Pilates Foundation qualified matwork Pilates teacher, 500 hour course. 

Brigid McCarthy Pilates Studio qualified Reformer Pilates teacher.

3rd generation Lolita’s Legacy comprehensively trained (matwork and apparatus) Pilates teacher, 500 hour course. 

Completed the Pilates Foundation bridging (apparatus) training course with Vanessa Smith Pilates, 800 hour course.

Specialist pregnancy and post-natal certification.

Karen qualified as a matwork teacher with the Pilates Foundation UK Ltd in 2010.

Having started taking Pilates classes in 1999 with Vanessa Smith, Karen was hooked from the start and practised Pilates extensively with inspiring and deeply knowledgeable Pilates Foundation teachers for over a decade prior to commencing the rigorous Pilates Foundation 500+ hour matwork teacher training course at the Brigid McCarthy Pilates Studio in Edinburgh.

During this personal practise Karen experienced the hugely positive effects of Pilates on her own body, even more so during pregnancy and post-natally and is passionate about helping others discover the benefits of Pilates.

Karen also qualified to teach on the Universal Reformer completing the teacher training course at the Brigid McCarthy Pilates Studio. 

Additionally Karen is a 3rd generation comprehensively trained Pilates teacher having qualified from the Lolita's Legacy teacher training programme.

Lolita's Legacy is the 500 hour teacher training programme of Lolita San Miguel, a 1st generation Pilates master teacher who trained with Joseph Pilates. Lolita, now aged 84, is one of the few remaining Pilates 'Elders'. 

Always looking for more depth of knowledge to pass onto her clients Karen has also undertaken the 800 hour Pilates Foundation bridging course (apparatus training) at Vanessa Smith Pilates studio in Glasgow, further refining her insight and skills to help clients realise real lasting change.

Karen also holds a specialist certification in pre-natal and post-natal Pilates, having studied with Rachel Rafiefar, the first specialist Pilates for pregnancy teacher in the UK and master teacher trainer at The Thoughtful Body studio.

Karen is a member of the Guild of Pregnancy and Post-natal Exercise Instructors. 

Some of the professional development workshops Karen has attended include -

• Pilates for Equestrians with Mary Thornton
• Teaching Men Pilates with Anthony Lett
• Pilates in Clay (anatomy) with Anthony Lett
• Release or Recruit? with Suzy Barton and Warrick McNeill
• Neurodynamics for Pilates Teachers with Suzy Barton and Warrick McNeill
• Beyond Neutral with Nathan Gardner
• Spirals with Nathan Gardner
• Feldenkrais with Vanessa Smith 
• Working with Hypermobility with Isobel Knight and Jessica Moolenaar
• Rolling through the Spine with Brigid McCarthy
• Finding your Legs with Brigid McCarthy 
• Review, Refine and Extend your Practice with Hana Jones
• Feldenkrais and Pilates - giving clients choices with Vanessa Smith
• Psoas - the clever guy of the pelvis with Cameron Angus
• Emphasis on Extension with Alan Herdman
• Carola Trier's Circuit Workout with Jillian Hessel
• Mastering Control on the Mat with Brett Howard
• A True Pilates Studio Experience with Lolita San Miguel
• Lolita's Body Walk with Brett Howard
• Studio Circuit for the Whole Body with Brett Howard
• Exploring Fluids in Pilates Practise with Anne-Marie Zulkahari
   

In addition to teaching weekly mat classes and 1-1s Karen has also taught specialist workshops on Pilates for equestrians and has run sessions for top level ice-dancers. She also assisted at a Mobilize charity event for injured servicemen.