We recently connected with Karen Vasquez Ruiz and have shared our conversation below.
Karen, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I’ve always known I wanted to help heal others but never in 100 years did I ever think that I would end up as a yoga teacher and a sound therapy practitioner. Whenever I was asked when I was a child what I wanted to be when I grew up I said I wanted to be a doctor. In the context of western society, that job was the only one I knew of in terms of professionals who helped others to feel better. For years I had my eyes set on being a doctor, and for years I was not aware of the heavy influence of western indoctrination and programming that was occurring at every level of society on my young impressionable brain. As a daughter of undocumented Mexican American Immigrants, I was very aware of the social rules, stereotypes, and laws at a very young age. Because undocumented immigrants are one of the most vulnerable and exploited groups in the Unites States, I often lived in extreme fear that my family would be torn apart, that my family wouldn’t have food to eat, or a home to live in.
Despite this, as early as elementary school, I was excelling in school, and I was placed in the Advanced and Gifted programs in school. I learned English really quickly and I knew I had my brain as an advantage that would get me places. Every perfect score test and every new book I read gave me high recognition, awards, and praise from my teachers every school year. Soon enough I was in middle school learning from engineers at the local University (Lehigh University) about 3-D modeling and engineering design. We would often tour the university, and these engineering students inspired me so much when they talked about how engineers could change the world with their inventions. I was always artistic and loved the idea of being creative, so I decided to combine my goal of being a doctor with that of being an engineer.
At 12 years old, I wanted to become a bioengineer. I knew the journey would be hard, but I had nothing to lose, my family was already living in extreme poverty, and my parents had no guarantee in this country. As the oldest daughter of 3 kids, I felt so much pressure from myself to succeed, to help my family, and to help society. And from what I was seeing and experiencing every day, the only way to do that would be to make money and to have a degree, something that would validate my worthiness in society. In high school I was ranked 14th out of thousands of students and was the highest-ranking minority student. My senior year, I was offered several full ride scholarships to colleges across the country. Eventually I decided on Rice University as it was ranked one of the top bioengineering schools in the nation. I left home (in small town Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) at 18 full of passion, and a desire to change the world. I really had no idea what I was signing myself up for in the next 4 years.
That move changed me drastically in so many ways and changed the course of my life. On one hand Rice opened my world to the huge diversity of cultures and socioeconomic statuses of the students that attended Rice and granted me many opportunities I would have never had (to travel, to learn, to meet new people). On the other hand, the experience radicalized me on so many levels and completely crushed my optimistic worldview. From the first day that I stepped foot on campus, I knew that this institution just like many others were never intended for people like me. I struggled so much to keep up with a majority of my peers who were light years ahead of me in education (think private schools, tutors, access to many resources at a young age) compared to my humble public-school education, and who had lived in a bubble their entire lives and were very clearly shielded from the reality of systemic oppression that is true for many low income people of color for their entire lives. Many of us (despite our best intentions) in reality were not being prepared to help others or to make society a better place. The education system in the USA that I had once valued and esteemed began to seem like a way to create obedient corporate workers who are kept comfortable with a higher wage to turn a blind eye to the real issues in society. A way to continue upholding the status quo, the capitalistic system, and the division between the poor and the wealthy.
My major didn’t make anything better. I had chosen the most difficult of the engineering specialties offered at the school, notorious for having the most credit hour requirements, the highest dropout rate, and the most competitive pre-med students. I also found that the classes weren’t even teaching me anything tangible or applicable to healing anyone in my community. The only people who could benefit from any of the research or medical devices being created by major corporations would be the wealthiest in society who could afford these complicated, extravagant, medical devices or medical advances that would likely be owned and sold for profit by some major corporation. And it would likely be decades before any of my lab’s research on developing 3D printed organs would ever reach the general public and much longer if ever to the underprivileged. Not to mention research required hardcore dedication and often in an isolated sterile laboratory. I found much more joy organizing events as the President of the Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice (HACER) sharing my culture and bringing together my community (which was lots of unpaid labor- that’s another story). I also joined the Rice 360 Institute for Global Health which allowed me to build open-source low-cost medical devices for low-income countries. Through this program I traveled to Malawi in Africa and saw huge disparities in medical care that I realized were not going to be solved with low cost, improvised devices. This was only a band aid issue to a larger issue of lack of funding, colonialism, and inequity in these countries. Why should we be creating makeshift incubators, respirators, and suction pumps when these devices already exist? In fact, they are considered the most basic standard of care in western countries. Why wouldn’t the government just buy incubators? Why wouldn’t corporations make lower cost incubators? The answer was simple: It wasn’t profitable. Saving human lives was not profitable. When I realized this, I knew I couldn’t continue on pursuing a career in bioengineering or the medical field. Yet I was already in my 3rd year of school and my family was still waiting for me at home.
I gruelingly pushed through all 4 years of college, graduated with a B.S. in bioengineering and decided to start working immediately after graduating as a management consultant at a global technology consulting firm in Houston. I figured I should at least learn something new and make some money while I figured out my next move. I know this part of my life was a necessary step, because I was still in desperate need of money to support myself and my family and I had lost the only goal I had ever had. Yet I still sometimes feel regret for it. Being a first-generation woman of color in corporate America was even more radicalizing an experience than college was. At the time I was still trying to prove myself and my worth in a sea of white men and ended up pushing myself to my edge. I was so stressed out and unhappy that it made me physically sick. Not to mention I felt all of my knowledge, power and purpose was going to waste sitting at a desk helping to make the richest corporations richer and not being able to make a direct impact in the lives of others.
I worked through the entire COVID – 19 pandemic and despite being paid well and being able to finally live semi comfortably with a steady income, I often felt really stressed, depressed, confused, and lost. I rarely had time for myself and couldn’t even enjoy myself with the stress that I felt from living so out of alignment with who I really was. In these times I turned to yoga and sound healing on YouTube to find moments of peace and relaxation. I then discovered a small yoga studio just blocks down from my house that became my go-to after long stressful days of work as a consultant. I finally began to feel that healing wisdom that I had been searching for all along. Yoga awakened in me the healing power that we all hold within our own bodies, our own voices, and our own minds. After two years of going to classes in studio, I began my yoga teacher training in September of 2023 and graduated in May 2024. That same month, I quit my job and began this new journey of using intention, breath, energy, movement, sound, and nature to heal, to look inward, and to help share that with others.
Now I am back where I started in Bethlehem, PA still with the same goal of helping others and changing the world, yet with a brand-new perspective. One that I’ve formed on my own, not one that has been sold to me. After years of doing “what was right” and stressing so much and overworking myself, I’ve found so much solace, peace, healing, and rest in nature, in stillness, in gentle movement, in community, and in the simple things in life. I’m on a radical journey of decolonizing my body, my mind, and my actions. It’s really a journey of self-love – learning to value my own worth in this society that pushes us to believe we aren’t inherently worthy. We are all worthy just as we are, existing in this moment. I am worthy. And with this newfound connection to my own soul, to the magic of nature, the earth, the elements, and my own energy, I am envisioning a new world where we are all free. Free of the grip of capitalism, colonialism, and systemic oppression that has inflicted so much trauma on many of us and our ancestors. And in each sacred space I create, I gather community to resist by planting seeds of change, of liberation, of equity, and of love.
With this intention of bringing the collective together to heal and dream, I have started my own business – Karen Hace Yoga, which translates to Karen does Yoga, in Spanish and am allowing myself to dream big every day to live life my way. Since quitting corporate, I’ve traveled to Portugal to meet other spiritual entrepreneurs where I met my coach Kimberly Kennedy Roach owner of Coherence Retreats and traveled to Gig Harbor Washington where I got certified as a Sound Therapy Practitioner by Janelle Corpuz Hethcoat owner of Kin Unified Healing. I have found so much love and community and support from these strong, powerful women in my life who have taught me so much. With their mentorship, I’ve come to offer yoga, meditation, and sound baths at yoga studios and wellness centers around the Lehigh Valley area. I have also partnered with friends to fundraise for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund by offering a donation-based yoga and sound healing class. I am currently working on expanding my yoga and sound healing offerings both locally and online. I am also continuing to upskill myself in various healing modalities such as traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong, and herbalism which I am very interested in. I hope to be able to share my offerings with more people of color and allies who are looking to cultivate self-love and healing!
So, to anyone who is looking to find their purpose, I would say, look back to the beginning, look back to when you were a child – before anyone tainted your freedom – what did you enjoy doing? And always remember to set goals from a place of love rather than from a place of fear. I had to go through a lot to get here, yet I am so grateful, and I am all the wiser for it. Wishing everyone clarity and love and freedom. We are so lucky to live in this moment – what will you intentionally nourish and grow?
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Karen (K-aah -ren) and I’m a pro-liberation Mexican-American community yoga teacher, sound therapy practitioner, & nature lover 🌱. I create sacred spaces that honor indigenous wisdom as medicine to help the collective heal themselves. My practice is inspired by nature and returning to the cycles and rhythms of the earth to guide our healing journeys. I bring a holistic approach to my classes fostering collective wellness through intention, breath, meditation, movement, and sound. I love being able to bring together parts of my culture, and my indigenous ancestry from Mexico into my classes and to learn from all the different cultures around the world and the different ancient medicines cultivated over the years. I think what is most exciting about my work is the ability to bring like-minded people together to feel seen, to be heard, and to do the work that is really needed to truly accept ourselves – both our light and our shadow – to live in our highest expression of self. I also think it is exciting to change people’s perspective of what yoga should look like. Many people have a preconceived notion that yoga is something only for white women who wear lululemon leggings and are super flexible. Yet every single one of my classes challenges that in every way. Yoga and wellness to me is a way of life and it is accessible to anyone who can breathe. Yoga is a way to cultivate life energy and to go inward. This is why I always love to create welcoming community spaces with intentional themes, and a variety of holistic practices that allow for people to soften, to reflect and to open up. I am also uncovering my expression as an artist through jewelry making, gardening, and am planning on organizing several workshops around this as well! I am expanding both locally in Bethlehem, PA and also online and you can find my events through my Instagram page @karenhaceyoga !
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Acceptance – I think it took me so long to get to where I am because I had a very hard time accepting my true passions and desires. I was always so concerned with what others would think of me or worrying about material things, which are valid worries in this society, but I wish it would’ve been easier to let go of these ideas. Self-love and self-acceptance would have helped a lot. I encourage others, especially women, to cultivate this by rewriting the stories that we have all been told about a woman’s “role” in society tied in misogynistic ideologies and to see how powerful we as women are as creators just by existing. The media constantly tears us down and tells us we have to be more, do more: more beautiful, more skinny, more palatable, yet they wouldn’t be doing that if they didn’t know how much power we hold. During my journey, I stopped wearing makeup or mindlessly buying clothes and began bringing gratitude to every single part of my body down to every single hair on my body and felt so empowered because it was my energy that was more important than what I was wearing or how much makeup I had on. Accepting myself in my purest form allowed me to then accept my own worth, and my own ideas, words, dreams, and power.
Faith/Belief- I also think it took a lot of faith in the universe, in something higher than me to let go of my security for my dreams. I really took a leap of faith and every way I turn I see signs from the universe that I am doing the right thing. The universe really aligns everything for you when you are meant to be doing it and it feels easy. Whereas at my old management consultant job and in school eveyrthing felt so difficult. I’ve learned not to force things and to just believe in myself, in my intuition, and in God.
Love – I did a lot of things based out of fear in the past and moving forward I want to do things from a place of love. If you do things from a place of pure love and good intentions, then the universe will support you. It may not work out exactly as you plan it out but it will work out one way or another. Love is powerful and I believe it transcends dimensions of space and time.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Collaboration and community are things that I am really looking forward to growing worldwide. I truly believe that we are all better and stronger together. I want to share the wisdom of yoga, sound healing, and nature with more women of color who are looking to find their purpose! I especially would love to work with any college or university students who are still finding their way in the world because I believe that this healing wisdom would have helped me so much back in my university days to find my way. I would also love to work with any organizations that help low-income Latinx or undocumented communities. Finally, I would like to share my practice with people of color organizations at different companies since I know how stressful work can be and I think it would be an amazing benefit for the employees of any company. I am looking to eventually grow into offering retreats and would love to meet people around the world who are creating revolutionary spaces for women of color. If you are at all curious about the yoga/sound/nature themed healing spaces that I offer or even about my journey please reach out to me and I am happy to connect! I am so excited for what’s to come and can’t wait to meet more soul family on this beautiful earth!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenhaceyoga/?__pwa=1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-vasquez/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@karenhaceyoga?si=VZnQlGefpcOYS9pB
- Other: https://linktr.ee/karenhaceyoga?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=f9106637-3cbd-4da6-886b-8ecfba0fe5ba
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