Tag: balance

Urdhva Padmasana

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Urdhva Padmasana – one of my favorite postures, as it combines inversion, stretch and balance. The pressure at the thyroid brings my attention up and the posture as such allows some fine tuning in the entire body until feeling steady.

Each time you reach this state of steadiness and ease, it feels like arrived. The posture feels stable, easy and makes me wonder why it was such an effort to reach this state. It’s the same for most postures that don’t come naturally. The moment headstand felt like this, I thought, finally, I’m there. Wrong. Totally wrong. An injury threw me out of my practice and inversions moved far away. Once again. Nothing is for granted only because you were there once. Insecurity and mistrust in my body instead. I know this by now and I also know it’s just a matter of slowly getting back. Accepting the weakness through injury, building up step by step. No doubts, but patience. Consistency. Forgiving. Learning. Benevolence. Trust. Ease. And back you are.

Once the body is back, it doesn’t mean the posture can be easily accessed. And no way to push yourself. It’s the mind that need to follow!

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Do you know your values?

The moment when our values have been either fulfilled or infringed, we react with an emotion. The difficult part about that is to not blame the other person! Particularly when anything negative comes up, such as anger. They might have different values and didn’t do anything on purpose to harm you, they just act in conjunction with their own values. 

So what’s the tricky part now? You have to take responsibility for your emotions and reactions. Hmmmm, but the other person did something, said something…. No! Your values, your emotions, your decisions.

Why don’t you get a bit of practice? The next moment you react with an emotion on something someone did or said, ask yourself why. Which of your values has been infringed?

There is something you can do without reprogramming your values. Did you know, those manifest at an age between 3 and 7!  

First get to know your values. Before you react, pause. Reflect. Don’t react as usual. I know, this isn’t easy, but worth a try. And there are little sweet helpers in form of essential oils. They can help to better deal with your emotions. The oils can support in many directions – clarify, soothe, calm, balance, energise, and many more. Even if essential oils won’t make you cool as a cucumber, but you might feel more calm and cool.  

Let me give you some examples of my experiences – with the support of the oils it gets a bit easier to calm down:

  • I love to use the mixed blend „Peace“ in the office – when everyone around me freaks out, I feel like in a bubble, safe and peaceful
  • Before a stressful day, a challenging task, I inhale Adaptiv and I feel calm and confident
  • Any earthy oil, such as Sandalwood, or the mixed blend „Balance“ instantly grounds me, brings me back to myself. Great on the sole of the feet, neck and wrists
  • A few inhales of Bergamot and my smile is back

Learn your values and what triggers them, and be easy with your emotions, the only way to live in peace!

Are you ready to bring pure, natural essential oils into your life? I would love to help you get started! Send me a message to get connected.

Otherwise, read a bit more here about the power of essential oils.

Gift card

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Yoga is a personal practice!

Yoga classes are great, but only in a one to one session you get the full attention of your teacher. A private session will be made for you individually and the focus is on your requirements and objectives. It is a great way to bring your practice onto the next level and ensure you’re perfectly aligned to support your body and mind.

Give yourself the gift of a private yoga session! While we are thinking of how we could do something good for our partner, family or friends, particular now for Christmas, what about a private yoga session? No matter if first time or experienced yogi, the session will be created for that person.

Book a one to one session now for yourself, or purchase a gift card ✨

Let’s talk – whatever channel you prefer:

The best advice ever

Kathrin

Years ago I was facing the first yoga class that I had to teach and I was so nervous. I had issues talking in front of a group of people, but obviously couldn‘t avoid it in that situation. A friend gave me an advice: connect to your own love before you go into the shala and all will be good. To be honest, this didn’t sound promising, but rather strange. However, I just did it. It made me smile and you know what, fear and smiling doesn’t go together. I had a great class and since then, my problem is solved. I love teaching and can‘t even imagine anything better!

No matter the situation, whenever you face fear or anger, when you feel upset, helpless or nervous, do that.

Close your eyes for a moment and feel the love inside. We all have that, we all can do it. As soon as you connect, love spreads inside and you are nothing but love. This will be the driving energy and there won‘t be any room for negativity, no matter the form.

A few days ago I was really upset and I felt anger coming up. Only the next day I remembered the advice I was given many years ago – I connected with my inner love and the anger disappeared immediately. Plus, if you are spreading love and start shining, others will react on this. I learnt once again and this time, I will keep it in my mind, as it works in every situation.

When will you give it a try?

PAUSE

Kathrin

Today is new moon. The moment of stillness. The old does not longer exist, the new is not yet there. Time to rest. Time to look inward. Get clarity on what you really want and set an intention.

I never felt like this before. My body is tired and so is my mind. Empty. Done. I need a proper rest. Not just a few hours. It‘s time to leave the business behind and take it really slow. Do something different, go where there‘s nothing to do. Start breathing. Feel the nature around and also feel me.

Connect to my floors:

  • The bottom, re-ground myself and connect to my stability
  • The middle, appreciate my ability to handle the world
  • The top, activate my vision to play imaginatively

One week to keep on going in the center of the craziness. Followed by some time to exactly do that. Pause. Reset. Refill.

Go for some yummy yin yoga today, respect the new moon and its energy. Practice slow today. I just did, it felt so good!

Parivrtta Trikonasana

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Parivrtta Trikonasana — twisting, balancing, steady and comfortable. The union of sthira and sukha, effort and ease, hard and soft, expanding and contracting, ascending and descending, solar and lunar.

The moment you plant your hand next to your foot, you feel fully grounded. While same time your other arm reach up, your gaze follows. Deeply rooted, reaching for the sky — strong Ujjayi breath connects both, steadiness and ease.

Make space

Kathrin2 Comments

I have to admit, even if I’m preaching it, sometimes I have to shout out loud, that being on my mat isn’t all that counts. From time to time – particularly when struggling or even being thrown back in certain postures – I need to tell myself “don’t define your practice through asanas!”. Yoga has become my way of life and it should be honored as such.

The older I get, the more difficult it is to keep balance. The balance in my asana practice reflects my balance in life. Too many duties and instead of stepping back, I have more ideas and put myself in situations where even little things all of a sudden get massive. More, faster, running, rushing through life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I love what I do, I love my life, however body and mind also need to rest and recharge.

And that’s my challenge: make space for myself. To not rush from one task to another, but implement mindfulness instead. Do what I teach! Particularly to not reduce my own practice to quickly do the primary series, to press it somehow into my busy schedule. It’s not about the practice itself, but making space for myself. When on my mat, practice passionately, aware, dedicated. Not just tick the box. Make space and allow myself to be there, in the moment, nothing else.

How about you? Are you properly caring for yourself? What helps me a lot in general, but particularly when going through tough days, is implementing regular short breaks to focus on my breath. Just that. As soon as I breathe deep into my belly, I’m back. I’m reconnected after just some minutes. Easy and very efficient. Give it a try!

I have to learn to be more patient with myself, fully accepting that progress sometimes means to step back. The transformation my life has undergone is sometimes not even recognizable, sometimes it’s rather a big break through. So I keep on moving, trust in me, trust in my magic.

Ashtanga yoga and Yin yoga are the same

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Ups. What? Ashtanga yoga and Yin yoga are the same.

Let this melt in your mouth, and even more, swallow it. Don’t reply darling, read first:

What we do in Yin yoga: we hold a posture, we connect, we tune in, we feel what we’re doing. We breathe intense, we relax. We meditate.

What we do in Ashtanga, a Yang yoga practice: the same. Really? Well, we don’t relax, but it’s about finding ease. We make our practice a meditation. Yes, when practicing Ashtanga, we move a lot, we sweat. And best case we find ourselves in a moving meditation.

If you look at the Yin/Yang symbol, you can see there’s a black dot in the white and a white dot in the black. There’s always both, there’s a little Yin in every Yang, there’s a little Yang in every Yin. It’s all about balance. Obviously not just in yoga, it’s everywhere, literally.

So, where exactly is the Yin in Ashtanga? Think about it. It might be different for you, but for me it’s this: when holding a posture for 5 counts (or more in the closing sequence). We connect, we aim for stillness, we are in deep ujjay breath, looking for steadiness as well as ease. That’s Yin! Even if we don’t relax, we get kind of soft in all our stability. We don’t close our eyes like we do in Yin yoga, but we practice drishti. A focus point that supports us to go internal. We tune in, we feel our body, we feel what we’re doing. Same as we do in Yin, right.

I like the idea of balancing. Doing some Yin to balance my Ashtanga practice, but also being aware of where there’s Yang in my Yin practice and of course the other way around, where I find Yin in Ashtanga.

Same objectives, same tools. Just such a different implementation!

Be proud yogis

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My practice is difficult at the moment. Due to a couple of things happening in my life, it was and still is a huge challenge to keep my regular practice. On the mat I’m currently experiencing a lack of balance and focus. Plus a busy mind, terribly noisy. All thoughts just about what part of my practice I might skip. Restless. In a rush.

Today all of a sudden a much stronger thought took my attention: be proud, you showed up! You ARE practicing!

Yogis, this is so true. Even if it’s tough for me right now, I’m practicing. Even if sometimes I skip postures, I’m practicing. Even if my mind doesn’t stop talking, I’m practicing. Even if I don’t feel like, I’m on my mat. And yes, I AM proud.

Whatever is going on in your life yogis, always remember, it’s not about asanas, it’s about practicing. Just show up and practice. Do whatever you can and allow yourself to feel good about it.

Just not tomorrow, it’s full moon — so enjoy your day off 🙂