Check Out Lyndie Costello’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lyndie Costello.

Hi Lyndie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) 200 hours with Yoga Alliance. I received my teacher training from The Little Yoga Studio in Boulder, CO in Fall 2018. I have continued my learning through online education and daily personal practice since receiving my certification completion. Most Recently being certified by the Accessible Yoga Association and also in Yogapalooza by Bari Koral (Children’s Yoga).

I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Mi as a nonathletic child, teenager, and young adult. Falling into many of the unhealthy traps of the 1980s and ’90s. Since then life has taken me down many different paths and places all over the country along the way. I found yoga and running as a way to control my weight when I was struggling with it in my early 30s and learned just how many ways yoga was able to benefit me beyond just on the scale. Through the good times, illnesses, and surgeries of the last 10 years, yoga has helped me to recover and grow strong. What started to help me become more active and lose weight turned into so much more as it joined together the threads of my life. I used yoga along with physical therapy to recover after reconstructive ankle tendon surgery to help build strength and mental fortitude when my other outlet for fitness and mental clarity of running became no longer an option. Life’s ups and downs always pull me in many directions and finding the mindful practices of yoga and meditation have helped me to know who I am and what I want out of life in ways I couldn’t comprehend when I started this journey. In 2018 I had major abdominal surgery; my healthcare professional allowed me to utilize Chair Yoga during this recovery. This was just the focus I needed to see how much benefit yoga can bring to many different students who wouldn’t think that yoga was for them. Yoga helped me to find myself and to listen to what my body truly needs. My son, Devlin, My Partner, Jen, and I enjoy a wonderful community of friends here in Colorado. I truly feel we have found our home here in the Denver/Boulder area.

It is my passion to bring yoga to non-traditional students to show them all the shapes they can do in their bodies safely for health and mobility. Another passion is to use my knowledge of yoga and mindfulness techniques from around the globe to help empower all audiences to utilize peaceful properties to calm, stretch and strengthen their bodies and minds. I utilize not only the physical movements of yoga but also incorporate meditation and other mindfulness techniques using clear language and cueing. I have participated in social justice and trauma-informed training and hope to offer a safe space to my students to the best of my ability. My goal in each class is to be the guide to the student in connecting with something deep within themselves so they can learn to cope in positive ways when life throws them a curve ball.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The pandemic has made the road a bit bumpy. First having to adapt to online classes. This worked in my favor at first and I was teaching 11 online classes a week from the comfort of my home for a few months. I was building new clients and it felt like it was at a sustainable pace. After the first year, once things started opening back up the online work was harder to come by, the adult day care and senior centers I had worked at pre-pandemic hadn’t opened up yet. In-person classes did start back up and I was able to fill my schedule quickly, however, classes often had 1 or fewer students and most classes were personal workouts while I hoped someone would show up. I have recently settled into a schedule that feels supportive and fulfilling with regular class attendance of regular students and new students.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I incorporate meditation into my classes and my social media as much as possible. Often students will comment that my voice will help them find a state of relaxation quickly. I work hard to make sure to mix it up between guided imagery and deep introspective styles and to find other techniques to tap into depending on students’ ages and needs as a silent listening meditation is not the right solution for all students.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
When you take deep breaths and have faith in yourself, you can write the most fantastic story of your life, no matter what life throws at you in the process of crafting your own fairytale, as the author, you decide how to write that next page by the energy you give to which thoughts, decisions, and actions in your everyday life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yogaalliance.org/TeacherPublicProfile?tid=218822
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kineticshapesyoga/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedom.cali.9
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lyndie44559319
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi9EytHZgvA28T1_pcqn4-A
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kinetic-shapes-yoga-denver?osq=kinetic+SHapes+Yoga
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3FMkxH1uw1ZGgAwwSdhlqj

Image Credits
Headshot Taken by Jen Smith