Karuna is a first-of-its-kind wellness studio offering nutrition counseling, cooking lessons and movement classes. Karuna was started by our owner Kate Thomas as an individual private nutrition practice in 2013. With a background in marketing and advertising, Kate always knew she wanted to build her practice into something bigger. During her first few years of counseling clients, the idea of Karuna came to shape - a place where children and adults can learn to take care of their bodies in a place that’s fun, warm, all-inclusive and non-judgemental. This dream has finally come alive as we open our doors to the community in June 2019 with a brand new office with two movement studios, a small teaching kitchen and a growing team of licensed Registered Dietitians to provide evidence-based, individualized nutrition counseling. So what does our company name mean? Karuna is a Sanskrit word that translates as compassion. In her years of counseling in her private practice, owner Kate found that her clients ability to make changes to their health and lifestyle came down to one thing - having compassion for their body and their choices. We are all SO HARD ON OURSELVES, and well, that's just not fair. At Karuna, we feel that self compassion is the first step to better health and positive relationships with food, and our goal is to teach children and adults to show more compassion for themselves with a whole-body approach: eating well, moving their bodies, sleeping, and decreasing stress. As always, our practice strives to provide a supportive, non-judgemental, body positive, and welcoming environment for all our clients. Next - NUTRITION. Well, this one is easier. This business was founded on a practice providing nutrition counseling using a "whole health" philosophy and we continue to pride ourselves on evidence-based, medical nutrition therapy implemented with a real life, whole food approach that is realistic and sustainable. With this, we will continue to take a strict "non-diet approach" as we continue to intertwine principles of intuitive eating and Health At Every Size®, to support our goal of compassion. We will continue to improve our program offerings for families struggling with meal planning, picky eaters, disordered eating and eating disorders, and weight management from a weight neutral, HAES approach. With our new kitchen space, we plan to that take our clients outside the office and into the kitchen, where we can truly foster a new relationship with food. And lastly - MOVEMENT. It is our goal to find new and creative ways to bring more movement options to our clients. Exercise does NOT mean putting in hours at the gym, and we strive to find new, fun ways to help our clients move their bodies with confidence and joy . Movement has been shown to decrease stress response in the body, and as a result, reduce the heart rate, lower blood pressure, and ease respiration. Movement can improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, teach self-soothing techniques, breathing, awareness of emotions, the ability to be present, and fosters the development of a positive and compassionate relationship with the body. For children, structured physical activity provides both an energy and emotional outlet. It decreases stress, teaches control, socialization, discipline and relaxation. We believe that joyful movement is critical to mental and physical health and well-being. We look forward to working and growing with you all! Please feel free to contact our office with questions about our practice, philosophy or to book an appointment. Phone // 781-269-1623
Email // hello@karunaforyou.com
