ABOUT US

Yoga is for everyone. Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers make the healing practice of yoga accessible to all through the use of skillful instruction, yoga props, modifications, and hands-on adjustments. The philosophy of Yoga and its positive effect on our daily lives is incorporated into each class.

The Iyengar Yoga Certification is the gold standard in the field of Yoga teaching and is one of the few authentic, lineage-based systems of Yoga remaining today. Iyengar Yoga Teachers, while classically educated and rigorously tested, offer their students a relevant perspective on traditional teachings.

The Iyengar Yoga Center of the Lehigh Valley classes are held in a bright and sunny large studio space located near beautiful Historic Bethlehem Pennsylvania. The studio is filled with all the props you will need to support you in your practice (blocks, bolsters, chairs). However, to practice the yoga niyama (observance) of saucha (cleanliness, purity) please bring your own sticky mat, blankets, and belt.

For more information and to register for classes contact Holly at holly@yogawithholly.com.

Holly Walck Kostura, CIYT – Level 3

Holly has been practicing self-inquiry through the art, science and philosophy of classical Iyengar Yoga for twenty-five years. She began sharing the teachings of Yoga with others in 2002 and founded The Iyengar Center of the Lehigh Valley (formerly Jai Yoga! In Bethlehem) in 2004 with the intention of sharing the practice of Iyengar Yoga with her community.

The author of Your Year of Yoga: Learning to Love Practice, Holly was one of the youngest women in the world to receive the title “Senior Teacher” under the former certification structure. She  shares freely and openly any insight that has come to her with those who are seeking transformation through this great discipline of redemption.

Holly has studied devotedly with her mentor, Patricia Walden, from the very first time she ever practiced Yoga through the present. For more than a decade she also studied and apprenticed with Joan White at the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga School of Central Philadelphia, assisting her in classes, workshops and teacher training in the U.S. and abroad.

Holly is a direct disciple of Geeta Iyengar and B.K.S. Iyengar, having studied with them in the USA, Canada and China.  She travels to Pune, India to practice and train with the Iyengar family at the renowned Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI).

Holly’s deep dedication to her own practice inspires and informs her teaching, which is clear, compassionate, and steeped in philosophy. Her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and special interest in anatomy and physiology, combined with her depth of knowledge of the subtle body, give Holly the unique ability to view her students from a place of wholeness.

Yoga is a path of transformation and absolute freedom that has far-reaching effects beyond the limits of the physical body. It is Holly’s intention to share with students how the practice of Yoga reveals the infinite source of health and joy contained within them.

Polina Mischenko, CIYT – Level 1

Polina had her first conscious taste of Yoga in 2011. The balance, ease, and joy she felt from the practice led her to become a more dedicated practitioner and teacher. She has studied in India with Sharat Arora and with Shaaron Honeycutt, Megan Bowles, Siegfried Bleher in the United States. Polina is currently mentoring for Level 2 certification with Holly Kostura.

She has practiced Vipassana meditation and studied mindfulness and compassion through MBSR, CARE for Educators, and Circle of Trust.

Polina completed her Ph.D. in Education focusing on mindfulness and mindful movement in schools and adapted, implemented and directed the Compassionate Schools Project (Charlottesville, VA), a mindfulness-based curriculum that incorporates yoga-inspired postures and breathwork into social-emotional learning for elementary school students.

Her intention is to connect those who study with her to the ease, love and joy that permeates all.

Gabrielle Nembhard

Gabrielle has been practicing Yoga for fun since she was a child. In 2012 she began studying and practicing intensively with Richard Schachtel, a senior Iyengar Yoga teacher, eventually apprenticing and teaching under his guidance at the Center for Yoga in Seattle.

Gabrielle moved to the Lehigh Valley in 2017 and began studying at the Iyengar Yoga Center of the Lehigh Valley with her mentor, Holly Kostura.  She is currently mentoring to become a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher in 2023.

As an artist, musician, and Waldorf grade school teacher, Gabrielle strives to bring calm,  clarity, enthusiasm, an artistic eye, and a feeling for harmony to her own practice of Yoga and to her classes, which are educational, engaging and inspiring.