“Yoga helped me to reconnect to life”

“I still remember my first tram ride to Tervuren,” says Courtenay Willis and lays her hand on her heart – a gesture that is as natural as blinking with the eyes for the 59 years old yoga teacher. Traveling through the forest, she felt overwhelmed.

By Jasmin Kohl. That was 19 years ago. The Virginia-born had decided to leave the US following her husband who had taken up a job offer in Watermael-Boitsfort. From the beginning, it was clear that living in Brussels is no option. Or as Willis puts it: “I need green”.

While her decision to start a new life in Belgium was conscious and well reflected, it hasn’t been easy. Willis was out of work, diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and in the middle of a mid-life crisis. “That was the opportunity to explore parts of myself that I didn’t know existed,” says Willis. She turned to the beneficial effects experienced during yoga classes followed as a 20-years old student at Florida university. That made her decide to follow yoga teacher training.

“Yoga helped me to reconnect to life,” says the mother of three children with her eyes closed. While she enjoys lots of other sports and activities – pickleball for example – only yoga brings her the deep connection with her inner self that is crucial for her to feel balanced.

Once back to yoga, the trained ecologist, who was previously teaching at Youngstown State University in Ohio, was sure: there was no way back. She would stick to her refound passion. First, she taught at the Diependal sport center. But rapidly, she wanted to teach at a yoga school.

“It’s really important to have an own space. You create a different energy and a real community,” she explains. The problem: there wasn’t any nearby. Driven by the same pragmatism that brought her to Belgium, she came to the conclusion: “Why not open a yoga school myself?”

Garages gave way to a yoga room

When she got wind of the fact that a bookshop in the Nieuwstraat right at Tervuren’s centre was about to close, she didn’t hesitate long and rented the place right away: “The Tree of Life” was born, but it looked very different from today’s modern yoga studio. During two years, Willis and six of her yoga teacher friends gave their classes in one tiny room. Where the studio’s main yoga room is situated now, overlooking a terrace and a large garden, there were once plenty of garages.

“On the yoga mat, everyone is breathing, moving and pulsating together”

Willis transformed the old building into a true a oasis of peace when she bought it in 2014. But more importantly for her: She built a real community of people who meet together to connect better to themselves. Regardless of all their different backgrounds, ages and nationalities: “On the yoga mat, everyone is breathing, moving and pulsating together”.

But how come that she doesn’t miss her career as ecologist? “I can observe birds and insects right at my doorstep”, she explains. Being a passionate hiker, she is especially fascinated by the 480km wandelnetwork [walking route] of Demer and Dijle, especially the “holle [sunken] wegen” and the “trage [slow] wegen”, which allow her to dive deep into nature.

Her love for nature also helped her to integrate rapidly when she arrived without speaking a word of Flemish: “I joined a bird club in Tienen and learned all the bird’s names in Flemish”. She made good friends there and is still a member today. Therefore, her advice for internationals arriving in Tervuren without speaking any Flemish comes with no surprise: “Do something you love and join people who love the same!”

More information: Tree of Life, Nieuwstraat 7. Tervuren. yogatervuren@gmail.com, +32 473 42 32 80​ and via http://www.treeoflifeyoga.be.

© 2024. Photos and article by Jasmin Kohl are licensed for Tervuren+. Please like and follow Tervuren+ on Facebook or follow the news-only WhatsApp Channel at WhatsApp.