Lonneke Macauley is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, which acknowledges the completion of a Yoga Training with a Registered Yoga School (RYS).
She was introduced to yoga as a tool to create some well-needed downtime as this proved to be a great stress buster, in our “always-on” work culture. Enjoying the yoga practices made her curious to learn more as she has been fascinated by its ability to restore physical and mental wellbeing. As a result, she signed up for a 200hr YTT journey. While she completed the actual training in July 2020, her path has just begun.
She runs her own business as a Virtual Business Organiser, providing Online Business Support as an Online Business Manager to super busy CEOs and MDs. She is a great believer in Work / Life Flow. As a result, she always encourages her clients to schedule downtime in their busy diaries to prioritise self-care.
There is increasing evidence that sitting down too much can be a risk to your health. By managing your time efficiently, you can ensure you get the necessary exercise. Spending time on your yoga mat can be beneficial to help your body with the challenges of spending (too) many hours behind your desk. Yoga practice can certainly re-energise you. At least that is Lonneke’s personal experience. As such, she aims to have a beneficial impact on people’s lives by introducing them to yoga to experience a positive change to their Mind and Body.
Yoga can improve flexibility, increase range of motion, and make you feel longer and leaner. But if you are not one of those human pretzels, people are often discouraged from trying yoga, and it’s the biggest misconception.
There is a stigma that yoga is only for flexible people. Rest assured that by using props such as straps and blocks and making modifications to poses, yoga can be for everyone. You can enjoy the benefits without being able to put your legs behind your head. Yoga is so much more than flexibility alone.
The beauty of yoga is that the aim is not to meet an end goal but to set an intention to commit yourself to simply show up on your mat, be present, enjoy the movement, and at the same time, quieten the mind, by concentrating on your asanas and breath.
Yoga is not a destination (or for that matter, how far you can reach your toes!), it's a journey. Lonneke would love to be part of your journey as she would like to create an all-round inclusive environment, holding space for anybody who loves to practice yoga.
Throughout the UK lockdown, Lonneke offered Karma (free) yoga classes to her community to keep the spirits lifted during this ongoing pandemic. By offering these classes she tried to make a positive impact and a difference to her students' day and mindset. At the same time offering these yoga classes also served as a great motivation tool for her as a teacher. Hopefully, everyone would feel a little lighter and their day look a little brighter having done these regular yoga classes.
Her Karma classes were donation-based to support a local family in Bali. As the island was hard hit as a result of the ripple effects of COVID-19 and since tourism was the main income the streets were empty, and many locals were starting to struggle to feed their family. Money was raised through: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/supportbali
Lonneke remains available for her community for 1:1 or small group (zoom) classes and can be contacted through this page.