Lena de Stigter

Lena’s yoga story 

It was after my first child was born that I decided for practical reasons to do a vinyasa teacher training. I wanted to have the flexibility to practice yoga wherever and whenever. As a young mother, this meant using baby’s nap times to get on the mat for my own wellbeing. During that teacher training something magical happened. I noticed how much I enjoyed sharing my passion with others. So I started teaching and continued my own learning. 

The yoga I teach today is strongly influenced by my interest in anatomy and safe movement patterns. I got trained in the LYT yoga method that was developed by a physical therapist. It is an energising, core-based yoga method to reestablish more optimal movement patterns on and off the mat. All my classes are now based on this method. The core flow is more powerful, while my Hatha classes are gentler in pace. I will get you moving in ways that will help you gain strength and mobility! 

Change doesn’t happen overnight. It took me years to realise that I am not working towards achieving any particular fancy peak pose (although social media might make you believe otherwise). From time to time that ambitiousness and perfectionism still creeps into my practice, for instance when working on my handstand. I always had a fear of getting on my hands and couldn’t even get myself to do a handstand at the wall. Through practicing core yoga, I finally managed to understand the mechanics of it, develop the strength and overcome that fear – at least at the wall 🙂 – but I am still not quite there in open space. While I continue to practice handstands, discipline (= Tapas) is after all a key element of yogic philosophy, I also try not to be attached to any particular outcome (= Aparigraha). That has led me to enjoy my practice much more, celebrating every step along the way!