Liz Oppedijk
Liz is a Minded Yoga Therapist, teacher trainer, and co-founder of the social enterprise Accessible Chair Yoga CIC, dedicated to making the transformative practices of yoga available to everyone – especially those who may feel yoga is not for them. Her journey began in her fifties, during a period of serious illness and recovery that reshaped her understanding of movement, resilience, and wellbeing. Discovering yoga’s healing potential ignited in her a commitment to accessibility, adaptability, and inclusion.
Liz is passionate about training and mentoring teachers through Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga (LVCY) and cultivating a supportive community of chair yoga teachers dedicated to safe, inclusive, and empowering practice. She is known for an approach that blends evidence-informed teaching, therapeutic sensitivity, anatomical clarity, and warm, grounded presence.
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More About Liz Oppedijk
Early in her teaching career, Liz encountered Lakshmi Voelker’s pioneering chair yoga method and immediately recognised its capacity to bring yoga to people who could not safely or comfortably practise on the mat. She studied directly with Lakshmi, deepening her training over several years, and was invited to become the official LVCY teacher trainer for the UK and Europe. This long-standing mentorship continues to inform Liz’s teaching and her dedication to passing on the method with clarity and integrity.
Liz specialises in chair and accessible yoga for people with Parkinson’s, dementia, osteoporosis, and mobility or cognitive challenges, and she is a regular lecturer for The Minded Institute in London. Her work spans community settings, care homes, clinical environments, and one-to-one sessions.
Her research plays a central role in her work. Liz is co-author of several peer-reviewed articles, including “Reduced Anxiety and Depression and Improved Mood in Older Adults Living in Care Homes After Participating in Chair Yoga” (Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2024) and “Care Home Residents’ Experiences of Participating in Chair Yoga” (Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 2025). She is also co-author of Get Fit Where You Sit: A Guide to the Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga Method (Shambhala Publications, 2023).
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