Yoga with Sprinkles

Yoga styles

Generally, I teach yoga from a more mental point of view. For me, the goal of the yoga practice is not so much to be very tired and worked out after but that you have the feeling that your mind could slow down and that the practice was something like a guided moving meditation. Still there are different styles of practice with different focuses that I describe here and it might still happen that it is physically intense 😉

Sessions are typically 1h30min or 2h long.

Hatha yoga

  • While all styles have their place, this is probably my go-to style of yoga and the style I will teach the most as it is very basic and pure but also very mental and powerful
  • Hatha yoga means “forceful” yoga and is a style of yoga with very ancient roots. The book Hatha Yoga Pradipika (“Light on hatha yoga”) dates from the 15th century and defines practices around it. I teach a modern interpretation of some of these practices.
  • Generally today it is interpreted as just holding positions for longer but it also means working with the breath a lot in order to open energy channels (nadis) and thereby activate kundalini (kundalini is the energy that acts as your guide in life). This means there will be a lot of breathwork actually and it can be quite powerful breathwork.
  • We will also work with the bandhas (locks) a lot. There is the root lock (mula bandha), the belly lock (uddiyana bandha) and the chin lock (jalandhara bandha).
  • In Hatha Yoga, we will also make use of chakras as focus points for one session. For example, one session might focus on the navel chakra. There is no need to believe in the concept of chakras, we really just use it as a way to guide attention.
  • The asanas are often not that challenging but will be held for a long time. Therefore, there will also be ample time for alignment cues and adjustments in the postures.
  • Every session should be like a moving meditation, we try to feel into the energy of the postures. There will be a lot of awareness phases also in between the different asanas and pranayama practices.
  • After the sessions you will feel calm and clear in your mind. It is a good beginner practice but the breathwork can be challenging at first.
  • Typical structure
    • Introduction
    • Sun salutation
    • Breathwork
    • Asanas
    • Breathwork
    • Shavasana

Kundalini yoga

  • Kundalini can be seen as a version of Hatha Yoga that is even more focused on breath and less on Asanas
  • We will do a lot of repetitive movements that are connected to the breath
  • It is inspired by a training that I had from my yoga teacher Surya Shivjot in Thailand (see https://www.suryashivjot.com/ ) and another teacher Reinhard Gammenthaler who was himself trained in the Himalayas (see https://www.kundalini-yoga.ch/en/ )
  • Typical structure
    • Warm up
    • Breathwork with movement
    • Breathwork with movement
    • More Breathwork with movement
    • Relaxation
  • The goal is the same than in Hatha Yoga to clear the energy channels (nadis) and to activate kundalini which can be seen as your inner teacher (consciousness). We use more energetic breathing than in Hatha however.
  • It also involves more traditional practises such as Mudras (finger postures)
  • Usually after the sessions you will feel very energised and clear in your head.

Vinyasa yoga

  • In the vinyasa yoga classes, we focus on moving with the Ujayi (ocean) breath. The postures will be guided with the breath.
  • Focus on sun salutation
  • Generally the postures won’t be held for too long but there can be longer holds in some stretches still
  • More bodily focus, there will always be a focus on a certain part of the body f.ex. the core or the chest
  • A lot of repetition of vinyasa sequence variations so that it does not become too mindy
  • Vinyasa sequence: chattaranga → up dog → down dog
  • More physically challenging
  • Less room for connections and adjustments
  • Typical structure
    • Warm up
    • Pranayama
    • Lots of sun salutations
    • Repetitive Asana Flow
    • Pranayama 
    • Relaxation

Yin yoga

  • In Yin Yoga we are holding positions for longer (2-5min per stretch). The goal is to work on the myofascial tissue and not on the muscles
  • There will be no warm up
  • Might involve some relaxing breathwork such as box breathing or full yogic breathing
  • Since we hold positions for longer, the mind has a lot of time to drift off, each position can be seen as a small meditation where we try to focus our attention on a specific body part and the energies in our body. This will also help heal and relax the body part (healing power of attention).
  • The session will be with music and I will not give too many cues so that it is a relaxing, meditative practice where you can focus on yourself.
  • It’s important to keep a good balance between softer practises, activating the lunar, feminine side in yourself and more powerful practises, activating the solar, masculine side. We all have some preferences in what we like better but it is important to actively work on the side that does not come as naturally to us to put ourselves in balances.
  • Yin Yoga might be combined with Yoga Nidra at the end (progressive muscle relaxation technique).

Conscious connected breathwork

  • I also teach conscious connected breathwork
  • It is a style of deep breathing similar to Wim Hof method without breaks in between and with music guiding the pace
  • Breathwork allows you to tap into your unconscious mind and unprocessed emotions might come up into consciousness
  • Personally it helped me a lot with emotional processing and I think it is extremely powerful and freeing
  • A typical 2 hour session is 30min intro – 1 hour of breathing with music – 30min outro with tea and optional sharing
  • Do not eat in the 2-3 hours before the session and do not plan anything for the 1-2 hours after the end of the breathwork session, your might need some time to process
  • I recommend to bring a journal to write down your thoughts