Wendy

‘Yoga builds my strength, brings me therapeutic benefits and gives me a sense of empowerment. Aside from doing yoga, I’ve run marathons, and walked and cycled long distances. I feel I have recovered from these endurance events more quickly – specifically as a consequence of 26+2 series.’  

How long have you been practising yoga and why?

It all started in 2006, after I saw a picture of my best friend doing a yoga teacher training course in India. In the previous year she had been facing a lot of uncertainty, but in this image she looked calm and reassured – this was a world away from how she had seemed before the training. I was happy for her and I was inspired!

At the time, I was living in Singapore. I started practicing Hatha at a studio local to my home. I remember how difficult some of the postures were – balancing and stretching was hard, which surprised me as I was always very flexible. Yet, despite the difficulty, I didn’t give up. In fact, I was motivated to join other classes and experiment with other types of yoga. I was lucky to live opposite a dedicated Iyengar studio and another Ashtanga studio, so I enrolled in them both.

I would practice 5 times a week easily, I really enjoyed the focus and trying to puzzle out the postures. I thought because I was a runner and had done marathons that I was strong. I found it upsetting to learn that was not the case and that the reason why my triangle was wobbly was because I needed to build my leg muscles. Growing up I was never encouraged to do sport at home or in school and so had found any negative comments like that very discouraging, and would normally give up – but yoga was different.

I left Singapore just before the pandemic, and was lucky because my original teacher started offering online classes. I still practice on a Saturday morning with him sometimes, even today. When I moved to Bangladesh this was really fortunate because there were no local yoga classes.

Which classes do you follow and what do they bring you?

I have been a member of almost all the studios in Nijmegen city centre as I still like to explore other varieties of yoga, but the focus on therapeutic strengthening is really beneficial for me. Aside from doing yoga, I’ve run marathons, and walked and cycled long distances. I feel I have recovered from these endurance events more quickly – specifically as a consequence of 26+2 series. I hope that yoga practitioners that join my classes feel the same benefits and empowerment as I have.

In 2021 I moved to the Netherlands to teach at Radboud University and have been a member of almost all the yoga schools in the city  – I still like to explore and experiment with the various types of yoga. I see that they all have some slightly different focus and I enjoy challenging my body in different ways. I often find that a variation on a familiar Bikram posture is really hard because I am not used to doing it any other way.

Bikram classes at Alma became my go-to classes. The tempo and the heat match my character. I am a loyal follower of Nic’s Bikram Class – I really enjoy the pace and the energy he brings into his teaching. I’m fascinated by the way yoga teachers see details in people’s individual physiology. This motivated me to actually do teacher training myself. Since completing it, I enjoy the variety even more as I see that it contributes to greater flexibility – both physically and mentally.