How the idea for the Yoga Advent Calendar was born

Only one week until 1 December. It’s a late morning – grey and rainy. I’m riding the tram, looking through the window and watching the Berlin city landscape passing by. While raindrops run down the window, form bigger drops and continue their journey, I reflect on my impressions of the last yoga classes I taught. Pictures of my students arise in front of my inner eye. They are wonderfully dedicated to yoga and it’s great seeing them leave class with a happy smile. However, there is one disturbance in the whole picture. For most people, the idea of meeting some kind of (internal) expectations is a bigger part of their practice than enjoying the journey itself. Yoga is a slower way of transformation and healing – So, in my opinion, it comes down to enjoying the ride. In order to make your yoga journey a really yummy cocktail, it needs two special ingredients: Joy and (Self-)Love.

With Christmas almost around the corner, the idea of an advent calendar format just popped up in my mind. My mission: 24 inspirations inviting yogis and mindfulness explorers to embrace more of the qualities of joy and love in their practice.

So one week until 1 December – I didn’t think much about a timeline or what would be involved to make it happen. I was so in love with my idea of bringing more joy and love onto the yoga mats that I simply started to make it happen. And yes, you guess right, there was a lot of learning during the journey 😉

The Spirit of the Yoga Advent Calendar

24 days dedicated to bringing more love and joy into your yoga practice. I especially like the idea of having an inspirational dose every day representing my understanding of yoga as a journey. Continuous practice and small achievable steps are key when it comes to change habits or ways of thinking. As the Yoga Advent Calendar is meant to support you without being overwhelming, the whole design is respecting those two aspects. Furthermore, it was important to me, that the presented practices are easy to integrate into your home yoga or mindfulness practice. What does that mean? We tend to be especially busy before Christmas and the closing of the year. So timewise the videos and picture tutorials are limited to a maximum time of 15 minutes, so you can sneak them into your day. Additionally, the presented practices can be integrated before, during or after your usual practice.

I do believe in the power of yoga to support us in navigating our modern urban life. Therefore it is my intention to share the wisdom of yoga with everyone who is interested. The degree of flexibility or fitness level shouldn’t be a barrier. The idea of „Yoga for all“ is my guiding spirit when I choose the practices for the Yoga Advent Calendar. A holistic blend of postures (asanas), breathing (pranayama) and meditation techniques provides different approaches that serve every yogi’s unique needs.