Dagmar Holzmann, Author at Yoga Stories - ReYoga

Knyphausen Foundation – Yoga for children in Botswana

Dagmar Holzmann — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 07:37:11 +0000

Text: ReYoga | Knyphausen Foundation
Photos: Knyphausen Foundation

The Knyphausen Foundation is a Non-Profit organization based in Germany that has created numerous projects for children in Botswana. Their main focus is on environmental education and waste management. In their Junior Ranger Projects Programmes, children and young adults are taught about specific environmental protection topics in educational units at schools and in nature. They also offer scholarships for young adults so they can train to become professional safari guides.

When they approached us to ask if we could provide some Yoga material for a new project that involved Yoga for children and young adults in their Botswana camps, we did not have to think twice and were happy to donate Yoga mats.

The Knyphausen Foundation has been organizing environmental protection projects in Maun, Botswana, with local partners since 2016.

Junior Ranger Program

In the Junior Ranger program, children and young adults are regularly taught about specific environmental protection topics in educational units both in schools and directly in nature. The focus is on the head-heart-hand principle, which combines education with joy and practical community experience in nature.

Participation in the Junior Ranger program is free of charge, so children from socially disadvantaged families can enter the program as well. The participants call themselves JUNIOR RANGERS and are very happy and enthusiastic about the program.

The program started in April 2017 with 36 children. There are now over 250 participants from fourteen local schools and one orphanage.

Most of the children and young adults are experiencing the local flora and fauna for the first time in their lives and are engaging intensively with topics relating to animal and environmental protection. The Junior Rangers experience community and exciting activities in nature and deepen their knowledge during camps lasting several days, which are offered regularly.

The Junior Rangers meet weekly with young local trainers from the partner organization. They plant trees and vegetables, learn about the complex relationships between biodiversity and animal welfare, introduce waste separation at their school, and learn all about the important resource of water. The regular educational units and activities for the Junior Rangers make the environmental education project special in Maun.

In the medium term, the aim is to integrate more schools from Maun into the program and thus make it possible for more children to participate.

Yoga for Junior Rangers

Since the beginning of 2025, yoga sessions have also been held regularly for the Junior Rangers, as yoga is a wonderful tool for the children to develop a conscious approach to their bodies and minds. The young trainers from the Knyphausen Foundation learn from a local yoga teacher how to introduce yoga to children in a playful way. Yoga cards and a small booklet with children’s asanas have already been created, which all participants receive free of charge. The yoga sessions will be integrated into the Junior Ranger program in the long term.

For most children in Botswana, there are no extracurricular activities or opportunities to learn yoga.

For most children in Botswana, there are no extracurricular activities or opportunities to learn yoga privately.

Many orphans live in Maun due to the high HIV rate. These children and other children from socially disadvantaged families are denied access to further educational opportunities outside of school due to a lack of financial resources. They often lack food and clothing.

Most children and young people in Botswana have no access to the unique wilderness and hardly any connection to the natural wealth of their country. The Knyphausen Foundation, therefore enables them to have special experiences in nature and in the Botswana bush. This leaves a lasting impression.

“We believe that young people are the key players in protecting our natural resources and that they can bring about positive change. People protect what they know and like. That is why we are committed to improving the standard of education in the region, providing career prospects in the field of environmental protection, and strengthening local partners. Because we believe that education has a sustainable impact.” Theda Gräfin Knyphausen

How can you help?

If you want to support the Knyphausen Foundation and donate to their projects, you can find their projects and all information on how to donate on their website

www.kyphausen-stiftung.org

Contact:

Kyphausen Stiftung
Landstr. 40, 26524 Lütetsburg, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 4931 4254
Email: info@knyphausen-stiftung.org

The post Knyphausen Foundation – Yoga for children in Botswana appeared first on Yoga Stories - ReYoga.

Yoga in an Art Gallery – a truly fulfilling and unique experience

Dagmar Holzmann — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:44:39 +0000

The Yoga teachers in our community inspire us with their initiatives by helping us to spread yoga through unprecedented perspectives. Especially when yoga practice and art are mixed we are grateful when we are involved in taking part in the project.

The latest experience involving bringing our mats to one of these spaces was the Yog-Art class organized at the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella (ITA) curated by teacher Marta Massara and conducted with Francesca Spennati.

Marta’s idea of combining art with yoga was born in 2021 started in the Woolbridge Gallery, to bring yoga within an unprecedented context with a unique cultural background. This initiative sought to raise awareness of art by experiencing and experiencing it firsthand.

Yoga, art, and culture have many aspects in common, so many insights are possible through the in-depth study of an artist’s thoughts.

For each organized class, a work of art is chosen on display to explore the artist’s point of view and the meaning of the work itself coming to life and feeling through the practice of yoga and pranayama guided by certified teachers. The yoga practice thus becomes an interactive experience, a tool for experiencing the space in an emotional and introspective way.

“Painting, creating, writing, composing, meditating, and practicing are all expressions that help bring greater focus and awareness within ourselves. Over time, through meditation and yoga practice, we are able to let go of the superfluous and give ourselves direction, increasing our conscious awareness. The project of yoga in places with artistic influences had beautiful energies and beautiful insights also thanks to all the people and teachers who participated, each bringing something of their own.”

The last meeting that Marta organized, in collaboration with ReYoga, was inspired by the thought of artist Michelangelo Pistoletto with the work of “Mirroring Paintings” capable of transforming the mere user of the work of art into a creator. In this practice organized at Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, the essential characteristics of the Mirror Paintings that inspired the practice were:

the dimension of time, not only represented but truly active;
the inclusion in the work of the viewer and the surrounding environment, making it “the self-portrait of the world.”
the conjunction of opposing polarities (static/dynamic, surface/depth, absolute/relative, etc.), constituted and activated by the interaction between the image of photographic nature and what takes place in the virtual space generated by the mirroring surface.

Based on these principles, the practice at Cittadellarte was characterized by the concept of drishti.

“The yoga practice teaches us through the use of breath and dristhi to exercise focus even though looking still at a point. This allows us to remain more focused and centered even when everything around us is moving.”

The class led by Marta Massara and Francesca Spennati together #yogadestate, was therefore designed as a more rooting vinyasa flow where we hold the postures for more breaths to experience the effect of drishti and gain more awareness of the movements and asanas.

We would like to thank Marta for involving us in this initiative, Francesca for leading it together, and ATMA Feed Your Soul who together with us was the official partner of the event.

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Pregnancy Yoga – Odaka Style

Dagmar Holzmann — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 09:04:18 +0000

Edited by Teresa Pillan (Odaka teacher)

Always on the move, I approached yoga practice precisely during pregnancy. A period of profound changes, where the pregnant woman is naturally inclined to slow down her pace and shift her attention to listening to internal sensations. Today I practice and teach yoga, and have obtained certification in teaching and a master’s degree in prenatal yoga with the Odaka school. The Odaka style, characterized by fluid movement inspired by the motion of the ocean, can offer many benefits for those who wish to practice yoga during pregnancy. In Odaka, the transition from one pose to the next occurs using wave-like movements of the spine and joints, circular and gradual movements designed for the body’s biomechanics. The sequences take on the rhythm of an uninterrupted flow that helps release physical and emotional tensions.

Yoga practice in pregnancy is becoming increasingly popular and recommended even by doctors, both because it allows mothers-to-be to move while protecting the baby’s health and because of the benefits it can have on the baby’s overall health.

During a prenatal yoga session, expectant mothers can develop muscle tone and joint elasticity, avoid movements that can compress the abdomen and force the spine that is already under extraordinary strain, and relax by experimenting with specific techniques for consciously coping with pregnancy and childbirth.

According to the Odaka style, we can use wave movement to release tension in the spine in sitting, kneeling, and standing poses. With waves we can invite mothers-to-be to combine movement and breath, helping them to release muscle tension and move more freely. We can offer suggestions for postural balance to be used daily as pregnancy progresses; we will invite them to develop a sense of grounding on the floor, unwinding the spine gradually to rise from the bottom up and flexing the legs to lower themselves. In addition to the practice of asanas appropriate to the stage of pregnancy, prenatal yoga sessions include exercises to contract the pelvic floor to promote its tone and elasticity, allowing for faster delivery and better postpartum recovery of function.

Conscious Breathing

Breathing exercises should not be missing from Yoga practice during Pregnancy, offering pregnant women a tool to help them find balance and centering. With pranayama techniques, we can help them increase their breathing capacity, achieving greater oxygenation for the baby as well, releasing muscle tension, and calming the nervous system. Learning to breathe consciously will also be of great help in relieving pain and anxiety during labor and delivery. With the snake hissing breath we can offer mothers-to-be a tool they can use even after birth to put their baby to sleep; in fact, the hissing is reminiscent of the sounds made inside the womb and even midwives recommend its use to calm newborns.

From the first months of pregnancy, the baby can hear sound waves from the outside world and learn to recognize the mother’s voice, so we can use mantras and vocalizations to help mothers relax and connect with the baby. With vocalizations we learn to emit sound throughout breathing, women who have become accustomed since pregnancy to using them will be able to release tension during contractions through the use of voice.

“When the breath is labored the mind is also unstable. But when the breath calms down the mind does too and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one must learn to control the breath”.
[Hatha Yoga Pradipika]

Partner Yoga

We can propose exercises in the practice to be done in pairs, with a partner, or with a friend. Partner yoga poses are ideal for fostering connection through nonverbal language, allowing us to convey emotions through contact and breath, teaching us to support our partner and let go, relying on the emotional intelligence of the body. Experiences that mothers will live intensely to communicate with their baby, especially during his first months of life.

Pregnancy is a time when women naturally experience the union of body and mind; beginning to practice yoga is a beautiful gift that the mother-to-be can give herself to prepare for motherhood with serenity and awareness. Taking a prenatal yoga class will help expectant mothers feel union with their babies and share this transformative experience with other companions, with whom they can create a network that can support them emotionally before and after birth.

“Living in full consciousness, slowing one’s pace

and savor every second and every breath,

that is enough.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

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Yoga when Traveling

Dagmar Holzmann — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 10:54:43 +0000

written by NAIRI RIGON

We are traveling for work, traveling to go on vacation, or traveling just for the sake of it. Travel is now part of our lives; taking a plane is equivalent to taking a train or bus. Travel has become quick and easy wherever we are in the world. Many of us do not have a routine always in the same city, but are forced to move all the time or choose to do so as we did. For us, traveling is a real way of life. We enjoy living in a van, exploring new cultures, and seeking new stimulation and inspiration. We have decided to dedicate our lives to our passions, yoga, climbing, and nature and contact with it.

Can you practice Yoga when on the road?

There was only one thing that scared me at first before I embarked on this “digital nomad” lifestyle – that’s what it’s called – and that was how I was going to reconcile my yoga practice with life in the van. I always thought, wrongly, that the practice had to be tied to its own “sacred” place within our home. I thought you always needed soft light and incense to be able to start practicing. Would I still have been able to take my practice out into nature, at different times and places each day? Would it have been too big a change that might have compromised my daily practice?

We set off, overwhelmed by the desire for new adventures and to escape the traffic of the metropolis. So I started practicing yoga outdoors, at first with some difficulty concentrating, but slowly I got used to it. I slowly changed my perspective: I told myself that yoga is not only what we do on the mat, but also outside of it. I realized that I no longer wanted to do yoga but to be yoga. I wanted to bring yoga to all levels of my life and in all situations, even and especially the most unthinkable ones. Starting with travel. Because travel means learning about ourselves even outside the comfortable walls of home.

I would like to share some lessons learned on my journey so that you can put them into practice on your travels, whether short or long.

The first thing is to get a yoga mat while traveling, one that is easily transportable, lightweight, and not bulky. Having the right mat is a great trick to give us the right motivation to take the first step toward our daily practice. With that done, the road is downhill!

It may be inconvenient to bring the classic sponge yoga mat, just as it is inadvisable to bring a very thin mat that does not provide the right support: the ideal solution is to buy a fabric travel mat, I for one use Grippy Boo Reyoga.

The second thing is to create our ritual, a gesture even when traveling that tells us “it is time to practice.” It could be a song we listen to, a mantra we recite, or anything we can replicate that creates the right atmosphere.

Let’s also remember to accept that there will be bad days when we don’t feel like getting on the mat, or when we are tired or stressed or busy doing something else. The world goes on even if we miss a day of practice; let us not blame ourselves, but accept it with serenity.

A final tip for those who want to do yoga on the road is to share the practice with those around us. Our partner(s), our neighbors in the van, and our climber friends at the crag with us. Even if we are on the road, let’s involve other people to practice together with us, this will help us regain motivation and energy!

Happy travels and good practice to everyone!

Nairi

Nairi is an Odaka Yoga teacher and Ashtanga practitioner. She studied for several years as a self-taught teacher, then moved to Milan for work and began to practice with perseverance and dedication. After her first Teacher Training in 2020, she decided to change her life and became a yoga teacher. Today she lives in Madrid, tomorrow who knows.

In September 2020 she founded the As We Flow project together with her partner Lorenzo, a professional climber. The dream of wanting to live as connected as possible with nature and their passions takes shape. Being 8 hours in front of a PC, disconnected from reality, was a future, but more importantly, a present that Nairi no longer wanted to live.

She became aware that yoga was what she wanted to do, so she decided to drop everything and set off on an adventure. After several months traveling around Europe, she stopped in Madrid, to do what she loves, with whom she loves, in the places she loves.

“It takes a lot of energy, but when work coincides with passion, it doesn’t even feel like work”-Nairi says-“I feel that I’m on a journey, but the journey is not over yet.

Who I was yesterday is not the Nairi I am today and will not be the Nairi of tomorrow. Happiness is a journey that can take a lifetime. It is a flow and I am in it, completely.”

Follow her on Instagram: @nairi.rigon

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Yoga to help ease symptoms of cystic fibrosis: the proposal of the Salesi Hospital Foundation of Ancona

Dagmar Holzmann — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 09:51:34 +0000

Yoga can improve the quality of life even of patients with major genetic diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis. This is why leading doctors and physiotherapists in charge of the Salesi Hospital Foundation in Ancona, decided to offer a yoga path for pediatric patients suffering from this disease. To support this initiative, we contributed Yoga kits.
Hoping to spread virtuous projects like this, we asked the Foundation’s contact persons and Laura Liuni, the yoga teacher who is leading the classes, to tell us about her experience.
We hope you enjoy reading about this important project.

Answering for the Salesi Hospital Foundation (FOS):
Dr. Antonello Maraldo, Prof. Laura Mazzanti, Dr. Benedetta Fabrizzi

Can we say that the meeting point between cystic fibrosis and yoga is the importance of correct breathing?

FOS Cystic fibrosis and yoga certainly find an important meeting point in the breathing-management. Cystic fibrosis is a fatal inherited genetic disease due to a defect in the CFTR protein that causes increased mucus density predominantly within the lung and digestive tract. This increased density leads to early acquisition of chronic lung infections, which in turn are responsible for progressive lung damage that leads patients to death, which unfortunately always occurs at an earlier age than those born at the same time. It is clear from the above that breathing is a pivotal aspect of these children’s lives and how it is constantly disturbed by mucus and coughing. Patients with cystic fibrosis must consistently undergo respiratory physiotherapy sessions to be practiced 2 to 3 times a day and daily aerobic physical activity to which a hypercaloric diet must be associated due to pancreatic insufficiency.

Laura The meeting of Cystic Fibrosis and Yoga is par excellence the breath but not only. Yoga is a comprehensive discipline that can give several benefits to CF patients and improve their quality of life globally by increasing their energy, improving all functions especially respiratory and digestive, and reducing stress (remember that these patients are subject to so many treatments, repeated daily physiotherapy, etc.), and improving the quality of life. Keeping the synchrony between breath and movement (Vinyasa), throughout the activity helps the diaphragm (a very important muscle) to relax, and stay soft and strong. Some practices combined with breathing develop respiratory and thoracic capacity. Yoga adds the pleasure of moving through breathing (synchronous) and listening, developing in each participant his or her energetic potential, achieving mental well-being to contact at the end of the class a deep peace through relaxation.

Where did the idea of organizing a yoga class for children with cystic fibrosis come from and how was it made possible?

FOS In everyday life, children from a very young age are educated in physiotherapeutic breath work, expectoration, and strengthening of rib cage muscles, and all this work is managed at home through parental support. Yoga is a practice that pays great attention to self, body and breath awareness, concentration, and mental and physical well-being and therefore represents, according to many studies on cystic fibrosis, an excellent tool to improve “breathing.”

It also represents a very suitable practice for the management of symptoms such as pain, disturbed sleep, anxiety and depression, features that are very common in patients, even young ones, with cystic fibrosis.

That is why the Salesi Hospital Foundation, chaired by Dr. Antonello Maraldo, under the direction of Prof. Laura Mazzanti, decided to promote this project, in close synergy with Dr. Benedetta Fabrizzi, head of the Regional Reference Center for Cystic Fibrosis of the AOU delle Marche (Regional Hospital Union). The common goal is to improve the quality of life of children with this serious genetic disease, following them outside the hospital as well, integrating medical therapies and physiotherapy with holistic support therapies such as Yoga. The Foundation has always paid special attention to the prevention and care of pediatric patients, and from these assumptions, thanks to the support of the Bank of Italy, the contribution of the Marche Italian Cystic Fibrosis League, which brings together CF patients and their families, and the contribution of the Salesi Ancona Patronesses Association (President Milena Fiore), decided to carry out this project.

Laura I was invited to an interview by the Salesi Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, where they proposed I teach yoga to children and adolescents. In synergy, we developed the project together, each with our specific skills to best meet the needs of the children and adolescents and thus achieve the goals set in the various stages of implementation.

Who is the course aimed at and how is it taking place?

FOS First, we created two groups of children: the first group consisted of patients aged 5 to 10 years accompanied by a parent; the second group consisted of adolescent boys and girls aged 11 to 15 years without parent participation.

Each patient was trained in yoga practice with an initial individual in-person class with the project’s yoga teacher, an expert in the subject and certified, and a physical therapist from the Cystic Fibrosis Center of the Marche Region. After the first individual yoga session, the children, divided into two groups, are doing a one-hour-meeting for six months through a digital platform.

Offering online lessons is very important as patients with cystic fibrosis should avoid contact with other patients because of the increased risk of being able to contract a respiratory germ from another participating child; becoming infected with a new respiratory germ can, in fact, generate a rapid worsening of the lung picture and of the disease itself. At the same time, online lessons allow the children, distributed throughout the region, to take the sessions at the same time, sharing the yoga experience and optimizing their free time by limiting travel to the hospital.

Laura The project was aimed at children and adolescents with Cystic Fibrosis from all over the region. The first class-an hour and a half in-person-was held in the yoga studio of the Ass. Ashtanga Yoga Ancona, where each child was accompanied by his or her parents (after having been to the Cystic Fibrosis Center at the Torrette Regional Hospital to have an examination and collect the parameters to be compared at the end of the project). Each child or adolescent was given a kit (by a ‘representative of the Salesi Foundation) with all the materials to be able to continue the online yoga classes.
It was necessary to choose the telematic mode (with all its limitations) to avoid the exchange of resistant bacteria in the presence, of patients of the same disease.
The presentation of the project in the presence (first individual lesson) in the teacher’s office was also important to orient younger children to recognize the place in the online yoga class. After the presentation and acquaintance, each child was shown how to use the materials provided, especially the Bolster cushion for chest opening through Restorative Yoga practices. Then the project continued online in two groups of different age groups (5-10 years old – 11-15 years old) once a week for one hour. After several classes of getting to know, orienting, working on relationships, and listening to the various needs related to each age group, we can say that we have created two groups that despite the online mode share, and practice together.

The project has been active for a few months now, how is it going? How do the young patients and their families feel about it, can you already see positive results?

FOS We are very pleased with this experience, which allowed us to come into greater contact with patients and enabled families to work effectively on breathing even through non-physiotherapy techniques.
Children and young people through yoga understand the importance of breathing and how this very natural act can be improved and enhanced.

Laura The project is continuing with much enthusiasm, we find active participation through requests for wishes, personal goals, drawings, integration, and growth in yogic practice, thus shared joy. The purpose of this project was precisely to work on the body and spirit of each participant in a pleasant open, playful way for the younger ones. Yoga offers the opportunity to perceive and experience how Asanas or postures or balance improve if the ability and quality of breathing improve. So a great incentive to enhance breathing nicely and then verify it through practice so that one’s confidence is born and evolved by measuring it in yoga practice.

Do you think you can renew this path in the future and offer it as a good practice to other hospitals as well?

FOS We do not know if we will be able to find the funds again to continue the process, but we will certainly open a constructive discussion with patient associations, and public and private institutions to support the continuation of the project in pediatric patients and the initiation of a similar project to be extended to adult patients as well.

Laura It would be very nice to continue this project, to address it to other patients as well, to be able to develop it in different age groups (including adults) so that it is more functional and usable to give everyone this great possibility that this wonderful discipline offers.

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Yoga in Prison

Dagmar Holzmann — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 10:21:05 +0000

Every day we can choose to take new paths, to give ourselves new possibilities, and to put our experience and professionalism at the service of those who need it most.
For example, Claudia is a trauma therapeutic yoga teacher we met when she was organizing a festival, and in recent months we have found ourselves engaged in a special project with which she has brought yoga into prison.
Claudia lives in Milan, right next to San Vittore Prison, where for a few months she brought yoga as an effective tool to regulate the nervous system of the inmates who often had experienced serious traumas.

“Yoga is a discipline that has a very positive effect on one’s ability to increase the tolerance window of one’s nervous system, and numerous clinical studies show its effectiveness for posttraumatic recovery. In this sense it is therefore a true pathway to personal empowerment and, when offered to the widest possible number of people, has the power to create a positive impact on society at large.”
[Claudia Buzzetti]

Claudia brought this initiative voluntarily, but she would like to follow up on this offering through the Shreem ETS Association of which she is president. To do so, she has organized a fundraiser and for this purpose, she has activated a campaign on GoFundMe-Campaign with which she has begun to collect donations for her project.

Io Donna, an Italian Newspaper recounting the initiative of Claudia and other teachers who use yoga to help people in need, talks about data from the Ministry of Health that show that 40 percent of prisoners suffer from mental disorders, caused by forms of substance addiction, neurotic problems, and adjustment.

Some studies highlight how yoga can be an excellent response to traumatic situations such as those experienced by the sick, prisoners, and in general, all those who are in a condition of marginality.

Claudia worked with inmates from ages 19 to 25 inside San Vittore prison in Milan (ITALY) and was often thanked for what she offered these young people. In addition to yoga classes, she told us that she created a small archive of the practices she left weekly for the boys to practice between meetings as if they were “homework assignments” also accompanied by a rudimentary tracker where they could report the effect of the sequence left for them each week.

“It’s amazing to see what comes back to me and the concrete effect these practices have on kids.”
[Claudia Buzzetti]

Claudia, during her activities for yoga in prison, integrated tools from classical yoga with somatic and embodiment practices designed to help practitioners develop mindfulness in the body and find strategies for change.

It seems that her activity has been the most popular and in a short time has grown from one to two groups, with a list of people waiting to be able to practice with her. We are very happy with these results and are grateful that she has involved us. Our part in comparison to her work is small because we from ReYoga got involved by offering her our mats to use during the classes, but we are really happy to know that they served a social and collective purpose for her.

Together with Claudia, there was then Teresa Sebastiani (head of the medical area of the young adults’ department and former Doctors Without Borders) who was constantly supervising and comparing herself with Claudia on this path, and her husband Ruggero Giuliani, Health Director of the prison and vice-president of Doctors Without Borders.
To all of them, we want to say a big thank you, and to our community, we ask you to help us spread this initiative by sharing it to let most people know how yoga can be an important tool to overcome difficulties.

Namasté

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Yin Yoga: The Non-Violence Yoga

Dagmar Holzmann — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 13:30:31 +0000

by Birgit Kunzli
translated from Italian by ReYoga

Yin Yoga is all about listening to your inner voice. From the outside, it looks as if you just held Hatha Yoga positions for five minutes, but in reality, that is not all it is.

First of all, I want to say that the name Yin Yoga should not exist, it should just be called Yoga because Yin Yoga is Yoga.

“Yin Yoga is a Yoga style that changes the lives of everybody who has tried it.”

How did Yin Yoga get its name?

When we speak about Yin Yoga it could be seen as the opposite of the Yoga that we normally know. Truth is, this yoga style enables us to hold Hatha positions in a much deeper way. The Yoga poses in a normal Hatha session are short and repeat themselves regularly. This is how we strengthen and stretch our muscles. Even when we are holding asanas for a longer period, we do so for a couple of breaths but never longer than a minute because this way our body becomes strong and stays healthy. But there also is another part of our body called Yin which needs to be stretched and strengthened like ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints. These body parts are not used to as much attention as muscles are. They are harder and it needs time and patience to work them.

Both yoga styles, Yin and Yang should be practiced regularly to keep your body healthy and balanced.

What is it that makes Yin Yoga so special?

Yin Yoga is more than just passive Yoga. It changed the lives of many people when they started practicing or teaching it. As soon as you insert Yin Yoga into your routine you will discover its power: it enables you to listen deep inside yourself when you stay still in an asana in absolute silence. You will also find out that Yin Yoga is not easy. Holding the same position for a long time in silence is tough because we are not used to it.

A physically and mentally deep kind of practice

Yin Yoga means holding positions passively (with relaxed muscles) which leads to a very deep state of relaxation, physically as well as mentally. Each exercise is held from 3 to 5 minutes and it is recommended to inhale and exhale deeply when doing so and fixate a spot with your eyes. It sounds easy but it is quite challenging. When we do Yoga we start realizing what is going on inside our heads, we become sensitive to different feelings and notice all the thoughts going through our heads. We get to know ourselves on a very deep level and can change our lives. This is the power of Yin Yoga.

Yin Yoga at a glance

take your position carefully and consciously
don’t stretch beyond your limits
relax your muscles and yourself as much as possible
use blocks, yoga belts, and cushions to support you
cover yourself with a blanket if you feel cold

Listen to your body
breath slowly and deeply
try to keep your body as still as possible fo
fixate a spot with your eyes to keep your mind calm
hold your poses 3-5 minutes each
before switching from one position to another relax in Shavasana

Why is it called Non-Violence Yoga?

It is fundamental to relax your body when you are doing Yin Yoga. Active stretching or pushing your body in a certain position activates the muscles, which means you are not working the Yin sphere. Yin Yoga requires your muscles to be completely relaxed. The same applies to our breathing and our thoughts. Only when our attention is directed at our thoughts we can judge their quality: are we critical of ourselves? Are we comparing ourselves to others, are we judging ourselves or others? The goal is to become aware of these thoughts and direct them in a positive direction. Our breathing needs to be deep and regular, without holding our breath – stress-free transport of oxygen into our body.

Our Nervous System

Even our nervous system is affected by Yin Yoga. When you start practicing Yin Yoga you start noticing your life differently. You react much more sensitively to silence or certain situations, actually to everything. You become a lot more aware of your inner reality. The Parasympathetic nervous system is activated and your nervous system starts to balance itself out. You start feeling more relaxed and you gain the impression that you react less to negative external stimuli. Those who practice Yin Yoga regularly, perceive positive changes in all life areas.

This kind of being does not exclude anything in your life but supports you to live more completely, as it is our natural predestination. Being stressed and nervous is not normal, even if in modern society it kind of seems to be. It is as if stress is even something that shows how important you are as a person, and those you are relaxed almost have to feel sorry for it.

Regular Yin Yoga practice, meditation, and active breathing help us to listen to ourselves with awareness and naturally change our lives. A small amount of time is enough to live more relaxed. It is not magic, it is just the result of constantly following a goal: the development of an inner balance and consciousness.

Helpful tips: what supports can you use when doing Yin Yoga?

One of the most important factors of Yin Yoga is, similar to many other kinds of Yoga the ability to listen. Listening to ourselves is extremely important, especially when you have to concentrate on not activating specific muscles. To achieve this poses must not be forced but you have to try to be as relaxed as possible. Sometimes it is better to choose a simpler position to stimulate a joint to make sure to relax as much as possible.

Some Yoga instruments can help you to remain in position and make sure your practice is efficient: a soft Yoga mat, Yoga Blocks, Bolster Yoga Cushion, Yoga Belts, and a blanket that keeps you warm.

The softer the instruments are, the better your Yin Yoga practice will be. Non-violence (Ahimsa) is the concept that applies to the poses as well as the props used!

Conclusion

The world leads us to believe that we can be happy through specific actions or by buying things. If something does not work out we usually blame external factors and feel like a victim of their impact. We create an illusion of peace and happiness around us and to destroy this illusion we need courage. But exactly this courage helps us to find our real truth, our uniqueness. This is the strength of Yin Yoga.

The post Yin Yoga: The Non-Violence Yoga appeared first on Yoga Stories - ReYoga.

Smiley Hand – For Children: Yoga in the Korogocho-Slum

Dagmar Holzmann — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 08:00:47 +0000

Text: Pietro Stopazzola – @pietrostopazzola translated from Italian by ReYoga
Photos: Paola Viola – @paolaviolaph

My name is Pietro Stopazzola, I’m 25 years old, a graduate student in Cognitive and Psychobiological Psychology, and I’m here to tell you how I brought Yoga to a slum in Nairobi together with “Una mano per un sorriso – For Children – Smiley Hand”.

“UNA MANO PER UN SORRISO – For Children” is an Italian ODV (Volunteer Organization) operating nationally and internationally with the intent to develop humanitarian projects aimed at defending the rights of children around the world and fighting marginality.

For the past 10 years, our association has been operating on a direct line in the slum of “Korogocho”, on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. During these years it has activated health, educational, and training projects targeting children and youth living in the slums.

In 2017, the association founded “Smiley Hand Kenya”, which runs, in Kenya of course, two schools, “Smiling School” Ngomongo and “Lucky Summer”, which accommodate about 260 students aged 2 to 16, providing quality education in a protected environment and programs for health and prevention of abuse and disease.

In 2019 a second school, the “Smiling School – Lucky Summer” was built and opened, a real brick-and-mortar school. At the same time, a center for boys living in the Korogocho slum was opened, where they could participate in computer classes and development programs helping explain how to use washable sanitary napkins while ensuring support pathways for girls to protect their health.

This center was now too small to meet the demands and needs of the community, so in 2022 we decided to build a new multifunctional center: the “Smiling Center”: officially opened on August 5, 2023.

The goal outlined for the new Smiling Center is to increase activities to broaden skill levels, offer children living in nearby slums the chance to discover their talents, and give them back real opportunities to be the engine of change in their future. A rehabilitation gymnasium and a medical clinic have also been set up in the center to provide a concrete response to the health needs of the area.

It all started in 2017 when I decided to take my first trip to Africa. It was a very intense experience that profoundly changed me.
Since that year, I have promised myself to devote part of my time to helping those living in more difficult circumstances.

Traveling alone and facing different difficulties led me to get to know myself better, listen to my emotions, and respect my limitations.
During those years, thanks to my mother’s teachings, I approached the practice of Yoga and embarked on a path that led me to be a Yoga teacher for children and adults.

After 4 years of humanitarian missions between Tanzania and Kenya, in 2022 I started working with the organization “Una mano per un sorriso – for children”, which operates in the Korogocho slum in the province of Nairobi. Within the schools, I was able to introduce students to two great passions of mine: ecology and Yoga.
Experience and dedication have led me to be, to date, one of the main contact persons for the organization’s projects in Kenya.

The students who attend our schools come mainly from the Dandora landfill and Korogocho slum, a very difficult neighborhood characterized by poverty, violence, and poor health conditions.
The children face numerous challenges in their daily lives, emotionally, physically, and mentally.

That is why I have decided to introduce Yoga to those kids.

Yoga improves mental and physical health and enables the development of greater self-confidence, higher self-esteem, and self-awareness.
Yoga offered these children much more than just physical activity; it taught them to focus on breathing and to find inner calm despite the difficulties around them.

During the classes, I have noticed that some of them detach themselves from their reality and find a moment of refuge where they can simply be themselves, away from problems and responsibilities.
It is an easy way to provide them with a practical and functional tool for stress management and emotion recognition.
Through Yoga practice, they have learned to connect with their inner selves and find calm amid chaos. I firmly believe that by developing proactive, empathetic, and resilient attitudes, they will be able to expand a positive worldview and promote the overall well-being of the community.

During the first year, Yoga practice took place outdoors in our school garden by making do with the space we had available.
With the construction of our latest project, the Smiling Center, we finally have a suitable place for students to practice.

Therefore, the search for a sponsor for the Yoga class began, and this search led me to discover ReYoga, a company that creates mats using environmentally sustainable and recyclable materials.
I chose ReYoga because it reflects the values of sustainability and respect for the environment that I want to pass on to the children.

ReYoga’s support has been critically important: students today have their own mats. But what I have realized is that these mats are not just physical objects, they have become something more important for our kids.
When a child takes out his mat, he is not just creating a physical space for practice, he is creating space within himself, a space of safety and exploration.

The mat has turned into a space of freedom, where children can experiment, make mistakes and grow.

Through ReYoga and daily practice, the mats have become tangible symbols of hope and opportunity.

Yoga classes will continue to be an integral part of the “Smiling Center” education, contributing to students’ mental and physical growth, self-esteem, and self-confidence.

“Una mano per un sorriso – for children” aims to seek funds for the annual upkeep of the center (the annual running cost is 10,000 euros) and to expand the proposed educational paths, involving more and more children.

If you would like to support our mission and help these children create a future full of talents, please visit our official website unamanoperunsorriso.org for more information and ways to support.

Our main ways of donation are as follows:
– Adopt a school desk: https://www.unamanoperunsorriso.org/adotta-un-banco/
– Adopt a talent: https://www.unamanoperunsorriso.org/adotta-un-talento/
– Donate a sum of your choice to IBAN: IT17 U089 0462 1810 2800 0109 712

Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference and helps us continue to discover our students’ talents by giving them new opportunities and building a better future together.

Thank you for being part of our journey.

The post Smiley Hand – For Children: Yoga in the Korogocho-Slum appeared first on Yoga Stories - ReYoga.

Create your Yoga routine

Dagmar Holzmann — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 09:22:38 +0000

Cold weather, festivities, vacations. Perfect events to break your routine and make you leave your comfort zone. With the arrival of the new year, however, you need to gather your energy and restart your good habits! Let’s resume your rhythm, and our yoga classes, and regain your balance and daily routine because once you have identified good resolutions, the difficult part is to keep up the routine over time.

Start slow: if you have suspended your activities for 20-30 days you will have to resume them gradually, without asking too much of your body!

Let’s take a few steps back, start with a lighter session, from the easiest positions, and explore them again, improving them occasionally. Set new goals for yourself and focus on them. Wanna know a secret? It is better to start with small goals, take a breath once in a while, and balance, and then worry about reaching your limits (and exceeding them!).

It takes 21 days to create a new habit so stay strong and keep doing what you are doing! Every journey starts with the first step.

Put it on the calendar

“Look at class schedules, if your needs have changed, re-evaluate all the opportunities you have but don’t give up your daily or midweek time for practice.”

Once you have planned your space for practice you must try to respect it by making time to inhabit and remember it. While it may seem more difficult at first, it will later become part of our good habits. It is said that it only takes 21 days to create a routine. So just keep your Yoga schedule for three weeks and it will become much easier!

Creating a habit helps you to be more organized and live more peacefully. Routines support the rhythm of your days and train you to keep it. This allows you to be able to fit in different activities and invest your time better. Don’t be too hard on yourself! All this does not mean that you always have to stick to the schedule you have created for yourself; now and then you can allow yourself to break out of your patterns!

Take care of your Yoga mat

Taking care of yourself and creating a new and healthy routine also means taking care of your personal space – and your Yoga mat. Keep it clean and refreshed so that every time you start a new practice it is ready and does not smell like the sweat from the day before ;-). At the end of each yoga practice, we recommend cleaning the mat and letting it dry before rolling it up and storing it. Just use a wet microfiber cloth and a mild detergent (we have also created mat cleaning kits).

When you are not practicing always keep your mat inside a Yoga bag made of cotton or breathable material so that it is protected from dust and light.

Create your personal Yoga space

As soon as you have identified your personal needs, you can start creating your own personal Yoga Space. Whether you do Yoga at home or in a yoga studio does not matter – choose your Yoga equipment according to your needs.

The most important tool is certainly the yoga mat. Think of it as if it were a pair of running shoes – its characteristics are important for our well-being during practice and in the results of the asanas you perform on it.
Our invitation is to always choose a product that is environmentally friendly and suitable for your needs, seeking safety and quality.

If you are just starting Yoga, we recommend choosing a mat with a good grip that you can use for different kinds of Yoga – maybe you have not figured out yet how many different Yoga styles there are and which one is the right one for you. We recommend two mats for beginners in particular: Free LIGHT for those looking for a mat that is easy to carry, with good grip and good stability, or Free SOFT for those looking for lightness, grip, and extra comfort.

If you have been practicing for a few years, we recommend choosing a more professional mat for your Yoga style like our Yoga mats in natural rubber or Microfibre.

Some tools you might need to create your personal Yoga space are Yoga blocks: you can choose to purchase your own set when your Yoga teacher recommends using them in their class. Cork Yoga blocks are the first allies in learning to achieve certain positions and are useful at all levels of your practice. They are used in pairs and should be chosen in the same size.

Similar in purpose but with a different approach: Yoga belts. We have created belts in two different lengths and many different colors. They are made with regenerated cotton yarn.

Other accessories that might be useful are Yoga pillows in various sizes and colors, or Eco Blankets, perfect for moments of meditation and relaxation. Choose accessories in your favorite color, it will make you feel most comfortable and your Yoga space gets a personal touch.

Finally, the last tip to make practicing even more pleasant, light some incense sticks or an eco-friendly candle to create a cozy atmosphere.

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ReYoga supports Emergency

Dagmar Holzmann — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 09:26:25 +0000

With our yoga mats and tools we help the Italian NGO and Human Aid Organisation EMERGENCY raise funds. We do this by donating our products, which are then put on sale at the Milan store during the Christmas holidays.

All the products inside Emergency Pop-up stores can be purchased to help the association raise the money it needs. By buying your gifts there you can do good and get great products at the same time.

EMERGENCY’s Christmas spaces have been set up for more than a decade in the central areas of many Italian cities. Within them, you can find items from the countries where EMERGENCY operates and products of different companies that want to contribute to the Association’s humanitarian work.

Links: Emergency Website

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