Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Linda, I am 51, originally from the Netherlands and I am a yoga and meditation teacher.
How long have you been living in Spain, what motivated you to move here? And what made you stay?
I´ve been living in Granada since 2012. At first, I came to learn the language, but then I started to like the way of living and decided to stay.
When did your passion for yoga start? When did you begin practicing it?
Actually, I started with meditation first, that was in my late twenties. A couple of years later I started doing yoga and discovered the great compatibility of these two practices, as yoga is the path towards meditation.
Since when have you been teaching yoga, and how did everything start?
In 2013 I went to India to join a yoga teacher training and after that, I started teaching. Over the years I´ve joined several trainings and courses to profound my knowledge, teaching,s and own practice. Apart from that (or perhaps I should say: especially) I learn a lot by listening and observing my “yogis” (students).
Do you specialize in a particular technique or style of teaching/practicing yoga? If so, can you tell us more about it?
My specialty is hormone yoga for women (although I am also a meditation teacher and a yin and hatha yoga teacher). When I entered the menopausal years myself, I found out how little I knew about how the hormonal changes affect my body and mind. I see this in many women that join my classes and workshops: they suffer from a variety of symptoms due to hormonal imbalances (like hot flashes, lack of energy, insomnia and gaining weight) and they want to feel happy again, but they don´t know what to do or where to start. And how should they know as no one ever explained?
You recently had a collaboration with ANDA CoWork. Can you tell us a little more about that and how you experienced our space for your yoga classes?
My experiences with Anda CoWork are positive only. In the past, I have been teaching hatha and yin yoga in their bright, cozy spaces, so I knew the place already. The owners (Victoria and Dori) are open-minded, kind of pioneers, and funny enough I see those characteristics in their clientele reflected. When you enter, you feel a vibrant energy and at the same time you feel at home, in my opinion, that´s how it should be.
Recently we´ve organized a hormone yoga workshop for women in Anda CoWork. Seeing the change in women when they start to understand how their body, mind, and hormones function, is very gratifying. Some of them have painful menstruations as long as they can recall. That´s so sad! Also, the fact that they are not alone and being heard by other women helps a lot to feel calmer.
What do you like about living in Granada? What is your favorite activity to do around here?
“There is something about Granada that makes you stay!” is a phrase I hear often amongst people that weren´t born here but decided to settle down in Granada.
Perhaps it´s its size: not too big to make you feel lost, not too small to feel being watched. Over the past 13 years I´ve seen a lot of changes, but what hasn´t changed is its energy, its light. So I completely agree with this saying.
Is there a hidden gem you know and would recommend—something not everyone is aware of?
I can recommend everyone to walk the surroundings of the Alhambra early in the morning, before sunrise. If you do that, it´s like being thrown back into history. It´s not for nothing that monks meditate between 4 and 6 when there is a more natural energy and we can sense a profound sense of peace. Okay, not such a hidden place, but you may consider it the hidden gem inside of you 😉
What are your plans for the future?
There is still much work to be done and taboos to be broken when it comes to women and their hormones, so I´d like to expand my classes and workshops. The next topic I am working on is how women can adapt their lives (and work) to their menstrual cycle to be more in tune with their bodies. Even after menopause, you can live by your cycle; the energetic cycle. I feel privileged that ANDA CoWork offers me a platform to make this happen.