Yoga is much more than just a way of improving and excercising your body.. it's a holistic way of living to become the best version of yourself. 

I will never forget  the moment when i realized that yoga is not yoga.. Yoga the way we practice it in the western world - in a studio or a course - is actually called Asana practice. Asana originally means sitting posture in Sanskrit,  the ancient primary liturgical language of Hinduism. It is referred to the postures we practice  when we perform physical exercise.

It was at a workshop near Frankfurt when i met my teachers Jeenal and Daniel for the first time. They are a married couple (she from India and he from Brazil) living together in an Ashram in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  I  was sitting cross-legged in a basement with almost 30 other people when my transformation process began and i learned that Yoga is an old Philosophy from India and holistic way of living your life. It was so fascinating listening to their words, that after 30 minutes i knew already that no matter what, i needed to go to Chiang Mai, do the Yoga Teacher Training and learn everything they are offering to teach!

6 months later i moved in to their lovely Ashram in the outskirts of Chiang Mai. The atmosphere and the beautiful nature around the property were just breath taking. Although I had been practicing yoga every other day in Nuremberg (where i had spent summer before) and thought i was prepared - I had no idea how the knowledge they were going to provide would change my whole life!

Thats when i learned what yoga is all about. 

Yoga is not a religion. Its a way of life - aware and conscious. That means to find out who you really are and whats your purpose in life. Yoga helps to focus and concentrate on finding ones true nature and spirit in life.  The answers to most of your questions lie within yourself and with the help of yoga practice you can learn to listen to them. You can learn to listen to your heart and soul.. finding your individual truth.  To achieve this state of so called 'enlightenment' is  reached through meditation, asana practice and self reflection. 

How can you  EXPECT others to know and understand your self if you don't know your self or listen to what it is trying to tell you ..!?

Practicing yoga comes with devotion and a dedicated lifestyle. Instead of watching television before I go to sleep i now started thinking about what had happened that day, reflecting, studying or reading to gain more knowledge and to grow as a person.  The most inspiring knowledge and the roots of Indian philosophy are the 195 verses of Patanjali's Yogasutra. He is called 'the father' of yoga because he structured the patterns of yoga and put them in order into the scriptures of Yogasutra.  I was lost for words coming across all this ancient knowledge and when I read 'Ich. bin. jetzt. ' by Su Buson, an austrian writer who also interpreted the beginners path of Patanjali. The way she  explains the beginners path of yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) and the BEAUTIFUL words she uses are just incredible. In my opinion every single human on earth should read her book for a start 😉

Looking inside yourself and taking the yogic path also enables us to find our roots and to concentrate on everyone's individual purpose and journey in life. Many people are stuck, fighting for approval, power, or money and are blurred by materialism.  Moreover they keep listening to the same negative thoughts, running through their mind day by day by day.  But this (often negative) reality is properly the exact opposite. It is not real! it is a made up reality in your head  that won't allow you to experience peace and ease in your life. Therefore we practice Yoga. To concentrate and to gain peace, love, respect and awareness towards the environment and towards our self - to find your destiny and the way to your individual journey on this planet!

So to find a way out of this slough Patanjali explains in the Yogasutra  the eightfold path - called Ashtanga, which literally means "eight limbs" (ashta=eight, anga=limb). These eight steps basically act as guidelines for beginners on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. They describe  self-discipline, the morals and ethical conducts a yogi should internalize. Also they imply on food ethics, how to live a healthy life and help to acknowledge spiritual aspects of our nature. 

In the next section Philosophy i will explain more detailed what the eight limbs of yoga comprehend and what they mean to my life.  

Practicing Yoga brought me to peace in my life and after i set foot on the path everything fell into places, surrendering to my practice and to love. I learned that deep inside of me there existed a root that wanted to grow .. to elate and inspire others. And suddenly everything and every decision i took in my life made sense and i wish the same for you and your practice!