Profile

Born and raised in Iwatashi, Shizuoka, Yu Natsume studied abroad in Sydney, Australia in 2008. During her stay, she completed a yoga teacher training course (Registered Yoga Teacher, 200 hour level) at Power Living. Since returning to Japan, she was been actively involved in the management of Studio+Lotus8 as well as in the editing of Yogini, a yoga lifestyle magazine. As an employee at Lotus8, she reaffirmed the joy she feels in being a part of the yoga community as she helps out in the preparation of the studio’s workshops and translation and interpretation works. After resigning her position at the studio, she took up offering classes exclusively for corporates at privately owned gyms. Currently, she teaches at Roppongi for a foreign firm and also gives special classes to employees of Muji. Yu is also an integral member of Hello Yoga’s event organization team.

Having experience working for a Japanese firm as a jewelry designer, Yu understands the stress involved in Japanese corporate life and thus understands what yoga poses may benefit her clients. Dealing with long working hours and the difficulty of getting maternity leave are some factors that make corporate life in Japan difficult and stressful. Depending on her clients’ needs and work style (for instance whether their jobs consist of sitting long hours at the desk or standing long hours waiting on customers) Yu introduces yoga sequences that help each student physically and spiritually release their accumulated stress. Closely instructing them on their breathing, meditation methods, and slow poses, she hopes her students will rediscover ‘their true selves’ through yoga.

Growing Up

Largely influenced by her dance music loving father, Yu spent her childhood exposed to music, dance, theatre, and the arts in the natural settings of the country. In junior high, she began studying hip-hop dance at a local and renowned dance studio run by her father’s friend (Exile’s Akira was a former classmate at the studio). Her experience and training of this time has greatly helped her in the physical aspects of learning yoga. While continuing her studies in dance, Yu enrolled in a high school specializing in the arts. She took up studying Design, Japanese Painting, Dying, Sculpture, Oil Painting and Art History. Being a gifted artist she won several art competitions but despite the expectations people held for her future success as an artist, Yu quickly tired of the competitiveness of the art world where ‘creating to be recognized’ seemed everything. She also began to tire of the aggressive competitiveness found in the dance industry. Like many modern day artists that are influenced by the social trait of ‘it being ok to exist for only one’s ego’, Yu too found herself to lapse into an artist that created for self satisfaction. Nevertheless, she took notice that ‘art created from the soul can have a significant impact on and connection to another’s soul’. Art can be something loving, spiritual and soothing. A world void of competition and the deprivation of others’ happiness was what she found ideal and thus began to seek for such a philosophy or mindset to become her spiritual axis.

Because of this early on revelation, Yu strongly identifies with the teachings of the Yoga Sutra that says something on the lines of, ‘Be nothing. Live a humble life. Act only for others. A humble life means eternal peace of mind’ and hopes to lead a life where ‘others can be appreciative of your doings instead of leading a life where you are boastful of them’.

When Yu turned16 years old, someone stole a ring that was given to her by her mother. This incident left her wondering whether the thief actually found the ring worthwhile stealing and whether the thief found true happiness from taking it. She was struck on how a piece of jewelry can mean more than precious metals and stones to its original owner. A jewelry’s true value can only be recognized by its owner that holds it with sentimental value. This idea led her to become interested in order made jewelry. After graduating from high school she enrolls in a school specializing in jewelry design and eventually joins a large wedding jewelry company as a designer of order made rings. She has personally designed over 300 wedding bands for newlyweds. Her deep interest in music also gave her the opportunity to design for major musicians such as AI and BENNIE-K. Yu has worked as a designer for several years in Nagoya and Ginza and found her job rewarding in bringing happiness to the lives of others. After resigning her position as a designer, she studied abroad in Australia to discover yoga that offered the spiritual and peaceful life and community she desired.