For Lies, yoga is a great way to explore and discover, through movements of philosophy, to learn more about ourselves and the world, to hopefully find meaning in life itself - even if we may never fully understand it - and to become more understanding and compassionate. For me, yoga connects the concrete matter of our bodies with the search for answers to the fundamental questions of life, called philosophy. Who are we? Where do we come from? Why are we here? And how can we best live to our full potential?
Even as a child, there was something that attracted me to philosophical musings. When I was 2, I told my parents that I wanted to marry the moon and I felt that all objects, even stones, could feel. I was a romantic soul, so it was not surprising that I was attracted to ballet, where my love of movement began. When I was 7, I started dancing, which soon became more than a hobby. In 2004, I graduated as a 'Bachelor of Dance' at Codarts college in Rotterdam. It was there that I first came into contact with yoga: as a dancer - and a sensitive person - I had a hard time in the hard competitive dance world, where nothing is ever good enough (sound familiar?). In yoga class I found a place where I was more at peace with what I was doing and with myself.
After a professional dance career of 10 years, I wanted to learn more about yoga. In 2014, I decided to take a yoga teacher training course on Santorini, Greece, with Drishti Yoga Teacher Training. I had no idea then that this was the start of a journey that would bring me where I am today: a full time yoga teacher. Currently I find incredible inspiration in the unique style of the school of Tara Judelle and Scott Lyons, EmbodiedFlow™.
For me, yoga is about embodying certain ideas and aspects of life and about untangling the threads of yourself, the world and life itself. That's what I use yoga for, to investigate, to explore, to embody, so that those things can really become part of you. I believe in an embodied approach, influenced by the non-dualistic philosophy of tantra, where just the body and all earthly experiences can give you access to the core of your being.
The result is that I will offer you a safe space with a lot of freedom to work within the boundaries of your possibilities. I like to work both with the structured of the known yoga postures and to encourage you to venture outside the safety of the known. Because it is when you really learn to take ownership and not just be led by what you are told, that you discover what is right for you. I love the dynamic flow of vinyasa and the silence of a yin class.