Noëlle Sterk has been fulltime yoga teacher in Amsterdam Netherlands since 2008 and Registered as Yoga Teacher at Yoga Alliance since January 2019 (RYT500) after having thousands of teaching hours already. The teaching hours mentioned in this certificate do not equal her actual experience.
She has been traveling Europe with her campervan in 2022 and since 2023 back in The Netherlands because she broke her back while jumping off a cliff. While healing her back, she started intensive study of Tantra at International School of Temple Arts, completed ISTA level 1 en is going for level 2 in November 2023. Currently she is offering tantric & shamanic massage / bodywork sessions and cooking Vedic food for yoga, tantra, silent & mindfulness retreats.
Noëlle Sterk started her yoga journey with a Raja Yoga Teacher Training in 2004-2006, quit her job in 2008 started her independent yoga business Yogabreak, teaching many classes in a beautiful venue in Amsterdam North. She founded a collective of yoga teachers and massage therapists under the name Natural Yoga with weekly yoga classes on various beaches and parks in and around Amsterdam. She organised many yoga events, retreats and festivals. Noëlle studied with various teachers, and her teaching is influenced by many styles and inspired by the rich yoga philosophy.
Noëlle is an energetic person and so are her classes. You will find a variety of influences which makes every class another journey. Not static and technical, but very fluent and in the moment. She will guide you to a silent space within yourself, gently stretching the boundaries of your body but with a gentle smile. Noëlle designed Bhakti Flow as a blend of Asana, Pranayama and Mantra on harmonium. Noëlle loves to integrate music into her classes; either by well-chosen playlists that you can find on Spotify, or live music with harmonium or hang-drum.
Noëlle is guiding Mystical India trips with philosophy trainer and author/editor of yoga books Arjuna van der Kooij, Krsna devotee from following the Vaisnava Lineage and spent 7 years serving an enlightened master in India.
Noëlle is specialised in:
Bhakti Yoga
Noëlle has been exploring this path of the heart, yoga of love, the way of devotion through deep self-study and a friendship with Arjuna with whom she co-created India pilgrimages and ashram immersions for 10 years in a row and together they led Bhagavad Gita courses both online and real time. This friendship has had a deep effect on her spiritual path but still she always found her own way; not accepting any dogma or practice that she did not feel inside. She travelled South Europe in her campervan, also visiting spiritual communities and sharing kirtan where ever she came. She served in a Babaji ashram in The Netherlands for 6 months, deepening her experience with temple life, deity worship, bhakti yoga, karma yoga and daily aarti's and haven, the sacred fire ceremonies. She was chef cook for the community. Together with Arjuna she founded a kirtan group in Amsterdam called The Bhakti Groove. With this little family of friends they practice & study mantra on a weekly basis and. With Arjuna, her 'spiritual partnership' she leads bhakti yoga retreats and kirtan workshops that can be followed as yoga teacher training as well.
Japa Meditation
Noëlle explored different ways of meditation and found japa meditation the most powerful. Japa is a 108 bead mala and repeating a mantra silently or loud. The mantra can be repeated 108 times, following the 108 beads on the mala. It is advised to do a fixed number of rounds every day for maximum result. She experienced that repeating a mantra for 108 times, the quality of the mantra reveals itself within the heart.
Pranayama
Noëlle studied pranayama before but never understood the relevance and power of pranayama until she met her teacher Rajendra Neupane in Kathmandu, Nepal. Since then she is offering 8-weeks Pranayama courses to share this profound knowledge. It is the most efficient way to train the monkey mind and to balance the emotional body. Noëlle can teach you various methods of cleansing, vitalising and balancing breaths. All together the flow of prana is the most important remedy against anxiety, stress, depression, purposelessness, and lethargy. Various techniques include a strong focus on each chakra to activate and recharge the energy body.
Vedic cooking
Eating can be an act of selfishness, to please the tongue no matter what the effect on other beings or . Vedic cooking uses the principles of Ayurveda to balance every body type, plus it is vegan and includes ritual offering to bless the food. Offered food is called Prasad in India and has a very high energetic value. Noëlle is a great lover of Vedic cooking and offering and organises monthly Kirtan & Prasad and is a Vega/n chef for retreats and retreat centers.
Yoga Philosophy
Noëlle can give a clear explanation of the general aspects of Yoga philosophy; the cosmic game of creation with the and the five elements as blueprint of the material universe; the koshas or covers of the soul; the kleshas or main causes of human suffering; karma yoga to delete the imprint of selfish actions ; jnana yoga for the intellectual approach, the principles of to surrender to Love, Krishna or God, the power of mantra, the meaning of ritual, offering, deities and temples; subjects as karma, dharma, reincarnation of eternal entities, the 8-limbed path of Yoga, basics of the Bhagavad Gita and many more.
5Elements, Ayurveda & TCM
Through Noelle found out that all over the world, the 5 Elements play a very important role in science, health social structure. Ayurveda and TCM are two examples of health systems based on the 5 Elements. Noëlle has studied with Nityananda, author of the book “The Great Five Rediscovered. Noëlle has designed many teacher training programs and yoga lifestyle retreats according to the 5 Elements and also in her work as therapist and lifestyle coach, she works around these simple qualities of nature.
Sadhana and Sangha
Noëlle has understood the importance of Sadhana (regular spiritual practice) and Sangha (community of equal minded people), to make progress in spiritual life. That is what makes Noëlle a living Yogini. Not from the books but in her heart and in her daily life. www.noellesterk.com
Yoga CV:
Noëlle Sterk has trained with many teachers in various styles:
Raja Yoga Teacher Training, year 1+2 Jan & Selma van Opzeeland
Raja Yoga Teacher Training year 3, Elleke van Kralingen
Chakra Prana Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training, Shiva Rea (60h Yoga Alliance)
Ashtanga/Hatha/Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training, Kathmandu, Nepal (500h Yoga Alliance)
Various workshops & yoga coaching with Katiza Satya
Yin Yoga & Anatomy intensive, José de Groot
Okido Yoga weekly classes & weekend intensive, Mizue Tamaki
Ashtanga yoga weekend intensive, Govinda Kai
Ayurvedic Yoga weekend, Susan Pulley
Bhakti Rusty Wells
Sivananda Yoga,14 days, Madurai, India
5 Elements weekend intensive, Swami Nityamuktananda
5 Element Yoga, Detox & Shiatsu, Jai Garrido
5 Element Yoga & Vinyasa special, David Lurey
Critical Alignment weekly yoga classes, Gert v Leeuwen
Jivamukti yoga classes, Patrick & Gösta
Iyengar Yoga weekly classes, Asaf Hacmon
Vipasana Meditation, 10-days, of Dr.Goenka
Myo Fascia Release with Paulo Guimaraes
Cranio Sacral massage with Unmani Casalini
Thai Yoga Massage by Sebastian Bruno & Ces Mossel
Indian Head Massage with Neel Schmidt
Ayurvedic Cooking Course with Rada, kookstudio.net
Raw/Vegan Cooking course with Chef Made Runatha, Moksa Ubud, Bali
Intensive tantra training @ ISTA International School of Temple Arts, level 1 & 2