

• How to “break up with your practice” so you can teach from embodied experience without needing to demonstrate

• What it really means to walk into a room and lead from integrity, clarity, and vision

Whether you’re just finishing your teacher training or feeling stuck years into your career, this episode will reignite your passion and clarify your purpose.

5 Key Quotes:

1. “There is something triggering about teaching yoga. And I say that from personal experience and from the teachers I work with. There’s something about it that brings up our stuff. It’s not just, oh, I’m nervous. It’s more like, I want to get it right. I want to be liked. I want them to like me. I want to do it right. I don’t want to be embarrassed.”

2. “I call it: how to break up with your practice as the source of your teaching. Because that’s what a lot of teachers do. They practice at home and then they reverse-engineer that sequence and teach it in class. And then when they get into class, they teach it from their mat.”

3. “There was no big uprising on the fourth class when I taught the same sequence. Nobody cared. Nobody was like, I’m calling corporate. Nobody. It was just a reminder to me: this is something I’m creating in my own head, this idea that every class needs to be different.”

4. “I remember one time teaching and I looked around and I realized: I’m actually teaching. I’m not just cueing from the script in my head. I’m responding to them. I’m seeing them. I’m walking around. I’m adjusting. And I thought to myself, I think I’m actually teaching yoga right now.”

   5. “Every yoga teacher has agency over how they want to show up. And I think sometimes we forget that. We think we have to be a certain way. But your experience, your background, your voice—it all matters. And your students need you to bring that to the room.”