After having picked out three smaller studios in Schwabing that I was curious to get to know, the long yoga night (that by the way was competing with the red night of bars and many other Saturday night events in the city last night) was kicked off. Of course it wouldn't be me if I hadn't googled the wrong address for the first studio, only to realize that we were off when getting into the subway. Luckily Munich isn't that big though so we managed to change directions and still make it (almost) in time for the introduction to meditation with malas, basically the Hindu or Buddhist form of a rosary, consisting of 108 beads that are used to assist a meditation practice.
Heike from Sharanam Yoga doesn't only teach in a beautiful, spacious basement in Milbertshofen, in between subway stops Milbertshofen and Petuelring but has also discovered the healing power of stones and produces fascinating malas, many of them specially designed, tailer-made for her students/interested parties. She took a few minutes to introduce the concept and then guided us through a round of mala meditation, using the Lakshmi Mantra "om sri maha lakshmyai Namah" (see an example on You Tube). She explained that the goddess Lakshmi does not only stand for material wealth but also and most importantly for spiritual wealth and abundance. What a great reminder that we really have everything we need and ought to focus more on gratitude for what we have rather than striving for more, bigger, faster things... Heike also gave the group the opportunity to ask questions after the meditation session, patiently answering questions about the power of the stones and malas as well as meditation techniques. It was intriguing to me that there was a student whose mala beads seem to have changed color after she had gone through a transformative process.
After a short break, we continued with a Sharanam Yoga class, practicing the same inclusive set up of a circle. I was curious as I have taken plenty of Jivamukti classes but even though Heike is a trained Jivamukti teacher she already hinted that her class would be slightly different, diving more deeply into the poses, holding them and emphasizing the breath more, carefully avoiding the feeling to get rushed through the sequences. The class had a beautiful arch to it, slowly building up the fire, continuously reminding us to only go as deeply as we could keep our deep ujay breath. Being pregnant, I particularly enjoyed the meditative flow of the class - even though I couldn't do all the poses (avoiding the deep twists and arm balances as well as lying on my back), I felt as though I was part of the energy. To me it was just the right mixture between physical challenge and letting go, leaving me energized when getting out of the class. Unfortunately I didn't have more time to chat with the group or the teachers since I was keen on attending another session in the city.
Just in time to secure a good spot in the back of the room I arrived at YamYoga located a few steps off of Leopoldstrasse in Schwabing. The studio is on the second floor and was very crowded when I entered - interestingly I saw a completely different crowd at this location of the Yoganacht - mostly students which makes sense given that this studio is very close to the university. Getting ready for the class Oliver and Regina made it a point to get everyone a spot. We started with some simple pranayama exercises in which we were asked to lie on our backs with a rolled blanket or bolster supporting our spine and exhale twice as long as inhale. Although I needed to lie on the side, this simply breathing technique worked well and Oliver prepared us well for what was to come: a guided meditation.
We started off seated in a lush grass field and then continued taking a walk through some pine woods, arriving at a creek, leading to a waterfall and a cave and took a wonderfully relaxing nap there.
After reluctantly having to return to reality from this really soothing experience (Oliver's voice was very calming and grounding).
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| Some of Heike's beautiful malas |
Heike from Sharanam Yoga doesn't only teach in a beautiful, spacious basement in Milbertshofen, in between subway stops Milbertshofen and Petuelring but has also discovered the healing power of stones and produces fascinating malas, many of them specially designed, tailer-made for her students/interested parties. She took a few minutes to introduce the concept and then guided us through a round of mala meditation, using the Lakshmi Mantra "om sri maha lakshmyai Namah" (see an example on You Tube). She explained that the goddess Lakshmi does not only stand for material wealth but also and most importantly for spiritual wealth and abundance. What a great reminder that we really have everything we need and ought to focus more on gratitude for what we have rather than striving for more, bigger, faster things... Heike also gave the group the opportunity to ask questions after the meditation session, patiently answering questions about the power of the stones and malas as well as meditation techniques. It was intriguing to me that there was a student whose mala beads seem to have changed color after she had gone through a transformative process.
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| A serene Sharanam Yoga Class with Heike - thank you! |
We started off seated in a lush grass field and then continued taking a walk through some pine woods, arriving at a creek, leading to a waterfall and a cave and took a wonderfully relaxing nap there.
After reluctantly having to return to reality from this really soothing experience (Oliver's voice was very calming and grounding).
I realized that in spite of the summer solstice marking the beginning of summer, it was freezing outside and I was quite exhausted from rushing from one place to another so I decided to skip the candle light yin yoga class (although it sounded delicious) at Maha Shakti but rather join them for a prenatal yoga class in the near future.
Yet, I truly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some wonderful studios through this Yoganacht and hope so did everyone else. I saw quite a good turn out - so let's hope we raised a lot of money for the Yoga für Alle initative and I am already looking forward to repeating this next year... A big thank you to the organizers and happy international day of yoga today :-)
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