Yoga That Works

About Yoga That Works

Yoga that Works is for people who have full days of work and also big goals (just like you & me). They want to be more intentional with where they put their energy and want to have a Yoga practice that fits and supports their life because every time they practice they feel unstoppable after. In each episode, I share simple practices & real-life insights to help you build a realistic routine, on & off the mat, that keeps you going, with more energy, calmer and connected to what really matters in your life.

Publisher

Gwen Versteegh

Category

education · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 May 2025

Latest episode

25 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

26 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   25 Aug 2026

   Can You Use Your Yoga When You Need It Most?

   In this episode, I explore why it can become so much harder to manage a Yoga practice during challenging periods, even though those are often the moments when we need the tools from that practice the most. Starting with a conversation with my therapist, a voice note recorded at 5:30 in the morning & the introductory Yoga workshops I taught to teenagers going back to school, I look at whether we are creating a Yoga practice that is flexible and accessible enough to support us when life becomes busy, stressful or emotionally heavy. We talk about the difference between the form of a practice & its intention, why recording a voice note can sometimes serve the same purpose as journaling, and how one word, a few breaths, five minutes on the floor or a small amount of movement can still be part of a meaningful Yoga practice. It is about understanding what we need from the practice, and then finding a version of it that feels possible within everything else we are already managing. Highlights include: ● Why maintaining a Yoga practice becomes more difficult when we are already carrying a lot. ● How understanding the intention behind a practice gives us more freedom to adapt it. ● Using one simple word to recognize how we feel & what kind of support we might need. ● Why the smallest available practice can sometimes be the most supportive one. This is also the final episode of Season 2 of Yoga That Works. The podcast will take a break for a few months while I focus on teaching, research, expeditions & everything else coming up, but I will be back for another season. Join the Yoga Life Lab Membership Connect with Gwen on Instagram

2. 

   11 Aug 2026

   What Makes a Yoga Class Challenging?

   Apparently, I have a bit of a reputation on Bonaire for being a "hardcore" Yoga teacher, the kind of teacher you go to if you want to be challenged, sweat or spend some time upside down. While those comments were meant in a very positive way, they made me think about what we actually mean when we describe a Yoga class as challenging. Somewhere along the way, we've started using "physically difficult" and "challenging" as if they mean the same thing, when a challenge can actually look completely different from one person to another. In this episode, I explore what challenge can really mean in a Yoga practice, from strength, inversions & balance to fear, body awareness, confidence, breathwork, relaxation & nervous system regulation. We talk about why something that looks easy from the outside can be incredibly challenging from the inside, and why two people doing the exact same practice can experience completely different challenges. Highlights include: ● Why being known as a "hardcore" Yoga teacher made me question what we actually mean by a challenging Yoga class. ● Why physically demanding Yoga can be incredibly valuable, without physical difficulty being the only way we can challenge ourselves. ● What I actually want students to explore when I bring inversions like headstand into a class, and why getting your feet off the floor isn't really the goal. ● How physical challenges can build body awareness, trust & confidence that can reach much further than the Yoga mat. ● Why balance can challenge much more than our ability to stand on one leg, especially when frustration, comparison & expectations start showing up. ● How breathwork, stillness, relaxation & nervous system regulation can be incredibly challenging when we're used to always being on and doing more. ● Why there is an important difference between being challenged and being pushed, and why challenge doesn't have to mean succeeding or reaching the most difficult version of something. A challenging Yoga class isn't necessarily the class with the hardest poses, the most sweat or the practice that leaves you sore the next day. Challenge is much more personal than that, and there is a whole rainbow between what we tend to label as "easy" and "hard" Yoga. I am comfortable being a teacher who challenges her students. I just don't think we should assume that we already know what that challenge is going to look like. Join the Yoga Life Lab Membership Connect with Gwen on Instagram

3. 

   28 Jul 2026

   Learning to Choose Yourself

   When you look at a Yoga schedule today, it can feel overwhelming. Slow Flow, Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, Mobility, Power Yoga... with so many different styles & approaches, how do you know which practice is actually right for you? In this episode, I explore a question that has been on my mind lately: has Yoga become so broad that we've forgotten how to choose? More importantly, have we become so focused on finding the "right" class or the "right" teacher that we've stopped asking ourselves what we actually need today? We talk about why there is no single "best" Yoga practice, how our needs change from day to day, & why one of the most valuable skills Yoga can teach us is not how to follow a teacher, but how to listen to ourselves. I also share why I believe the goal of a Yoga practice isn't to become dependent on one teacher or one style, but to become confident enough to make almost any class your own. Highlights include: ● Why the word "Yoga" doesn't tell us as much as it used to, & why that's not necessarily a bad thing. ● How the growing variety of Yoga styles can make it difficult to know what practice to choose. ● Why asking "What do I need today?" is often a much more useful question than "What class should I take?" ● How to adapt a group Yoga class to your own body, energy levels & needs, even when everyone else is doing something different. ● Why challenge isn't always about doing more, & how learning to listen to yourself can become a practice both on and off the mat. ● How becoming an independent practitioner can help you build a Yoga practice that continues to support your real life, wherever you are and whoever is teaching. I hope this episode encourages you to trust yourself a little more, to become curious about what your body is asking for, and to remember that the most important part of your Yoga practice isn't following the sequence perfectly, but learning to choose yourself. Join the Yoga Life Lab Membership Connect with Gwen on Instagram

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

41

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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