SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (A.W.)—If there is any correlation between being Armenian and running a yoga studio, talk to Karoun Charkoudian.
She appears to have the right formula for operating a successful business in this bustling city while maintaining an idyllic lifestyle.
Aptly, she calls her venture Karoun Yoga (www.karounyoga.com) and it’s opened the doors to many in search of inner tranquility. It also helps to own the only yoga studio in downtown Springfield.
“A lot of people have no idea what yoga is and think they can’t do it,” she says. “The media depicts yoga as super skinny, very flexible people in advanced poses. This turns a lot of people off. I tell them it doesn’t matter what size you are, what shape you are, or if you’re as flexible as a board. Do you want to feel good? Then you can do yoga.”
Through controlled breathing, yoga improves posture and teaches you how to live mindfully. It’s a union of mind and body working in tandem. A lot of people exercise yoga to control stress.
Charkoudian hails from proud Armenian stock. Three of her grandparents are from Marash, another from Aintab. Her grandfather Peter was one of the few remaining survivors of the Armenian Genocide before his death in March.
Her mother Bethel Bilezikian Charkoudian grew up in Newton while her father Levon was raised in Springfield. They met at Harvard University. Karoun is the youngest of four children behind Nisha, Lorig, and Deron. The family was raised in Newton Corner.
Charkoudian was a big name during her grandfather’s generation. A great uncle owned Charkoudian drug stores throughout the area and thanks to yoga, it’s becoming a big name once again in the business sector.
Karoun attended the AGBU School in Watertown, but it wasn’t until graduate school at the University of Wisconsin that she actively pursued an Armenian community.
“In a sense, I was looking for my roots again,” she reveals. “I joined the Racine AYF when I was 22 years old. Racine is a real incredible community and welcomed me in like family.”
The scene soon shifted to Houston and St. Kevork Armenian Church (a Diocese church that both sides share), where Karoun joined the Parish Council and was heavily involved in bringing the youth back to the church.
With a formal education in geology, Charkoudian received a bachelor’s degree in earth and planetary science at John Hopkins University in 2001. A master’s degree in Geology followed two years later from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
While in Houston, she worked for ExxonMobil as a petroleum geologist for nearly five years. In her late 20s, she had enough of the corporate world and was ready for a change. She quit her job, moved back to Massachusetts, took time off to remain closer to her family after being away 11 years—and turned to yoga five years ago, attending intensive camps and retreats.
“Armenians have always played a key role at the crossroads of the east and west,” Karoun points out. “As a yoga teacher in the United States, my role is to integrate an eastern philosophy into western society. Therefore, I find myself continuing this historic role of the Armenian people.”
According to Charkoudian, there’s a fragile balance in keeping the essence of the teachings of the east while catering to the needs of the person in the west.
The result is a unique yoga practice, a new creation—a confluence of two sides of the globe in one setting, uniting the east with the west.
“As an Armenian, I carry intense ancestral pain,” she maintains. “I feel I have a responsibility to heal the pain of the present through yoga. By doing so, I heal the past.”
There is a connection between the woman’s name and her mission. “Karoun” in Armenian translates to “spring” or “starting again,” as the season may indicate. The fact Karoun Yoga has entrenched its roots in “Spring-field” makes it a city in the process of rebirth.
“My lunchtime yoga students feel like they’re starting a new day after their class at noon,” Charkoudian explains. “I see these parallels to rebirth and new beginnings often in my students.”
On another note, yoga instructors are often given a spiritual name in Sanskrit (the ancient Hindu language) based on the quality that person portrays (strength, peace, wisdom) during their training. The name is typically different from their birth name.
“During my yoga training, I portrayed a deep sense of compassion,” she confirms. “Interestingly, the word for compassion in Sanskrit is Karouna.”
Spring has sprung forward with Charkoudian in the business world with new opportunities constantly sprouting like a paradise garden. Selling the benefits of yoga doesn’t often come easy. In fact it’s been an ongoing challenge for this entrepreneur.
“There were times when business was down and few if any bought into yoga,” she reveals. “Not only was it tough on the ego, but also my checkbook.”
Through constant networking and word of mouth, it started to pay dividends. People are now flocking to her studio—those with arthritis and others stressed to the max. Through yoga, they’re finding remedies.
“Because I’m seeing people benefit time and again, I’m creating techniques, tools, and teaching styles to make yoga accessible to everyone,” Karoun says. “I have this drive to just get it out there, past the stigma of a yoga mat and the studio, and encourage people to see how good they can feel. That makes it extremely fulfilling.”
Who are these clients?
One of her students carries an oxygen tank with her. Through proper breathing exercises, she doesn’t need as much oxygen anymore.
Another woman with asthma was taught to take bigger, deeper, more controlled breaths. A senior citizen who had trouble walking suddenly became spryer.
“He was walking faster, taller, more upright in general,” Karoun notes. “It runs the gamut from totally healthy people to those with health issues. Even a 25-year-old who is otherwise perfectly healthy can be under a lot of stress. So yoga becomes very much a preventative health measure.”
A private-lesson student played basketball often and through yoga realized his on-court skills began to improve. He actually felt his response time was better.
What’s good for the instructor works just as well with her students. Yoga changed Karoun’s life for the better and it appears to be working just as well at the client end. A bad day in this venue can be detrimental.
“I can’t come into a yoga class feeling down because I can easily transmit those feelings to my students,” she feels. “There were times when I wanted to give up—a lot of frustrating times when I was tested after coming from a cushy corporate job. I had to push and really believe I could do this. Yoga is not a luxury. It is essential for leading a healthy life. When you feel better, so do people around you. This is the first step to a more peaceful world. You can’t have peace outside until you have peace inside.”
The entrepreneur side has the relatively simple plan of thinking outside the studio box. Karoun typically teaches 2-4 classes each weekday. The remainder of her day is all about the business—coordination, logistics, contacting prospective clients, and gaining visibility.
“I intentionally create a lot of space in my day,” she says. “Whatever I’m doing, whether it’s working, walking, or eating, I’m totally focused and feel very quiet and peaceful at the task. I’m not talking on the phone, watching TV, or listening to the radio at the same time. This makes for a very different quality of life—a life with space. I’m living the yoga and bring this feeling of space and peace into my classes. I share it with my students.”
Charkoudian moved herself and her operation to Springfield because it was more affordable than living in the Boston area. She came to realize the city’s downtown sector had no yoga studio. And everything just clicked.
The city has become her metropolis with its lush historic urban architecture, the community where her dad was raised, replete with activity and opportunity.
“I had found my passion and a city that needed it,” she reflected. “In Newton or Northampton, there’s a yoga studio on every corner. Coming here, I felt like I found my calling. I knew it happened for a reason.”
Tom Vartabedian
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“Yoga is not a luxury. It is essential for leading a healthy life.”
This article brings out the scope of sharing yoga..The more you share, more you learn..I feel there is no end ot yoga practice but even few basic asanas and pranayama can improve our life a lot. All the best..
Regards
Daljit
I was born in Springfield MA and lived there until after I was married. My father and I had a dentist by the name of Charkoudian. When I worked at WWLP-TV there was a young man with that name and of course I remember Charkoudian Drug Store at Winchester Square. Have been interested in trying to learn Yoga but never have. Now that I am 85 would still like to. Happy you are doing such great work in my great hometown. Pat
I am trying to reach Karoun Charkoudian who came to my office a few years ago. I want to refer a friend to her. Read about her recently in Healtcare News but there was no contact info and she is not in the Sprinfield, Ma telephone book. Can you help? Thank you