Kara Obana is a dedicated Ashtanga Yoga practitioner. She first tried yoga 20 years ago, eventually finding what she was looking for in the Ashtanga Mysore practice. Kara completed a one-year apprenticeship in Ashtanga Yoga with Cathy Louise Broda in 2008 and has since been an integral part of Purple's Mysore practice program.

A doctor in pharmacy, Kara first studied yoga in San Francisco and has experience in a range of styles, including Bikram, Vinyasa and Power yoga. In addition to her training with Cathy Louise, Kara has attended workshops with Sri K Pattabhi Jois and R Sharath Jois. In 2010, she did a week-long workshop in New York with A G Mohan and Indra Mohan. The workshop focused on Sanskrit commentaries on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, as well as the teachings and works of Sri T Krishnamacharya.

Kara encourages her students to take a well-balanced approach to their yoga practice and to have a good degree of self-acceptance. She thrives on the exchange of knowledge between student and teacher, believing that her own yoga practice benefits her students the most, and their practice in turn provides insight for herself.