Yoga tips and updates for our community:

aking the pattern of self criticism

Letting go of self criticism on and off the mat

What drives you to the yoga mat? Maybe you want a temporary escape from your busy life.  Maybe you want to be closer to the earth. Maybe you want to get more flexible. Maybe you want to master a yoga asana and post a picture on Instagram.…
healing negative body image
,

Healing negative body image

A round belly is a happy belly At the end of each yoga class, I guide students through a self-massage. These last five minutes are always quite special for me. Massage not only distributes the chi, or life energy evenly throughout the body,…
self-inquiry versus self-improvement
,

Why yoga is about self-inquiry, not self-improvement

Embrace who you are right now As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion. – Pema Chödrön Ugly duck syndrome The famous fairy…
the value of silence
,

The value of silence

There is a power and beauty in silence. In the classical yoga tradition, the Sanskrit word Mauna means silence, and it’s said silence helps a yogi purify her mind; it clears the detritus floating on its surface. This is why many yogis take…
breath in dynamic mindfulness yoga
,

Breath Practice in Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga

Breath is our most intimate connection with life. It enters us when we’re born and it leaves us when we die. It’s a constant exchange between the inner and outer spaces. It is a simple yet powerful demonstration of how deeply interdependent…
Yoga Practice for Hypermobility
,

Is More Necessary the Better?

A Holistic Yoga Practice for Hypermobility Looking back, I sometimes think that if my mum would have put me into a circus when I was a kid, by I could now be one of those performers we call “snake-human” in German (aka Schlangenmensch):…
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver - air

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your…
Mindful Movement
,

From Mindless Stretching to Mindful Movement

Can a goal ever justify the means? Can striving to achieve a yoga pose, regardless of how you get there, lead to a nourishing and sustainable yoga practice? After almost two decades of practice, I can assure you that it cannot. Quite…
Fine Art of Thai Massage

Thai massage – a spiritual hands-on gem

My alarm clock breaks the serene silence in the old guest house. 6AM. I look around my room and for a second I envy my co-travelers - an early morning alarm clearly seems to belong to their past. It is early April and I have just completed…
self aware, teaching yoga

From Self Conscious to Self Aware

When it comes to the body, from early on we are bombarded with different, often quite confusing messages. We are cultured thought our schooling and media to judge our bodies according to some outer criteria: how it performs at given tasks, how…
Walk Slowly

Walk Slowly, by Danna Faulds

 It only takes a reminder to breathe, a moment to be still, and just like that, something in me settles, softens, makes space for imperfection. The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper and I remember again that life isn’t a relay…
vinyasa flow yoga
, ,

The Quest for Mindfulness – MEETING YOUR EDGE

What does it mean to meet your edge? How do you know when you have met your edge? When you finally meet your edge, what do you do? I will take you on a small detour and return to these questions, with answers that have surfaced recently…