Catherine "Cat" Murcek is extremely proud to have been on Samamkaya faculty since 2016. She is a certified member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists with over 17 years of teaching experience and 1000 hours of training. She completed her 200-hr training through Yogaworks with Natasha Rizopoulos in 2009 and her 300-hour training with Alison West at Yoga Union in 2013. At Yoga Union Center for Back Care and Scoliosis she studied and taught Yoga for Back Care. In addition to an apprenticeship under Deborah Wolk, and studies with Genny Kapuler, and Irene Dowd, she has completed trainings in Yoga Tune-Up(R), an Alexander Technique for Yoga teachers course with Witold Fitz-Simon, and Elise Browning Miller's Yoga for Scoliosis training. From her professional dance background, Cat weaves functional movement and somatic training into her classes. Having healed her own back issues and addressed her own scoliosis with therapeutic yoga, Cat is passionate about yoga’s healing power—she understands that slowing down enough to notice the body and its patterns empowers one’s self to transform.

Cat recently received her J.D. from CUNY School of Law out of a desire to support the worker cooperative movement. When not engaged in yoga or starting her legal career, Cat could be dancing, traveling, or advocating and community organizing in the worker cooperative community.