Yoga & Reiki

Together with a yoga teacher buddy, we hosted a beautiful workshop last weekend. For the first time I was giving Reiki to each participant individually, while they were guided through a yin yoga practice. What a thrill!

New for us was the combination of Reiki and yin yoga, as well as giving Reiki to individuals in a large group. I can hardly explain what was going on in the yoga shala, but I can tell, it was an amazing experience! My hands were almost roasting, energy was flowing like never before. Strong, rich, to the point. And the feedback was awesome, people felt it and some were deeply touched.

The entire afternoon was different for me. I noticed, that I was driven by intuition and I allowed it. Whatever I did, whatever I said emerged from my belly, not my head. While this made my head feel a bit like covered in mist, I knew it was the right thing – to listen with my body and trust my instincts.

Now my brain rules again and I’m planning to do more of this. I don’t think this is something one teacher can do alone, as this would reduce the focus. To be able to offer full attention to both, yoga and Reiki, to instruct, align and care about people, and to merge into the Reiki energy, it needs two to tango.

Stay tuned, I will come up with news on this soon!

Yummy workshop!

Deep dive into yourself – pure nourishment. It will be a very gentle and calm practice, where you will be guided into yourself. Releasing tension and allow the process of healing to start. No matter if physically, mentally or emotionally – all you have to do is let it happen.

We will start with Yin Yoga in combination with Reiki, the Japanese hands on healing method (read more about Reiki here) and we will finish with a beautiful Chakra healing, which comes as a guided meditation. I will take you through a beautiful visualization, which will not only be a deep relaxation, but also work on your chakras.

Mark your calendar on the 7th March, 4pm – 6:30pm! Sign up here, places are limited!

Savsana

The most difficult posture for me. I know! When I teach, my students are always looking forward to savasana and would love to stay even longer. However, it’s different for me. I need to force myself to get into savasana, not to mention staying there! 

As soon as I’m in, my mind seems to be back in the day. Thoughts are popping up and my body just wants to stretch and get up. Damn. Savasana is important to get the practice settle in. In other words: while much of the asana practice is designed to up-regulate the body, stimulate, and even provide healthy stress, Savasana is the down-regulator, by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (your rest and digest response) and calming your sympathetic nervous system (your fight, flight and freeze response), so we experience a calming, sweet release.

It‘s not about a minute or two, no, 10 minutes. I tell you why: somewhere around minute 6, there is a profound shift in the body and in one’s mental chatter. You feel the weight of your body drop, and so does your mind. This is where you get to swim around in a calm body, quiet mind, and easy heart. 

So back to me. I found a trick that helps me to go through the first minutes and ready to fully enjoy my savasana: essential oils!

I follow my feelings to choose the right oil. So far I have great experiences using Lavender, Neroli or Peace (a beautiful blend mixture from doTERRA). This is what I do: I put 2 drops into my palms, rub, bring my hands to my nose and inhale the oil for 5 seconds – it goes into my brain. I hold my breath for 5 seconds – my nervous system calms down and I exhale for 5 seconds – to release my body. I do this 5 times and slide into savasana. It works!

Drop me a line if you want to know how essential oils can leverage your practice and support your health – I would love to help you getting started!

Meditation — the myth

I recorded something for you — my thoughts about meditation. Why you should do it, and what might be a good way to get started. 

When thinking about meditation, what comes up first in your mind? Sitting for hours like a pretzel with an empty mind? Nothing for me? I can’t do that? I can’t stop my thoughts? I don’t have time for that?

Well, this is what I thought. And I can tell you, it’s wrong. It can be easy. Meditation will change a lot in your life. To the better. 

Listen to my new audio and get started. It’s so worth giving it a try!

For you

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

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

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?

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

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.

TUNEin:CALM jetzt auch in Winterthur!

Da der Workshop auf Deutsch geführt wird, ist auch dieser Post ausnahmsweise Deutsch 🙂

TUNEin:CALM lässt dich in eine neue Welt eintauchen – deine eigene.

In dieser schnelllebigen Zeit neigen wir oft dazu immer mehr zu wollen und alles immer schneller zu erreichen. Dabei finden uns wieder in einer andauernden Eile, Zeit ist Geld.

Unseren Körpern schenken wir dabei noch recht viel Beachtung – wir sehen besser fit und trainiert aus, um so den Eindruck von guter Gesundheit zu wahren.

Wenn du ehrlich bist, wieviel Aufmerksamkeit schenkst du deiner psychischen Gesundheit? Wir sind so abhängig geworden von unseren digitalen Geräten und der Aussenwelt, dass wir die wichtigste Verbindung fast vergessen haben: die zu uns selbst.

Es ist Zeit Ruhe zu finden. Es ist Zeit zu zuhören und runter zu fahren, weich zu werden und nach innen zu schauen. 

Was kannst du erwarten?

Eine geführte Meditation, gefolgt von einer ruhigen Yin Yoga Praxis und abschliessend eine Chakra Healing session.

In diesem Workshop wirst du runterfahren, dich ruhig und dabei gefestigt und geerdet fühlen. Du wirst eine tiefe Verbindung aufbauen zu dir selber.

Für wen ist der Workshop geeignet?

Für jeden! Keine Vorkenntnisse erforderlich, lediglich die Lust sich durch sehr entspannende 2,5 Stunden führen zu lassen und die Offenheit nach innen zu gehen.

Wann?       Samstag, 14. September 2019, 14.00 – 16.30 Uhr

Wo?            Yoga Bliss, Winterthur

Bitte melde dich hier an!