Tag: pranayama

TUNEin:BALI

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Done!!! I couldn’t feel more grateful – what a journey, what a week! Very intense, same time easy flowing. Flow is the right term, everything at the right time. No forcing, no judging. We just did it. Calm, peaceful, with a huge portion of passion. Great practice, touching ceremonies, yoga, breathwork, meditation, mindfulness.

But the best part was to share all this with stunning souls. Everyone so different, everyone in the same groove.

Thank you universe for giving me the courage to host my own yoga retreat. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done and I’m pretty sure, I will do it again!

Bali bliss to all you babes out there, keep on rocking, realize your dreams, fuck the doubts ✌️

Let the games begin!

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Woop woop – the work started! Just creating the first Yin Yoga sequence for my Yoga Retreat next year. A new book with blank pages is waiting to be filled…. We will practice Yin, Pranayama and Meditation each evening to relax and unwind as well as soothe our soul. We will float into the evenings with a huge smile on our faces 🙂

Stay true in your practice

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Step back

From time to time I believe it’s a good approach to step back. Step back in my own practice, as well as in class with my students. Back to basics. All class focusing on correct alignment. Taking time to look at the details. Slow down. Practice to feel the postures. Also experience the difference when the alignment is not fully correct. Sometimes back to modifications and simple, basic postures. It works like readjusting the body and setting new anchors.

No rush

Stepping back is quite challenging for our minds. Particularly for those who claim themselves to be ‘advanced’. Let me give you an example of just one pose: after a very stressful day, go into Vrikshasana, tree pose. The graceful, steady stance of a tree. While maintaining your body balance, feel your roots, feel how they reach out through your mat, the floor, into the ground, guided by your breath. This is a huge opportunity to understand what’s going on with you. Are you able to properly connect? How about your balance that day? Are your thoughts wandering?

It might sound boring, but yogis, practice is not about more more more. It’s not about the ability to do the most complex or advanced poses. Practice is about your connection to yourself. It’s about withdrawing your senses, going internal. A meeting with yourself, a meditative state. Bring your attention to whatever pops up in your mind. What are your thoughts telling you? What do you feel?

The Ashtanga approach

Practicing Ashtanga means a commitment to practice 6 days a week, except moon days. A strong commitment. A useful one, no doubt, as it also strengthens our willpower and discipline. But. Yes, there’s a but. Yoga also teaches me to listen to my body. So what if my body says clearly, no? What if my body threaten to injure itself if I keep on pushing? I keep my commitment to practice 6 days a week, but adjusted the content into ‘yoga’. I’m on my mat each day, Ashtanga on the schedule, but if anything shouts out a clear ‘no’ (laziness doesn’t count!), I allow my body to get into the driver seat: a nice yin practice, a music driven flow, just a bunch of sun salutations, maybe a pranayama session or a meditation. Sometimes my body surprises me and I find myself doing the primary series, although my body told me a different story before 🙂 However, on my mat every day, that’s it.

Stop the competition approach. You are on a journey to yourself! Make your practice mindful and take care. Allow any progress to happen naturally, no matter if on a physical or mental level. Step back from time to time, take your time yogi and enjoy the ride!

How to transform air into breath

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Yogis!

Read my new post @ YOGA LIKE A BOSS – all about pranayama and breathing and me…. Sorry, German only!

„Wie Luft zu Atem wird

Oh, was für ein Thema! Atmen, das war eine grosse Nummer für mich. Ich meine nicht den Automatismus, das Luft holen zum Überleben, das klappt prima. Aber jedes Mal, wenn ich darauf geachtet habe, wie ich eigentlich atme, dann ging es plötzlich nicht mehr. Es ruckelte, schüttelte mich, ich habe mich Luft-verschluckt……“

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Breathe Yogi

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“If you can breathe, you can do yoga.”

Krishnamacharya

Through yoga I learned proper breathing. I learned to breathe deep into my belly. I learned that my breath is my friend and even more, we can play. Lengthen the inhales and exhales, also pause, so called breath retention. I learned that breathing is much more than an automated process to survive.

Working with our breath in yoga is called pranayama. Built from the terms prana, which means life energy and ayama, control or extend. Through pranayama and the different breathing techniques, we control our life energy or even extend the life force.

In the Ashtanga tradition, we use Ujjayi breath during practice. We breathe through our nostrils, and when exhaling, we constrict the back of our throat, generating a sound, that reminds us on the sound of the ocean. Ujjayi breath creates the rhythm of our practice, while building and keeping the body heat inside. There are a lot of benefits, such as regulating blood pressure, increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood and many more.

I found Ujjayi breath very helpful to keep my focus. It’s my music when practicing. My rhythm. Deepening my asanas.

Bring your awareness to your breath and just observe. Start a good relationship with your breath, become friends. And eventually, extend your life force!