We had a chance to speak to Julie Costerg, one of the best yoga instructors and owner of Linwards in Shanghai. Personally I find the way she approachs having a healthy lifestyle to be one of a kind.
Tell us about yourself and how did you end up as yoga instructor?
I am a Third Culture Kid of French and Taiwanese origins, and the founder of Linwards yoga platform. I am the proud owner of a mixed breed named Yogi and a soon-to-be mom.
After spending many years trying to balance a stressful hospitality sales job in Shanghai, I moved to Guangzhou for a similar role. This role had more responsibilities, but unfortunately this job didn’t have an adequate studio where I could sustain a regular yoga practice safely. I realized I had spent over 10 years in yoga studios and still wasn’t able to properly self practice
In 2015, I realized I needed to prioritize my health. My job was making me unhappy and I wasn’t being fulfilled, so I quit. I took that opportunity to take a month off and travel to India, there I joined my first 200 hour yoga teacher training course.
As I became increasingly passionate about holistic wellness and teaching, I realized I wanted to create a brand that would embody just that. This brand would be teaching how different areas connect to create balance, wellbeing and happiness. That’s how Linwards came to mind, it means “to look inwards.”
How do you like to spend your free time?
As a wellness entrepreneur, there’s a thin line between work and free time. Everyday, I devote an hour to my health and wellness. I join a yoga class or teach one. I enjoy playing football and tennis, or going out for a jog.
My fiancé and I are both athletic, we make time for romantic dates and joint workouts, when we’re not taking our dog out for a walk or meeting our friends.
What is about yoga that is related to a daily life?
Yoga isn’t just a popular form of exercise, it is a way of life. There are many layers that start to open up once you start practicing regularly. They help you understand your mind and body and how they both affect you on a daily basis. It’s the understanding of self, but also our relationship with nature and others. This all affects our behaviors, attitudes and perceptions as well as our life choices.
Tell us the funniest myth you’ve heard about yoga.
Once in a while, I’ll hear that yoga is designed for women. Because they are more flexible, generally speaking. It may seem so because yoga is so popular amongst the female gender, but historically all yoga masters were of the male gender. Our bodies change over time, no matter where we start. Might as well start early and focus on progress. We released a piece a few years back about this myth.
Can you share some of benefits of yoga?
Aside from positively affecting your day to day life, yoga brings many other benefits.
During a yoga class, we focus a lot on the physical aspects of the body —improving strength, balance, flexibility, and stamina, through breath and movement to access the mind. We learn to breathe deeper and better, this helps us calm the mind and replenish our bodies.
With regular practice, our muscles gain elasticity and our joints become more flexible, this means we become more agile. We get less injuries, this affects our physical resistance over time.
We work on balancing yin and yang energies, but also realigning subtle differences in our bodies. This brings us more self awareness and understanding of how to best nurture ourselves, through healthier food and activities.
In your professional opinion, what is the most challenging obstacle for someone who has just started their yoga journey?
Persistence, a regular and persistent practice. This will begin to open up interesting layers of your body, but this doesn’t happen right away. It is easy to judge yoga as “Not suitable because I’m not flexible” or being distracted by others and misjudging ourselves, thereby missing the bigger picture.
There are so many different types of yoga being practiced nowadays and teachers of different influences. It’s easy to get lost and not understand the depth of the practice. I suggest taking a variety of classes to find the inspiration that will allow you to practice on a regular basis.
We know food is a big subject, can you tell us about your eating habits?
Overall, I consider myself pretty healthy. I eat a bit of everything but I do tend to be vegetarian 80% of the time, as it feels better for me with my body type and daily activity. I enjoy meat and greasy food once in a while, also cheese (since I’m a French native!) I eat everything with moderation so I rarely have cravings or issues with my eating habits. It hasn’t always been the case. Yoga really helped me understand what nourished my body without overthinking or going into crazy diets.
How are your eating habits different from other athletes?
I wouldn’t consider myself an athlete, rather a standard person. I don’t regard yoga as an achievement or a physical performance, my eating habits are probably the same as yours.
I have naturally grown interested in nutrition along my yoga journey, together with self awareness and knowledge, I am able to eat what feels right for me.
As an athlete with a specific performance goal in mind, you have to adopt a diet that will complement that and help you achieve your goals, in a healthy way.
Do you have any questions or challenges for a bodybuilder?
I don’t tend to challenge others because I think we all do what we do for personal reasons. I find bodybuilding interesting and impressive, but I’ve always wondered and have been concerned about the long-term effect of this practice. I question whether the body suffers through the process and what the consequences are over time.
