This week’s interview is with Steph Le Gros.
Steph Le Gros is a recent graduate of our 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training. Based in Nelson she is a trained health coach, personal trainer, reiki healer and now a qualified Yoga teacher.
We put together some sentence beginnings and asked Steph to complete them. Read on….
I first began Yoga …
… in the approach of Hot Moksha Yoga. As a mama of three babies under the age of three at the time, showing up to classes three times a week became my island sanctuary amid an ocean of fullness and, often, chaos.
And yet I had no knowing or tools in my kete, as to how to take that inner calm with me off the mat and into daily life. Finding the Contemporary approach invited me to participate with my practice in a different way, and gradually fill my kete with insights and practices that I could take with me, anywhere.
To me Yoga is …
… the practice that reminded me I had a body. A sensing, feeling, alive body and all the delights that that can bring. It is the breath that can centre and anchor me in the now, no matter what is happening around me. The movement practices that invite me to discover, befriend and appreciate my physical body in new ways. And a practice that has taught me so much about relationships, with self, with nature and with others.
Yoga is what brings me home, again and again.
Since completing my Contemporary Yoga training I …
… don’t feel like I have left Contemporary Yoga training. I’ve continued with mentoring sessions with Neal, Karla and Haidee since completing the 200hrs and am currently studying with Donna Farhi and her course The Art of Teaching, as well as Lisa Peterson’s Somatic Immersion offerings.
Yoga is a living practice and I know that I will continue to study and evolve with yoga through the seasons of my life.
The most rewarding aspect of being a yoga teacher …
… is gathering with others and sharing this practice - to see the absolute joy and delight as students discover new possibilities within themselves. I offer classes by the term - to witness that sense of connection and community between my students develop over the term is incredibly rewarding. I love that I get to be part of creating that.
The most challenging aspect of being a new yoga teacher …
… has been finding my own voice in yoga and my own way of offering this practice. The Contemporary approach is so diverse and rich in possibilities, that it felt overwhelming initially. In the beginning I definitely swam in the ocean of “am I good enough”, “do I have the right body to be a yoga teacher”, “what do I teach?”, “who am I to do this, when there are so many incredible teachers”.
My encouragement to new teachers is …
… to be kind to yourself, to embrace mentoring opportunities and to know that no-one can hold space and teach yoga the way you can. There are humans who need YOU to be their teacher, and it is how you teach more so than what you teach. So be YOU, exactly as you are.
Heartfelt gratitude to my wonderful mentors: Karla, Neal, Sam, Haidee, and KeiShana.
Classes with Steph:
Currently offering two classes weekly at Miki D’s Yoga studio in Nelson, as well as working with students 1:1.
Connect with Steph:
Website: stephlegros.co.nz
Email: steph@legros.co.nz
Instagram: @steph_legros
Facebook: @stephlegrosyoga