About She Oak Yoga

The heart and soul of She Oak Yoga is Lydia Schonhals, who moved to East Gippsland from Germany. Lydia is passionate about movement, health, nutrition and well- being. As a student of multiple movement styles and a yoga teacher since 2016, her classes always offer something new. Her passion for understanding the human body shines through her teaching. The Yoga classes are beautifully clear, satisfyingly strong and allow her students to get out of their busy minds and into their bodies through breath and organic movement. Her aim is to make yoga accessible to everyone and for her students to discover their own journey of yoga through mind and body. She teaches classes for children, teenagers, people with special needs and adults of all ages. Yoga is never the same for Lydia, she continues to learn and apply the knowledge she acquires into her classes.

Lydia bases her teachings on traditional Hatha Yoga and also incorporates Vinyasa and Yin Yoga through dynamic sequencing, hands-on assist, verbal cues, and demonstrations tending to individual needs. Through meditation, breath-work, and asana, Lydia provides a safe space for students to access benefits of balancing physical, emotional and energetic states. She offers tools for students to develop a self-sufficient wholesome practice that they can take with them wherever they go.

The name SHE OAK YOGA comes from Lydia’s connection to the She Oak trees that surround the area where she lives. SHE is the connection to the feminine, the wild woman goddess that resides in every woman and can express and celebrate herself through yoga. The mighty OAK tree symbolizes strength, wisdom and harmony. Practicing her Yoga amongst the SHE OAK trees fills Lydia with energizing joy, inspiration and deep gratitude.

Yoga Basics

Is Yoga Right for You?

Yoga is in no way exclusive—being able to practice yoga does not matter how old you are, how much you weigh, what you do for a living, where you live, or what religion you practice. Yoga is accessible for just about everyone.

If you have a medical condition or a recent injury, it can be challenging or dangerous to do certain types of yoga, specific poses, or breathing techniques. Usually, there are alternatives or modifications that can allow you to practice safely, and many common complaints have specific yoga therapy remedies. If you are recovering from an injury or are in poor health, I recommended consulting with a physician or other qualified health care professional before beginning yoga.

While you may feel some intensity in the belly of your muscles while in a yoga pose, you should never feel pain, especially in the joints. A sharp or intense pain is your body’s signal to tell you to stop, back off, and take it easy.

What Is the Best Yoga for Beginners?

If you are out of shape or extremely inflexible, I recommend you begin with a gentle practice, like Yin Yoga or gentle Hatha flow, until you have built up the strength and flexibility for more challenging sequences. If you are a relatively fit and flexible person, you should be able to jump right into a regular hatha flow yoga class. Once you are familiar with the basic postures, you can explore flowing through the shapes.  The best way to know if yoga is for you is to give it a try!

How to Practice Yoga?

Yoga is typically performed in bare feet on a sticky yoga mat with optional yoga props. The yoga movements and poses require clothes that can stretch and move freely with your body. 

Practicing yoga on an empty stomach is one of the most important preparations for practice. Generally, it’s best to avoid eating for 1 – 2 hours before asana or pranayama (breathing exercises).

Having food in the stomach or intestines takes up space in the abdomen. This makes it harder to do poses like twists or forward bends where the abdomen compresses. And… it’s heavier! Inversions like down dog or shoulderstand get harder with a heavy belly.

An empty stomach gives plenty of space for the abdominal walls to extend and contract within poses. You’ll get a deeper stretch in spinal extension and a more intense twist. Your body will flow through Vinyasas more easily and lift lightly into those tricky inversions.

How Often Should I Do Yoga?

If you can practice yoga 3 or more times per week, you will see significant improvements in your flexibility, range of motion, strength, balance, inner peace, and overall well being. Ideally, we recommend shorter and more frequent sessions, 20-45 minutes long, and for a total of 3-4 hours spread over several days. Practicing yoga less than this amount will still be beneficial, but you will see smaller improvements over a longer period of time. Like most things, the more time you can dedicate towards it, the more benefits you will receive.

The Benefits of Practicing Yoga

The benefits of yoga are almost endless! Practicing yoga helps build healthy virtues and good values, such as discipline, honesty, devotion, self-inquiry, mindfulness, and non-attachment. Yoga empowers you to make conscious choices toward living a more healthy and fulfilling life. Yoga also helps you: