Lena Younes

I remember being about five or six years old and trying to work out whether I was meant to puff my belly out on my inhale or on my exhale. I would spend ages experimenting with all the different ways of breathing, determined to do it the 'right' way. There is something so deeply ingrained and primal about connecting to breath, voice and movement.

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I was raised - largely - in Geneva, Switzerland, after spending the first few years of my life moving from place to place in Germany and The Netherlands, a pattern I continued in later life. I come from a mixed background - German and Egyptian - and have always felt that I belong everywhere and nowhere; a feeling that still permeates both my teaching and my music. My professional background is, originally, in History and Theatre Studies.

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My yoga story began in 2014, when I stepped into my 200hr Teacher Training at what was then It’s Yoga Firenze, shortly after moving to Tuscany in order to finish my PhD in Early Modern History. Yoga had made an appearance in my life - on and off - for almost a decade, but this is where I began to commit to the practice and to my own process of transformation. Yoga changed my life - having spent years recovering from chronic Lyme Disease as well as a traumatic open abdominal surgery, I showed up to my teacher training with a body that was weak, tight, and more often than not in pain...  and so it was from this place that I began my yoga journey in earnest.

 

As I discovered a daily on - and off - the mat practice, things began to change. My body - and mind - became stronger, more open and flexible. I let go of my PhD and dedicated the next few years to my practice as well as working towards opening a studio in Brighton, UK, where I had somehow ended up - and so what is now Inbodhi Yoga Brighton was born. Over the last few years I completed my E-RYT500 yoga qualification and led numerous teacher trainings myself... and my physical and mental health as well as my relationships to myself and others have transformed on every level. I am also trained in Kids and Family Yoga and have attended two Rosen Method bodywork intensives, which have hugely influenced my Yin and Restorative classes.

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In 2018 I met the breath in a new way. I thought I had this part of being human figured out through years of vocal and yogic training - little did I know! My first Transformational Breath session with my friend and mentor Michèle Barocchi - who had also been my yoga trainer - blew me away. At the end of the session, I found myself sobbing and shivering in her arms... And soon after I felt completely reborn - so that's what it's like to breathe! After a few more sessions, another surgery and endometriosis diagnosis, I felt I needed to commit to my breath and have now almost completed my professional training in Transformational Breath. 

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Since then I have reconnected to music and written and recorded several songs.

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My mission is to help others get in touch with their inner guidance and creative expression through yoga, music and the voice as well as, of course, the power of the breath.

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Having now handed over Inbodhi Yoga Brighton to Caro, Rachel and Julie, I am currently in the process of moving to Tavira, Algarve, in Portugal with my partner Darren, daughter Mayla and dog Fëalin, to launch Inbodhi Yoga Algarve.