Kevin James Karas, MA, E-RYT 500 is an international yoga professional on a mission to develop connection and wellbeing through making yoga, mindfulness and contemplative practices accessible. He actualizes this mission through yoga nonprofit leadership, facilitating Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) Programs as the lead trainer, consulting with yoga studios on how to open and improve their YTT, publishing yoga and academic content, managing an intentional living community, and hosting yoga festivals and retreats.

Yoga Nonprofit Leadership:
As Board Governance Manager for Yoga Alliance, Kevin manages the Board of Directors for the world’s largest yoga nonprofit association which sets the global standards for over 110,000 members. In his hometown of Akron, OH, he serves as the Executive Director of Elevate Akron (est. 2015), a volunteer-led yoga nonprofit that has partnered with 300+ local businesses, nonprofits & artists to bring Yoga to 18,000+ people through community programming such as the Elevate Akron Yoga Festival.

Yoga Teacher Training:
Kevin certifies yoga teachers at Studio Oxygen Athletics and has consulted with several yoga teacher training programs to successfully create or improve their programs. His lineage is inspired from over 15 years of studying yoga in it's wholeness from the Sivananda, Integral, Sampoorna, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Rasa, and Mindfulness traditions as well as many modern styles of practice accessible to the modern day yogi.

Yoga Content and Publications:
He’s partnered with many talented musicians to provide yoga with live music experiences such as Guided Sound Journey or Elevate Akron Online. Further, his award winning graduate thesis explored the teaching methods of master yoga and meditation teachers and influences his teaching methods today. In his free-time, he loves hosting and attending yoga retreats locally and internationally, especially in Montezuma Costa Rica and The Sacred Valley of Peru.