Tag: gratitude

For you

KathrinLeave a comment

There’s a new guided meditation available for you!

No matter if you’re new to meditation or already practicing, do something new today! Today is NEW MOON, a moment of stillness, a new beginning, The old does not longer exist, the new not yet here. Time to slow down, this is the perfect day to meditate! Join the moon, be in stillness, tune in to yourself.

Please check what I recorded for you, listen and I would be delighted to hear what you think. You find my guided meditations on my YouTube channel and the new one directly here.

Tune in!

Concentration

KathrinLeave a comment

My practice is different each day. While practicing the same series of postures, everything else differs. One day my body is soft and bendy, the other day stiff and kind of heavy and obviously, anything in between. My mind sometimes very focussed, sometimes distracted. Not to mention my mood…

These factors shouldn’t be underestimated, as they need to be managed. I have these moments when all of a sudden, I don’t have a clue where in my practice I am. What asana comes now? What did I just do? No idea. Or I notice, that I even missed some asanas out. 

Well, does it matter? It does! On a physical level we need a strong focus to challenge our body exactly the right way. No one needs injuries, right. On the other hand, we also don’t want to go through the practice on a low level, just doing some movements without meaning. Finally, our practice is supposed to help us going into a meditative state. For all this being possible, we have to take it serious and create the base for it. 

In Ashtanga Yoga, we use drishti, or focus point, as a tool to concentrate and guide our attention same time inwardly. Engaging the bandhas gives us balance and stability, while ujjayi breath creates the rhythm of our movements. 

There are these moments, when I loose connection and my mind jumps in, starting to wander. Not noticing it is exactly the point. I am not here, not in the moment, I’m not practicing properly. As soon as I bring my focus back to my breath, drishti and engage my bandhas, I’m back. Back on the mat, back in my practice. 

Practice properly yogis! Respect your body, your mind and your spirit, guide yourself with full awareness through your practice. No matter if you practice on your own or attend a class, always keep the connection to yourself!

Make your practice yours

KathrinLeave a comment

There’s a change happening right now. Many of us are looking for more mindful, sustainable, and harmonious ways of living. Covered in concrete, we now start to value nature again and look for a way to reconnect. This doesn’t only mean to go for a walk in a forest or beach once in a while, it’s a longing inside, which is exactly about that: inside. Us. We lost ourselves in this over-active and busy lives; now is the time to step back from competition and stress.

I believe this change will also affect our yoga practice. We are more and more seeking for a quieter practice, rediscover our intuition and connect to ourselves. Same time bringing any new experiences and learnings into our every-day life, so it can work there too.

This is the start of a home practice. Leaving the stressful life aside to connect with our own nature. Learning to breathe again, to listen to our bodies, to feel, to understand. Instead of running from the office to make it in time to a class, why not practicing at home? It is a change, particularly if you are not living alone and the family is requesting your time. The right moment to claim some me-time. One hour and then you’ll be there for your family. Yes, it is possible and it will also change your family by respecting individual boundaries and resources.

Get a teacher for a one-to-one teaching from time to time, so you can set up your routine together and also to get aligned and adjusted. Step out of your routine and the crazy life – start looking for you. Understanding your body, your emotions, desires, and also your fears and doubts, by reconnecting to your nature. It is your practice, make it yours. 

Are you in Switzerland? I’m available for one to one teaching from end October – book your slot and experience the difference!

How do you treat yourself?

KathrinLeave a comment

Do you know the situation when asking a doctor for help and all he does is looking at the problem, prescribes some medicine to treat it without searching  for the source, what’s causing the problem? And what else might be linked to it?

Don‘t do the same. Treat yourself as a whole, always, not only if issues arise. You are made of body, mind and spirit — everything is energy and everything is connected.

You can use essential oils to cure an issue, but no matter if you put them on your skin or take them internally, without working on your body and mind, it won’t help for long. 

Exercise your body, think the thoughts you want to think, be in stillness, love yourself. Treat your entire being, every single cell is working hard for you and only deserves the best in return!

Are you ready to bring pure, natural essential oils into your life? I would love to help you get started! Drop me a message or email me to get connected: live@tuneinyoga.com

Change is in the air

KathrinLeave a comment

It’s time to make space. Time to let go. I will give up one of my weekly yoga classes from October and this wasn’t an easy decision. A very special group of yogis, many of them are with me since day one. We grew together and it was a journey! All of us learned a lot over the last years and it’s so beautiful to see the progress.

Letting go isn’t easy, but we can’t hold what isn’t meant to stay. Filled with gratitude, I’m sending a huge THANK YOU out – particularly to this group, but honestly to all yogis, that work so hard and are willing to take this path, the path to work on themselves.

So what now? I will continue to teach weekly classes and workshops in Zurich and on the weekend, either Saturday or Sunday in Winterthur (announced here and on FB).

My new focus will be on private classes, one to one or slightly opened up to max 3 yogis. This way we can go much deeper and and each class will be personalized on the individual needs. A different approach to physically and mentally lift my students to a higher level, and finally to move in step with them in the direction of achieving objectives. Are you interested to bring your practice to the next level? Let’s get in contact!

Otherwise, I’ll keep myself open for anything the universe will throw my way! Isn’t this the reason to let go? An outdated model has to be released and the space can be filled with something new. I will always honor this class, this chapter of my life. Thanks a mill to all the beautiful people who supported me! Let’s take the next step.

10 tips to deal with the festive season yogi-style

KathrinLeave a comment

Forget about any end of the year stress and find peace of mind during the holidays with these techniques:

  1. Keep on practicing. No time to take a class? No worries, practice at home. Turn your favorite music on, it might be slow and calming or fancy and rhythmic – whatever your practice asks for is right. Start with some warm up, a couple of sun salutations and just continue flowing, allow your body to guide you. If this doesn’t work for you, youtube has loads of classes!
  2. Don’t care about time. Got 15 min? Practice. Got 60 minutes? Practice. All that counts is to show up and move your ass.
  3. Meditate. Right after waking up, before sleeping or any time in between. Same here, time doesn’t matter that much, even just 5 min a day will have an impact. Too much noise around? Go out, do a walking meditation!
  4. Practice yoga off the mat: stay present. What ever you do, do just that. Be fully there.
  5. Don’t listen just to answer. When you listen, hear and understand what someone wants to share with you, it’s not about you.
  6. Breathe. Lengthen your breath into your belly, extend your exhales. The easiest you can do to nourish yourself, calm down and refocus.
  7. Be grateful for all that is now. Literally everything. All the beauty, everything that is perfect and also the rather difficult and complex things. Everything has a reason, so just embrace it!
  8. Stop judging. Oh yeah, particularly during stressful times we tend to be less tolerant. But finally, this doesn’t help at all. The moment you recognize you’re about to judge, take a deep breathe, let it go, smile.
  9. Enjoy everything you do! Accept an appreciate your decisions. No matter if you’re attending a class, baking cookies or taking a nap, enjoy it.
  10. Repeat and surrender to the magic!

Embrace the unexpected

KathrinLeave a comment

I didn’t manage to sleep last night and when the alarm told me to get up this morning, everything in me shouted loud and clear “NO!” Tuesday morning means an extra early start as I teach an early bird class. So no excuses. Luckily, traffic had mercy on me and I arrived early. It was still dark outside, candles were burning next to my mat and I sat in meditation. So grateful for this peaceful time, just to connect with myself, get settled and ready for class. I was waiting for my students, not expecting many to show up, as I had a few cancellations. This time of the year, people tend to be over busy, often driven by a do-more and be-more attitude, easily forgetting to take a moment to stop and breathe or an hour to practice asanas, getting some quiet and quality time next to the daily craziness….. However, I was surprised that finally just one student showed up.

Instead of being disappointed, I decided to embrace the situation and even felt blessed when my student agreed to practice together – what else works better than a nice Ashtanga practice to move in synchronicity! Even if time was limited, I enjoyed our beautiful flow through the vinyasas a lot. I’m so grateful for this unexpected opportunity!

Early morning practice and particularly getting myself upside down into a headstand always brings my world back to peace. What a shift into a most beautiful start into the day! Thanks for your flexibility B., it was a pleasure practicing with you!

Cultivate a practice of gratitude

KathrinLeave a comment

Particularly during these days, close to the end of the year, we hear a lot about being grateful. However, gratitude is a great tool of mindfulness-based practices and helps creating a more positive mindset.

Why you should establish a daily practice — let me start with Deepak Chopra and what he said:

“Gratitude is good for you; it creates a biochemical shift in the body. The brain responds to positive input and sends life-enhancing messages to every cell.”

Sounds good? Yeah, and there’s more. When practicing gratitude, you will attract more reasons to be grateful for. This is the law of attraction! Meaning you’re not just grateful for what you already have, but also for what you want to have. Practice gratitude to receive. Woop woop, good trick, isn’t it? And it works! Just imagine, visualize what you wish as if you already received it. This way you’re sending the right energy out and the universe will deliver. Additionally, you are reprogramming yourself — in a state of deep gratitude, you will feel soft, released and happy.

How does a practice like this look like? Well, gratitude comes in many forms and there’s no right and wrong how to do it. Go with what feels good to you, but if you like to have some inspiration, here you go:

  • Use gratitude as an intention you set at the beginning of a yoga class (it can relate to your yoga practice, but doesn’t has to).
  • Say mentally a little prayer at the end of your yoga practice (you might want to thank your body for the great work and don’t forget to thank yourself for making time for your practice).
  • When life is going well, remember to be grateful for what you have. Whenever you recognize it, whisper a ‚thank you‘.
  • When life is serving lemons — be grateful for the teaching, there’s a reason for it. Give thanks for the teaching as well as for the final state you want to reach, as if you’re already there and looking back.
  • While it always works to send spontaneous ‚thanks‘ into the space, create a daily ritual, repetition is key.

I do it every morning, first thing when I wake up. I can recommend particularly this time, as the day is brand new, our brain still in a rest mood. Good to plant a seed. I give my thanks to the universe — couple of things I have and also a couple of things I don’t have so far. A great start into the day!

Gratitude is a practice of creating a state of emotional prosperity — go for it, make it a habit.