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At Karuna, we design immersive travel experiences rooted in yoga and compassion—“karuna.” Our journeys bring people together in diverse cultural settings to cultivate meaningful connection, personal growth, and shared well-being.

Founded by Leyla Meredith and Payal Gori, Karuna was born from a shared passion for transformational travel and inclusive wellness education. Before co-founding Karuna Yoga Journeys, Leyla trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine and went on to lead a pioneering yoga safari company in Uganda. Payal transitioned from a career in biotechnology into yoga teaching, bringing a strong foundation in science to her work in holistic health. Since 2017, they have been running 200hr teacher trainings together and have trained more than 1,000 students across 17 countries.

Karuna’s impact extends beyond its journeys through the Karuna Global Fellows—graduates who carry the inclusive teaching model back to their own communities making yoga accessible to vulnerable and isolated groups. The ecosystem has continued to grow through Karuna Studio, founded by Payal in 2020 as a home for wellness. The studio has since expanded beyond asana to include a Pilates reformer studio, TRX, personal training, sound healing, therapy services, and children’s gymnastics.

At its core, Karuna is committed to accessibility. The organization welcomes people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, offering trainings, workshops, community events, and no-cost sessions for those most in need.

Journeys have taken place in Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, North Cyprus, Corfu, Finland, Scotland, and India—each reflecting Karuna’s commitment to culturally grounded, community-centered experiences.

“Welcome to our tribe, our family. We are looking forward to spending this time with you, to teach you everything we know about yoga and life and to enrich ourselves and learn from your beautiful souls. See you very soon…”

PARTNERS

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© 2026 – Karuna Yoga Journeys. All rights reserved.

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Benny started out practicing Hatha and Iyengar yoga from the age of 15, but only discovered Yin Yoga in 2015, finally becoming a teacher in 2017. Since then she has never looked back and continues training in and teaching this wonderful practice wherever and whenever she can. Based in Kenya, she teaches studio classes in Nairobi.

Despite her strong alignment background her classes and trainings take on a very functional approach allowing the variations is our body the freedom to move at their own pace. She believes that it is important to cultivate a sense of self-awareness with regards to our body and mind so that we may be truly in harmony with ourselves and our environment. One of her primary disciplines is the study of human anatomy as she sees it as a fundamental part of any yoga training.

As a certified yin yoga teacher, Benny’s Yin Yoga background is extensive, having trained with some of the Yin heavyweights like Paul and Suzee Grilley, Sarah Powers as well as Jo Phee and Joe Barnett which she also assists around the globe.

Jordan has been practicing yoga for over 10 years in the US, Europe and Kenya. She received certification in Baptiste Power Yoga with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya, completed the Karuna YTT in 2018 and recently completed a course in yoga for 12-step recovery.

She teaches a range of classes in Nairobi including classes at wellness centers, classes accompanied by live musicians, private classes, charitable classes at a school for street kids and charitable trauma-informed classes at a girls’ school in the slum Kibera.

Jordan is an active volunteer in a number of yoga-based initiatives including the Africa Yoga Project, Mental 360 (NGO creating awareness of mental health issues offering counselling and yoga) and New Leaf Rehabilitation Center in Lamu (development of a yoga program for recovering addicts). She is also certified in Reiki Level I and is a beginner student of Qigong.



Since 2001, Sophie has been evolving her spiritual, emotional and physical relationship with yoga — a practice which has emerged as her primary source of grounding, connection and healing. Her training includes a 200 hour YTT in Costa Rica with Sonic Yoga (2014), a 200 hour YTT in France with Liquid Flow Yoga (2017), and trauma-sensitive yoga trainings with The Minded Institute, Off the Mat (Hala Kouri) and OMPowerment. In 2016, Sophie developed Healing and Resilience Through Yoga (Hart Yoga), a yoga-based psycho-social treatment approach currently being implemented with survivors of human trafficking across Africa and USA. https://movewithhart.org/

Sophie is grateful to the core teachers who shaped the contours of her practice and, most importantly, showed her the boundless generosity of spirit, especially Dana Flynn (her first teacher – what a gift), Simon Park, Gopi Kinnicutt, Jodi Boone and Barbara Verrochi. For inspiration, acceptance and support she is forever indebted to her sister-teachers in Uganda: Leyla Ahmet Meredith, Payal Gori, and Angela Inglish-Gill. Sophie’s teaching style uses fluid movement, consistent breath, and creative sequencing to gently challenge practitioners of all levels