Teachers
Meet Lauren Roegele - ERYT500
Can you tell us about your background?
I’ve been practicing yoga since 2001 and teaching yoga fulltime since 2005. I live locally in South Surrey and am married to a wonderful man and we have a 6 year old daughter. I have owned and operated a yoga studio (which I sold after 4 yrs), am the co-founder of an online yoga website, www.yogo.tv and am the current program director at the Vancouver school of yoga, where I lead 200/240hour yoga teacher trainings 4 times a year. You can also find me leading specialty yoga classes, workshops and clinics throughout British Columbia.
What brought you to yoga?
I found yoga in my darkest hour. I had been a pedestrian hit by a drunk driver years prior (MVA was 1999) and was suffering from chronic pain and fatigue, was diagnosed with an auto immune disease that left my colon chronically inflamed and was overwhelmed with anxiety and depression. I later found out all of this was heighted from my undiagnosed PTSD. With all of this haunting me, I decided that I couldn’t live like this anymore and planned to commit suicide at the end of the week.
To spend as much time as I could with my family, I asked my mom (who was practicing yoga at the time) if I could attend class with her. It was extremely challenging and I’m pretty sure I terrified the teacher when I told him all of my “issues”. However, I made it through class and found the breath-linked movements transformational. So much, that I ended sobbing in Savasana (final resting pose) and told my mother that I was planning on ending my life and that I didn’t actually want to die, I just needed help adjusting to life as it currently was. Something I had been bottling up for a very long time. So you can say, yoga literally saved my life and I’ve been practicing yoga ever since (that was 2001).
Why did you decide to become a teacher?
Yoga saved me, so I feel inspired to help others see the value in building a relationship with themselves and empowering people to take ownership of their body and choices.
What do you love most about teaching?
I love to watch people evolve in their yoga practice. Especially when the students move away from seeing yoga as another fitness class and start to recognize it’s everyday benefits and start to bring their yoga into their everyday lives.
What is your favorite pose?
My favorite posture changes as my body does. However I’ve consistently loved Pincha Mayurasana for a decade, so I’ll say that one.
What should students expect from you?
Students should expect a well planned and thoughtfully sequenced yoga class. I wear my heart on my sleeve and believe that setting intentions and breathing deeply are essential for living a wholehearted life, so students can also expect to have an intention to embody or contemplate while practicing yoga asana (postures) and deep breathing techniques in every class.
What do you want your students to take away from your teachings?
That yoga can be a resource for everyday life, empowering people to take ownership of the choices they make. That simplicity is powerful and breathing deeply transformational. Lastly, that the relationship you have with yourself is the most important one, as it’s the foundation for all the other relationships in your life.
Proudest yoga moment?
I’ve had too many, however one that stands out is assisting a student into headstand for the first time. A posture she had been attempting for years and hadn’t had success. She got up in the posture, held it for around a 1 minute, came down slowly and burst into tears of joy. I cried too. So did the other students. Her hard work paid off.
Most embarrassing yoga moment?
I said “stink your bum back towards your heel, vs stick”. OMG!! There are many more, however that one always makes me laugh.
Favorite quote?
Sigh! So many, so to pick one I choose, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beautiful.” – Maya Angelou
Yoga inspiration?
Everything. Life, and watching my daughter navigate life. My other relationships, my struggles, my joys, and of course my personal yoga practice.
What is your advice for new yoga students?
Try a number of yoga classes and teachers, be patient with yourself and trust your inner guide. That inner voice that says, “it’s ok to take child’s pose” or “just try”. Let go of the comparison game and focus on you. The yoga postures are there to take you deeper into your self, so trust the journey and know you’re not alone on the path.
Meet Brooke Wilhelmson - RYT 500HR
Can you tell us about your background?
I started practicing in early 2011, and soon after decided to follow my love of yoga as a career path. I began my teacher training in 2014 at the Vancouver School of Yoga, studying with some of my most favourite skilled teachers. There at VSY I completed my 200hr certification and continued on to receive my 500hr advanced teacher diploma. I have been teaching part time since October 2014 and full time since January 2015. I am extremely happy to of have found my home at Vayusha and have been so thrilled to be a part of the community there since May 2015.
What brought you to yoga?
Since my early teens I had struggled with knee issues and originally came to yoga for a low impact weight loss exercise. Yoga was the only physical exercise that didn’t cause more pain to my body. Little did I know that I would not only be able to rehabilitate my knee issues, but also discover the practice to be so much more for me than just exercise. I fell in love with yoga right away as I discovered that the asana (poses) and pranayama (breathwork) also helped me cope with stress in my daily life and diminish my struggles with depression and anxiety. In many ways yoga has helped me become a better version of myself.
Why did you decide to become a teacher?
I have always been extremely fascinated in the human body, its movements and natural abilities to heal/rehabilitate. I also have always known that I needed to teach and help people in some way too. Then one day it hit me during one of my yoga classes. Teaching yoga was a way that I could combine all of the things I wanted to do as a career in such a positive and rewarding way.
What do you love most about teaching?
I love that I get to share something I am passionate about as a job. For me, the best part is the moments I see amazement in a student’s face when they accomplish something they never thought they could. There is nothing better than helping people work towards a goal or through and injury and truly grow into who they are.
What is your favorite pose?
Eka Pada Rajakopatasana – One leg king pigeon pose
there are so many prep variations and stops along the way to reach the full pose. My favourite part is that I haven’t been able to reach the full variation as of yet and I love learning about my body each day working towards it. Plus there is nothing like a good backbend and hip opener at the same time!!
What should students expect from you?
Lots of alignment cues and a playful light heartedness. I believe that yoga is supposed to be safe, fun and enjoyable so I like to bring some of this to each of my classes.
What do you want your students to take away from your teachings?
I always hope that my students can take some tips or tools away from class and somehow integrate them into their yoga practice and maybe even daily life of the mat.
Proudest yoga moment?
The day I did my first headstand in my yoga teacher training. It was so empowering and revolutionary.
Most embarrassing yoga moment?
I had a student ask me a question in class about what the benefits were of a pose we were doing. For some reason I drew a blank and couldn’t explain. For me I know that I knew the answer otherwise we wouldn’t be doing the pose, but I just couldn’t come up with it on the spot. It caught me totally off guard that I didn’t have an answer for him at the time. I was completely embarrassed by my total brain fart, mostly because I knew that I did know the answer.
Favorite quote?
“How you do anything, is how you do everything” – T. Harv Ekers
One of my favourite teachers spoke about this in one of her classes and it truly resonated with me to live and breathe with full intention. It is now one of my daily mantras.
Yoga inspiration?
My students, they continue to amaze and inspire me every day.
What is your advice for new yoga students?
Whatever you do don’t beat yourself up mentally/emotionally as everything comes with practice. Never be afraid to try, you may not get it right away, but don’t stop trying. Know that any limitations are only a chance to learn more about yourself. We are all on our own journey and are right where we need to be