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  • Writer's pictureTravel Guide

My Yoga trip in India

At the age of 14, my mother took me to a yoga weekend for the first time. At that time I didn't know much about yoga, but I liked the acrobatic exercises, was proud to make it into the headstand, was amazed at the amount of breathing and didn't know what to do with me when suddenly everyone became very quiet to meditate.

I then accompanied my mother to a yoga class every now and then.I can still remember how some women stood around me and pulled me to get me into the warrior.


Private yoga teacher in Goa

When I came to Goa at the age of 19 (2009) to volunteer for an organization in the slums for one year, my yoga practice not only became significantly more intensive but above all more regular.

Three times a week, my friend and I had the luxury of a private yoga teacher. I was still a little awkward. I struggled to do the stretching, and I couldn't do much with Pranayama, either, and felt it was a necessary evil. Nevertheless, I developed the first real approach to yoga. Also because yoga is still practiced in many places in India. So our landlady did her breathing exercises every morning and when we went for a walk in the park, we heard laughter from the laughing yoga groups and observed individual Indians who practiced yoga in the park.


In October 2012 I traveled to the Himalayan mountain town of Manali and met my second yoga guru there. He teaches Shivananda yoga and I did a seven-day intensive course with him, where we practiced yoga for seven hours a day, especially an asana and pranayama. I wanted to take the opportunity to improve my own yoga practice in India, the country of origin of yoga. Everything started to hurt on the second day. On the 3rd day it got worse, but slowly I began to understand that yoga is more about an inner than an outer practice. Nevertheless, my body alone became significantly more flexible in this one week.


I liked this guru and decided to do intensive one-month yoga training with him. The program was similar to that of a yoga teacher program, with a strict daily routine, many hours on the mat, plus philosophy, mantra, and Shatkarma classes.

I was his only student and trudged through the deep snow to his yoga room every morning. Manali is a busy tourist destination in summer, but almost all shops are closed in winter, so only I and the locals lived in the village.

Even afterward, the memory of it feels special to me. I had a close teacher-student relationship with the guru, almost as it is spoken about in some traditional books. I lived a simple life and practiced yoga.

Yoga teacher training in Goa

A year later, I decided to do a certified apprenticeship and found a suitable yoga school in Goa, which was run by Vijay, a 55-year-old Ashtanga yogi. With "Universal Yoga" I received solid training in Ashtanga and Hatha Yoga under palm trees by the sea with a focus on the correct guidance, execution, and correction in the asanas. I also met the best yoga philosophy teacher I could wish for and got an insight into Patanjali's yoga sutras.


After completing this 200-hour yoga teacher training at Diya yoga in Goa, I started regularly giving yoga classes. I had fun teaching travelers from all over the world, but over time I lacked the depth of my own practice and yoga knowledge, so I decided to do another yoga teacher training in 2014. My Experience with Diya yoga is really memorable in Goa, Its really beautiful place.


Diya Yoga (Yoga Teacher Training Center - Goa)

Surf Club Road, Before Daily Grind, Dando Rd, Arambol, Goa 403524 Phone: 089752 32395


Yoga therapy course in the ashram

This time, the focus should be on yoga therapy and meditation, so I decided to go to the Paramanand Ashram in Indore, a completely unknown place in the middle of India. In this 300-hour yoga teacher training, I not only lived the life of an ashram dweller, but was introduced to the worlds of pranayama and meditation.


In addition, we received special yoga therapy lessons for participants to reduce physical and mental suffering as a yoga teacher.

After this time, I not only developed my own yoga practice but also started to offer yoga trips and retreats.


In 2015 and 2016, training followed in Dharamshala in Ayurvedic massage and Thai yoga massage. I also lived for several weeks in the Shri Jasanth Ashram in Rajasthan to teach the ashram residents and Indian children yoga.


During a yoga trip with a guest, we finally lived in the Anand Prakash Ashram in Rishikesh for a few days.

The guru of the ashram himself, Visha ji, was on-site and led a yoga teacher Course at that time.

What I experienced then in his morning yoga classes was incredible. Suddenly yoga became a whole! Vishva knew how to combine yoga philosophy, asana, pranayama, meditation, and mantra in his self-developed lessons and to fuse everything together.

Every yoga class with him was like a new awakening and for me it was clear that if I wanted to travel further on my yoga path, it would be with him.


Yoga teacher training in Rishikesh

Exactly a year later (October 2017), I sat on the mat in front of him again, this time as a student for the six-week 300-hour yoga teacher training.

What I learned and experienced during this time is probably the knowledge of a whole life. Not only did I personally mature on my own yoga path, but I also learned to teach very special yoga classes, deepened my knowledge of yoga anatomy and developed a clearer picture of yoga tradition and philosophy.

During this time I also discovered my love for bhakti-yoga with mantra chanting and kirtan singing and took lessons in the harmonium at the same time. The harmonium has since become an important companion.

I continue to practice yoga regularly and combine the different yoga styles of my teachers with my own style. I teach and lead retreats and workshops across India.

Due to my passion for sport, I also try to incorporate yoga into my training as a supplement and balance and deal closely with yoga and sport.

I enjoy my yoga journey, which will probably never end. Again and again, there are new insights, a different perspective, another eye-opening experience that grips me with childlike joy in yoga. I wish to convey this joy to my students.


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