Why I Teach
I teach yoga quite simply because it transformed my life completely. It gave me the tools I needed to strengthen the very fabric of my entire being, through mindful movement and self regulation, and enabled me to overcome the mental health struggles of my earlier years. As it became an integral part of my life in that time of turmoil I immediately knew that I had to become a yoga teacher, if nothing else to enable at least one other person to tap into the sense of relief, clarity and wellbeing it had provided me with at my lowest ebb.
My teaching journey started in 2015 after regularly attending classes at my local studio in Berlin. Inspired to learn all that I could about this holistic approach to life I travelled to India and then on to Australia, where I spent time at various ashrams and with countless teachers, learning all that I could from my experiences. I spent a couple of years trying to integrate all I had learned before finally taking my first yoga teacher training course, three years after the initial desire had been ignited. I began to teach regular classes in Australia and watched joyfully as my teaching skills developed, relieved that my passion was translating into my practice. When my visa in Australia expired I returned to Asia, exploring slowly from Indonesia to Malaysia and Nepal, teaching yoga at different resorts, hotels and hostels to diverse groups of people from all over the world.
Being in flow is something I think about regularly, as I strive to live with simplicity and grace, following the signs that the universe is putting before me. I find that this is only possible if you are fully present – fully open and listening. Like anything this intuition is something you can cultivate, learning to heed the signs when they’re a tap on the shoulder, as opposed to a slap in the face. To do this I try to maintain a daily meditation practice, be it sitting, a moving meditation through yoga (or other activities) or just a general mindfulness.
The primary style of yoga I teach is called Vinyasa, a fluid, flowing style where each movement is married with the breath, each transition an essential part of the dance. The term in Sanskrit means ‘to place in a special way’ and this, I find, is the real ongoing challenge – to move mindfully, gracefully and compassionately in a special way both on and off your mat.
