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Showing posts from February, 2018

Yamas - the five "DON'T"s in Yoga

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The Yamas are life skills practiced by a true Yogi in every action, thought and word. With discipline and without exceptions. Everyone can practice them. Even a business man or someone who has never tried (physical) Yoga (=Asanas) before.  You need a lot of self control to practice these principles, but your surroundings are like a mirror. When you truly succeed in following those Yamas, only good will happen to you and it will transform your life!  Try it, it may sound unbelievable , but it really does work . The better you get in these practices, the easier your life becomes. I know it from my own experience!   The 5 Yamas are 1. Ahimsa 2. Satya 3. Asteya 4. Brahmacharya 5. Aparigraha   The names are in Sanskrit, a very meaningful language of the ancient scriptures about Yoga philosophy. Sanskrit words always have several deeper meanings which we can nowadays, with modern languages, hardly describe in words. I will try to explain it as far as I can and as easy as possi

The eight limbs of Yoga - a quick overview

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Maharichi Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutras and summarized all practical knowledge for a yogic life.  He divided Yoga into eight steps with Samadhi, enlightenment and liberation as the highest goals.  Samadhi is a state of mind where you are in total inner peace, completely detached from all worldly and where nothing can harm you anymore. Liberation means being released of the endless cycle of rebirth and painful lives. The eight steps or limbs of Yoga are 1. Yamas 2. Niyamas 3. Asanas 4. Prana Yamas 5. Pratyahara 6. Dharana 7. Dhyana 8. Samadhi You can work on those steps simultaneously and they are linked to each other, that is why they are also called limbs of Yoga, like the limbs of a body. Step 1-4 are the basics. Yamas and Niyamas are principles for your social behaviour and your mindset. They make us a lot more aware of our thoughts, words and actions so that we can work on our selves and become better versions of ourselves. Additionally, they have gr

My YOGA Journey of Love and Passion

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Why am I writing about Yoga? Yoga is my life. I still remember how I attended my first Yoga class in Kassel, Germany in 2013. I was a full time student at the time. A friend of mine from University asked me if I would like to join a Yoga course with her. I was very much into fitness because I always loved physical activity and I had seen crazy Yoga postures of super slim athletic bodies in underwear on Instagram. I came with wrong expectations. The teacher only showed us super easy postures and relaxation techniques. We had to breathe through one nostril and then through the other, or focus on a point between our eyebrows. To be honest, I found it super weird. And then she tried to persuade us not to drink alcohol, never to take drugs and to become a vegetarian. I didn't understand why she was behaving like this. She made me feel like a teenager, with a mom trying to tell me how I should live my life. Furthermore, I didn't feel physically exhausted after her class, so I