Hello, I'm
Karson McGinley

Yoga Teacher and Life Coach
Karson McGinley is the founder of Happy-U Yoga (a Holistic Approach to Positive Psychology & Yoga), based in San Diego. A teacher for over a decade, Karson works to bridge the gap between the ancient wisdom of yoga and the modern science of human flourishing through her classes, regular contributions to the Chopra Center’s catalogue of wellness articles, and leading the Happy-U Yoga & Positive Psychology Teacher Training program.

Karson teaches Hatha, Vinyasa, and Anusara Elements™ classes, inspired by the teachings of Classical and Tantric yogic philosophy, positive psychology, and metaphysical texts like A Course in Miracles. By sharing spiritual themes, scientific research, and anecdotal evidence, she makes the practice of authentic yoga accessible and relevant to everyone. Karson is a 500-RYT with Yoga Alliance, and has additional certifications in Prenatal Yoga, Anusara Elements, and is a Registered Continuing Education Provider. She has also appeared as a guest teacher at the Wanderlust Yoga Festival, Rancho La Puerta, and the Chopra Center, and was a two-time lululemon ambassador. Karson resides in Temecula’s wine country with her husband and two young children. Find out more about her in-person and online offerings at www.karsonmcginley.com

Karson McGinley

Articles

yoga

Why Savasana Is the Hardest Yoga Pose

Savasana might look like a nap at the end of your yoga practice. But it’s actually a fully conscious pose aimed at being awake, yet completely relaxed. In Savasana—also known as corpse pose— you lie d …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

Intention, Attention, No Tension: 3 Tips to Master the Law of Attraction

According to Michael Losier’s The Law of Attraction (LOA), you attract into your life whatever you focus your attention and energy on, whether positive or negative. While it is relatively easy to unde …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

Instruction Manual: How to Use Your Inner GPS

You get in your car and punch a destination into the vehicle’s GPS. A pathway appears with explicit directions on how to get from where you’re sitting to where you’d like to arrive. Your only job is t …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

10 Ways to Be Your Own Valentine

Valentine’s Day provides a reminder that you don’t need anyone else to make you feel loved and important. You can choose to approach Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to be grateful, love, and take ca …

Karson McGinley
yoga

5 Common Yoga Alignment Mistakes, and How to Fix Them

If you’ve ever taken a yoga class, you’ve heard your teacher give cues for proper alignment. But how do you know if you’re executing them properly? Sometimes you might think you’re in alignment, but y …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

Where Do You Stack Up on the Happiness Scale?

Your happiness is, to a high degree, within your control—this is one of the greatest psychological discoveries of the past few decades. Researchers in the field of positive psychology (the science of …

Karson McGinley
yoga

5 Ways to Develop a Family-Friendly Yoga Practice

Home life can be beautifully hectic, especially when there are children in the household. While we know that a personal yoga practice has myriad benefits for the individual, a family yoga practice has …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Playground Yoga: 6 Poses to Try While Your Kids Play

In an ideal world, you would have 1 to 2 hours a day to devote to your own yoga practice; however, sometimes as a parent, it simply isn’t a possibility. Why not embrace your ability to multitask by in …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Yoga Class 101: What to Expect from Your First Yoga Class

Ready to try your first public yoga class? If you are at all intimidated by the thought of moving your practice out of your living room and into the yoga studio, here’s a guide for how to proceed and …

Karson McGinley
yoga

5 Common Yoga Cues Decoded

There are certain things you may have come to expect from your yoga classes, like whether or not you’ll break a sweat or the fact that you will always end with Savasana. There are also some cues (or d …

Karson McGinley
yoga

6 Reasons to Practice Prenatal Yoga

Pregnancy is a time of embracing transitions: a changing body, shifting priorities, and a different family dynamic. Most women choose to make their physical health a priority during pregnancy, recogni …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Going with the Flow: How to Increase Emotional, Energetic, and Physical Flexibility

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is quoted as saying, “The only constant in life is change,” putting the onus on you to either adapt or get left behind. In a time when it might feel like things are ch …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Willpower

When people hear the word “willpower,” there’s potential for different reactions. Some people think they generally have a lot of it, others feel as if they have none, and still others find themselves …

Karson McGinley
yoga

A Simple Guide to the Most Common Yoga Styles

More people in the West are practicing yoga than ever before. Doctors are prescribing it, scientists are endorsing it, and some insurance plans are even covering it. Though the physical practice of yo …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

10 Ways to Infuse More Creativity into Your Life

Whether you are a painter, a business executive, a grocery store checker, or a stay-at-home mom or dad, you draw upon your creativity every day. That delicate, often elusive quality presents itself in …

Karson McGinley
yoga

6 Yoga Poses That Don't Require a Yoga Mat

It’s certainly a gift to be able to practice yoga with a full arsenal of props and equipment on hand. But to what degree is the “stuff” actually necessary to practice? Your yoga mat has become synonym …

Karson McGinley
yoga

5 Minutes of Yoga: A Quick Sequence to Do When You’re Short on Time

It would sure be lovely if you had two hours a day to practice yoga, but in this fast-paced world, you’re lucky if you can snag a minute in Downward-Facing Dog on some days. Author Gretchen Rubin says …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

5 Ways to Embrace Imperfection

im·per·fec·tion / impərˈfekSH(ə)n/: the state of being faulty or incomplete.Have you ever wondered if there was such a strong epidemic of perfectionism before the rise of the Internet and social media …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Elevate the World Through Your Own Happiness

There’s a lot going on in the world right now that can leave you feeling helpless and hopeless. It’s tempting to want to retreat into your own little bubble with thoughts like, what could little ol’ m …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Chill Out with These 6 Cooling Yoga Poses

In the hot days of summer, you can either stand in front of your air conditioner all day long, or you can try some of these naturally cooling yoga poses between your ice pops and cold showers.As an as …

Karson McGinley
meditation

10 Ways to Connect to the Present Moment Without a Meditation Cushion

You’ve heard the benefits of meditation, and maybe you have a devoted formal practice that gets you up before sunrise. But your ability to connect to the present moment needn’t be limited to the time …

Karson McGinley
meditation

5 Tips for Maintaining Your Spiritual Practice While Traveling

Humans are creatures of habit who crave routine. Anytime your routine is disrupted, you may feel off center—an illness, injury, or a switch in jobs are just some life experiences that cause a disrupti …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Let Your Leaves Fall: 5 Yoga Poses to Release the Old and Prep for the New

The shift in seasons is nature’s way of reminding you to pay attention. While it seems obvious that you adjust your outer life to acclimate to the changing weather, you may often forget the shift that …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Uncover the Symbolism in 10 Common Yoga Poses

If you have a dedicated asana practice, postures can tend to feel rote over the course of a lifetime. If you have a home practice, you may notice yourself doing the same poses in the same way, day aft …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Be Your Own Life Coach

Life coaches are fantastic investments. Spending money on yourself to further your personal development is one of the greatest signs to the Universe that you value your well-being, happiness, and succ …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Interpretations of 5 Timeless Yoga Sutras

The wisdom of any given day reflects the beliefs and values of that time. Wisdom about how to get from point A to point B in the 1800s, for example, likely had to do with how to get your horse to keep …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Warm Up with These 8 Yoga Poses for Winter

Drinking hot cocoa by your fireplace isn’t the only way to get warm during the colder winter months. Shifting the contents of your yoga practice toward postures that heat and stimulate the fire within …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

5 Big Mistakes People Make When Setting Their Goals

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of New Year’s? Depending on your stage of life, you might think of champagne and dancing, or a hot cup of tea by the fire with your journal. Wh …

Karson McGinley
Mind-body Health

Smiling Is Powerful Medicine: Research on How Smiling Can Improve Your Health, and Relationships

No matter where you find yourself on this planet or what language you speak, you’ll know a smile when you see one. While cross-cultural studies reveal slightly different meanings ascribed to smiling, …

Karson McGinley
meditation

A Modern Take on the Roots of Suffering

A lifetime on the spiritual path means revisiting the sacred texts over and over again. Whether this is your first foray into the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali or the hundredth, you will encounter in Chapt …

Karson McGinley
yoga

5 Ways to Enjoy Child’s Pose

There are many reasons why you likely breathe a sigh of relief anytime your teacher tells you to come into Child’s Pose. So much more than just a resting position, Balasana is a chance to slow down, c …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Become a Morning Person

While it’s true that some people are naturally larks (morning people) and others are owls (night people), you need not restrict yourself to being one or the other. Yoga and meditation practices can te …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

8 Tips for Cultivating a Beginner's Mind

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." -Shunryu SuzukiIf it’s true what they say, that no one likes a know-it-all, what happens when the know-it-all …

Karson McGinley
yoga

7 Happiness-Boosting Mudras to Add to Your Yoga and Meditation Practice

In this day and age when stress and anxiety seem to lurk around every corner, it just makes sense to add to your wellness toolkit another practice that requires nothing but your own body and awareness …

Karson McGinley
meditation

11 Yoga Poses and a Meditation for Transitioning from Winter to Spring

“Again, the season of Spring has comeAnd a spring-source rises under everything,A moon sliding from the shadows.”-RumiThe Spring Equinox has come and gone, meaning the days are once again getting long …

Karson McGinley
ayurveda

Kapha Season: Clear Yourself Inside and Out

Spring is the season of rebirth, renewal, and fresh beginnings, and the ideal time for clearing out the old and making way for the new. As the buds stretch toward the light, you have the capacity to g …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

7 Ways to Increase Your Happiness at Work

Adults in America spend most of their waking hours at work, and more time at their job than the rest of the world. Considering that less than 50 percent of working people in the U.S. say they are sati …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Enjoy a Full Moon-Inspired Yoga Practice

The Sanskrit word purnata represents a sense of all-encompassing fullness, or divine perfection. Connect to the completeness of your inner being with this full moon-inspired yoga practice.According to …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Find Your Inner Warrior: Build Courage with These 3 Warrior Poses

The warrior poses are among the most well recognized postures in the Hatha yoga tradition. Standing poses that are accessible to almost everyone—Virabhadrasana I, II, and III—engage the entire physica …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Yoga Props 101: Blocks, Straps, Blankets, and Bolsters

While it is true that you need nothing but your body and breath to practice yoga, yoga props are extremely useful in helping to create sthira (steadiness) and sukha (comfort) in your yoga practice. By …

Karson McGinley
meditation

Embrace the 5 Koshas in Your Yoga Practice

Yoga offers many models that expand your view of the human experience. One of them is the kosha system, presented in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. This Vendantic model presents the human organism as contai …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

The Correlation Between Spirituality and Happiness

Prayer, meditation, chanting, contemplation, journaling, reading, and singing. Chances are you have turned to one or more of these practices throughout your life—from saying prayers before bed as a ch …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

3 Tips to Regulate Your Social Media Habit

Do you remember life before social media? When you showed up to your high school reunion having no idea what your classmates had been up to? When people did yoga poses without photographing them? When …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

6 Ways to Embrace Your Sense of Humor for a More Fulfilling Life

How would it feel to live your life efficiently and effectively while still having fun? While laughter may feel like a luxury, having a sense of humor might be more important for a healthy and happy l …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

9 Ways to Increase the Positivity in Your Life

You have more control over your happiness than you might think. In fact, the happiest people don’t leave their life satisfaction to chance, they do the work necessary to make their happiness a priorit …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Shift From Expectations to Intentions

Shift the way you view the future, and the world around you will shift, too.Setting intentions for your day, your relationship, and your life could be one of the most beneficial things you do to steer …

Karson McGinley
yoga

Embrace Your Unique Anatomy in Your Yoga Practice

There is not a single pose in the entire yoga lexicon that every human body can achieve. Let that sink in for a moment.In a world that would have you believe that if you just work harder, longer, and …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

52 Gratitude Prompts for 52 Weeks of Appreciation

The season of gratitude is upon us, but why limit your thanks to Thanksgiving?While studies have concluded that gratitude practices yield greater happiness and health, it isn’t necessary to write down …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Use the Holiday Season to Position Yourself for Success in the New Year

Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve to think about your resolutions and goals for next year. Set yourself up for success in the New Year by starting the work now.If you are like most people, you see the t …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

7 Strategies to Attract Everything You Want in the New Year

It is human nature to change, grow, and expand, and something about a new year brings all your desires to light. Whether you want to improve your nutrition, ditch your desk job, or finally write the b …

Karson McGinley
Mind-body Health

10 Habits to Help You Lose Weight and Keep It Off

To lose weight and keep it off, you must be willing to make changes. While there are multiple factors beyond your control that can affect your ability to lose weight (including genetics, race, and age …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

8 Ways to Choose Optimism Over Pessimism

Is your cup half empty or half full? Your answer to this question says a lot about you, your health, and your happiness. At a time when the world could really use it, it pays to be optimistic. Not onl …

Karson McGinley
Mind-body Health

Exploring Saucha: The Purity of Mind, Body, and Intention

Thanks to Marie Kondo and her Konmari Method, decluttering and finding what “sparks joy” is all the rage right now. Of course, spiritual practices around cleanliness and order are age-old practices, a …

Karson McGinley
meditation

10 Ways to Renew Yourself Spiritually

When you feel like you’ve been skimming the surface of life, it is likely a sign you need to reboot. Feeling like you’re stuck in a rut can put a damper on even the most blessed life; however, spiritu …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

10 Lessons That Will Make You a Better Leader

Do you consider yourself a leader? What is leadership? While some believe that leaders are born that way, the truth is that anyone can learn to be a leader by understanding some key findings and by pu …

Karson McGinley
meditation

Morning Meditation: 9 Keys to Manifesting Your Dreams in the A.M.

Bring to mind the happiest and most successful people you can think of and you can virtually guarantee two things: They have a meditation or mindfulness practice. They have conscious mornings rituals. …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Create a Passion List that Improves Your Life

“Many people confuse the reward with the ultimate goal. This is why so many people still feel empty and lost when they finally achieve their ‘dream’.”–Elisa Romeo, Meet Your SoulResearch has shown tha …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

20 Baby Steps Toward Self-Improvement

It is a basic human desire to want to grow, improve, and evolve. Over the course of a lifetime, events big and small contribute to how you spiritually and mentally mature. Everything from having a bab …

Karson McGinley
meditation

5 Reasons You Should Meditate In the Morning

What if you could take a magic pill each morning that would reduce your stress, lessen your anxiety, increase your ability to focus, and improve your memory? It would also help you to become more self …

Karson McGinley
meditation

Gratitude Meditation: Connect to the Happiness Within

Take some time to relax into the blessings of the season with this guided meditation on gratitude. As you put your attention on all that you have to be thankful for, you will connect to the happiness …

Karson McGinley
meditation

The Meaning of Namasté

Namasté is more than a word used to end a yoga session. With respect and reverence, Namasté is a way to see and honor the reality of others.Namasté (nah-mah-stay). You hear this word at the end of eve …

Karson McGinley
meditation

Sacred Space: How to Make an Altar in Your Home

Having an altar in your home is one way in which you can connect to the sacred and your spirituality on a daily basis. Here are some tips on how you can get started. Whether it’s sacred time, place, r …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Raise Your Emotional & Spiritual Vibration

The time has come for us to raise our vibrational forces! Read about these powerful ways to manifest your own positivity, light, and love.A vibration is a state of being, the atmosphere, or the energe …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

Why and How to Become a Better Listener

Who is the best listener you know? Would anyone in your life answer you?Few people are taught how to listen. Aside from being told to “listen up” or “pay attention” as kids, you may think that just be …

Karson McGinley
meditation

3 Mindfulness Practices to Improve Decision-Making Skills

In his book, The Way of Zen, Alan Watts famously wrote, “Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.” Continuing to shake a jar full of water and dirt will only make the water cloudier; the only …

Karson McGinley
meditation

How to Meditate Anywhere

If you are one of the millions of people in the world who meditate, you know how powerful the benefits can be in your life. Or maybe you haven’t felt concrete benefits yet, but you’ve read the researc …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

10 Ways to Give Thanks to Your Community This Thanksgiving

The spirit of Thanksgiving is more than just eating a big meal and watching football; this holiday season is about expressing gratitude for the people, places, and things in your life that you often t …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

10 Ways to Lift Your Spirits When You’re Feeling Stuck

Tough times are inevitable, and even though you are always moving forward, sometimes it can feel like you’re spinning your wheels. Whether it seems like life’s circumstances are piling up against you, …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

How to Find Your Zen When You’re at Your Breaking Point

These nine healthy emotional processing tips will help us grow and reconnect with the peace and possibility that resides within the moment. Zen awaits!Everyone is vulnerable to certain breaking points …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

Vision Board 101: How To Make A Vision Board Manifestation Tool

A Vision board is a powerful way to say “Yes please!” to the abundance you’d like to receive (and deserve!) in your life. Here’s how to make one for yourself.Creating a vision board is a fun, tangible …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

5 Guidelines for Setting—and Achieving—Personal Goals

You would never set out on a road trip without a map, so why would you live your life without goals? Understanding the importance of goal setting will help you to accomplish many life endeavors. Setti …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

4 Keys to Following Through on Your New Year’s Intentions

It’s common to set goals and resolutions at the start of a new year. It is also common to throw in the towel soon after you have begun. If you’re tired of being part of a statistical trend or are inte …

Karson McGinley
Mind-body Health

The 10 Best Yoga Poses for Winter

Ayurveda teaches that winter is a primarily a Kapha season, with a strong influence of Vata energy. In the Ayurvedic healing system, like attracts like and opposites balance, so during this chilly sea …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

Happiness Song Playlist: 101 Songs To Improve Your Mood And Boost Your Spirits

If you are blessed with ears that hear, there is high chance you have experienced the power of music to affect your mood innumerable times in your life. From the song you sang as a toddler learning th …

Karson McGinley
meditation

7 Chakra Meditations to Keep You in Balance

Life extends beyond what you can physically see with the eyes. By connecting to the invisible (subtle) energy within you, which includes the chakra system, you open up new pathways to healing and grow …

Karson McGinley
Mind-body Health

7 Winter Activities to Keep You Grounded

With darker days can come feelings of being unsettled and down, ranging from the occasional “winter blues” to full-blown seasonal affective disorder. Since daylight affects your internal rhythms, it m …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

Accountability: The Key to Reaching Your Goals

Plenty of people set goals, but far fewer are actually willing to declare their goals in a way that sets them up for success. Simply thinking about goals won’t yield results. There is one critical com …

Karson McGinley
Personal Growth

10 Healthy Habits of Successful People

While there is no magical button you can press to become successful in life, there are certain habits that the most successful people have in common. There have been countless studies done and books w …

Karson McGinley
meditation

Advanced Gratitude Journaling: 5 Practices for Increased Happiness

Gratitude has become very popular lately, and for good reason. According to research, gratitude is one of the easiest and most beneficial tools for boosting happiness levels on a neurological and emot …

Karson McGinley
Mind-body Health

3 Holiday Gifts That Don’t Cost a Penny

If you want to cut back on spending this holiday season, here’s some good news: Research shows that when it comes to building lasting happiness, giving material gifts is trumped by making memorable ex …

Karson McGinley
meditation

5 razones por las que deberías meditar por la mañana

¿Qué pasaría si pudieras tomar una píldora mágica cada mañana que reduciría tu estrés, disminuiría tu ansiedad, aumentaría tu capacidad de concentración y mejoraría tu memoria? También te ayudaría a s …

Karson McGinley