“Most everyone can move at a kindergarten level. LYT’s aim is to get you moving at PhD level.”
What is LYT® Yoga?
Founded by international yoga pioneer and Physical therapist Lara Heimann, LYT® (“Lara’s Yoga Technique”) is a sophisticated method of practice that is based on the three principles of Physiology, Kinesiology and Neurology. With a core understanding of movement from a cellular level while highlighting the mechanics of how movement happens, LYT Yoga® is an intense movement experience that systematically overrides the patterns of compensation and poor habits through an exploration of brain mapping and purposeful movement.
LYT® Method classes follow a specific blueprint to reestablish postural imbalances and will set you up to move in a variety of ways for life! Build core strength, increase mobility, balance and adaptability. I've gained so much strength, understanding of my own body through this practice - this is the only method I teach now.
Each class incorporates:
Core integration
Core strength is fundamental for good movement and postural awareness. Classes always include a section dedicated to awaking the deep core and strengthening postural stabilizers. We retrain the core to move in an integrated way for the entirety of the class.
Fascia Mobilization
The fascial tissue, a thin cellophane like membrane covers EVERYTHING in the body. When we stay in one position for periods of time without moving the fascia becomes stuck and begins to lack the hydration required for muscles to glide freely. Sticky fascia is like “speed bumps” for the flow of energy through the body. We move in multiple planes of motion to pull on fascia in ways that other movement systems do not.
Posture Alignment
Each class is designed to systematically override long conditioned compensation patterns of movement. Re-aligning and re-educating neural pathways help the body’s ability to move in more complicated patterns, and build adaptability in the body. Adaptability helps prevent injury through better balance and higher responsiveness in the nervous system.
I am a 500 hour Yoga Alliance certified teacher
Hi, I’m Katie!
I found yoga over 15 years ago out of a need to get away from my cubicle and the pain I was in from sitting all day. I knew I needed something if I was going to stay active and pain free after sitting in a cubicle all day in pain at only 25! Initially I fell in love with the focus yoga required, but most of all - the free space in my head I gained after practicing. Even though my initial seeking of yoga was physical pain relief, I began to crave the freedom in my head that practicing yoga created.
When the opportunity to take a yoga teacher training came around, I was hesitant. I had (and still have at times) some limiting beliefs that I have nothing valuable to say. The deciding factor in signing up for my first yoga teacher training in Aug 2019 (Koulu Yoga School) was the fact that I wanted to challenge those limiting beliefs. I figured even if I never taught a public class, the training would help me to learn to speak (up!). Teaching those first few public classes was both terrifying and exhilarating. I learned that I might actually have something worth sharing with those around me and that fully living life requires challenging myself to do hard things. I am here to not only help you learn to move more optimally, but also to walk beside you as you challenge your own limiting beliefs. The fact is we are LIMITLESS.
I completed my second 200 hour teacher training with physical therapist Lara Heimann in May 2021 (LYT level 1), and an additional 300 hours (April 2023) to complete my 500 hour LYT training. I’ve always been a person to ask the “why” behind everything, and LYT method yoga helped satisfy my need for understanding and continuing education.
My LYT classes might seem a little “weird” compared to a typical classical vinyasa flow. Remapping old movement patterns to more optimal ones can be a challenge not only to your body but also to your brain, but I encourage you to trust the process and stick with it. Adults are less and less likely to engage in “new” activities as we age at the risk of feeling the discomfort that often comes along with being a “beginner” at something. It feels comfortable knowing what you’re doing, but the fact is when you stop yourself from growing, you actually stop really living. One of my favourite lines from the movie The Shawshank Redemption is: “get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’ “. So I encourage you to show up, start where you are, and learn something new. You will be amazed by the strength, mobility, and adaptation your body and brain will make over time!