My way of teaching

The essential things in my teaching emerge from my personal life philosophy

My passion for living in the BODY is the result of practice of yoga, dance and Biodynamic craniosacral therapy. My relation to my body has been intense and passionate also before I met these traditions.

The body is the seat of our animality among other things. Sometimes the animal side is seen as something lower in the human being. For me it’s as noble as the spirit, but it requires a noble work too.

When we look at animals in the nature, we can see many different ways of moving, but the movement is always gracious. Animals surrender to their bodies feeling also the space in which they move. This is really important! For me this is something to reach for in yoga, dance and life. We are aware of our own body and the others and what is around us. We are part of the whole. We search for the feeling of oneness.

ASANAS are the key to the wisdom of the body. They are not the goal. As long as the fulfillment in asana is not found, you find all the obstacles to the fulfilment. The obstacles are due to some tension. It requires a slow process in which we are present with our awareness to get rid of tensions. This kind of work with body and mind make them melt together as inseparable.

My passion for living in the BODY is the result of practice of yoga, dance and biodynamic craniosacral therapy. My relation to my body has been intense and passionate also before I met these traditions.

The body is the seat of our animality among other things. Sometimes the animal side is seen as something lower in the human being. For me it’s as noble as the spirit, but it requires a noble work too.

When we look at animals in the nature, we can see many different ways of moving, but the movement is always gracious. Animals surrender to their bodies feeling also the space in which they move. This is really important! For me this is something to reach for in yoga, dance and life. We are aware of our own body and the others and what is around us. We are part of the whole. We search for the feeling of oneness.

ASANAS are the key to the wisdom of the body. They are not the goal. As long as the fulfillment in asana is not found, you find all the obstacles to the fulfilment. The obstacles are due to some tension. It requires a slow process in which we are present with our awareness to get rid of tensions. This kind of work with body and mind make them melt together as inseparable.

A human being loses the animal in him/herself when constantly and rigidly in the vertical position. The asana is always a creation connected to the Earth and gravity no matter what the body’s position is, sideways or even upside down. If you try to figure out your position mentally, you can’t feel what the asana requires. To feel you need to surrender.

DANCE in my workshops means total freedom to move one’s body and to express all emotions with the body. This kind of dance liberates blockages and pressures at the same time as it teaches us how to express different emotions with the body. It can namely be possible we have suppressed certain energetical quality in us and we never feel it. We don’t know it exists. Dancing makes it possible to generate energy with the body and then accept that specific energetical feeling with the whole body.

BREATHING is the base for the physical life and an indicator of psychic balance. The pulmonary breathing is connected to all areas of the body and that’s why the quality of the breath has an enormous meaning for the body’s well-being. The breathing being the very capital thing, all practices should be made with respect to it. Nothing should be allowed to disturb it.

We distinguish primary and secondary breathing, i.e. the deep, energetical rhythmic motion in all cells and the pulmonary breathing. In a more advanced level we can leave the pulmonary breathing with less attention and energize the body with the primary breathing. This is how we can feel how life is pulsating in us.

SPIRITUALITY is spiritual and thus impossible to materialize and put in words. When we talk about spiritual or energetical experiences, it’s important not to use clichés. Naturally we use metaphors, but we don’t use metaphors others have invented not to fall into hypocrisy. I really think it’s important not to talk like ”that was meant to be” or ”I was given a lesson to understand…” or ”the universe heard my wish” or ”my throat chakra is telling me that…”.

These are mental images we create ourselves. The whole universe is not turning around us and doesn’t make things happen for us. Everything in the universe is potentially available for us, if our attitude is generosity, if we are connected to others and when we find harmony with life.

For me as a teacher it’s important to be really down-to-earth. The topics are not tuned to some kind of mental images or spheres we want to see them in. The mind is capable to see connections also where there are none. If we stick to the concrete things, it’s a possibility for the mind to let go of its creations and its habit to organize the world suitable to ourselves. The down-to-earth attitude increases the feeling of safety.

Practicing yoga means facing the tensions and letting go of them. This kind of work teach us to discern things energetically in us and to anticipate situations not to live them in the habitual way, because we know it’s not leading us toward anything good. For example we don’t leave things behind us, because that’s the way to let them have influence on us through the subconscious mind. To really RELAX we need to stick to a philosophy and principles that are righteous and loving. We ask for forgiveness and we forgive others.

The tensions left from some events have diminished our energy and weakened us. We need to connect to those tensions again. We don’t have to go back to every moment emotionally, but we need to recognize the imprints they have left and feel that energy again to transform it. Then we can easily relax.

PRESENCE is a quality that can be sensed in different degrees. As the rooted presence is impossible due to our restless mind and impulsive emotions, we usually need to re-learn presence through self-study. When the mind and the emotions calm down, the energy in the body becomes centered. When our energy comes back to us from the places it’s been dispersed to, we start to feel great vitality again.

In this state the energy is concentrating naturally in the heart area and it deeply calms us. Sometimes it takes years before the stillness starts to attract us as a magnetic power. Then the word ”silence” loses its signification. It’s about something much bigger and much more awesome that is found through the silence: the stillness.

STILLNESS is the space between two actions, whether it’s between inhalation and exhalation or something else. When we sit still, we allow life take more space. When our mind settles, the breathing settles too. Between two breaths there is a space where the sacredness and mystery of life can be met. Less our awareness is in the action of breathing, more it can be present for the stillness. This is when life starts to open to us in a completely new way. In all practices we nurture the awareness of this space.

When the presence and stillness have transformed us, the connection to the source is open. This experience I call GOD. It’s not a question whether one believes in God or not. It’s not a person or a God of any religion. It’s Life. The Sacred Life. It’s the feeling of completeness and perfection and joy that doesn’t have any other name.

As Biodynamic craniosacral therapist I’m constantly in connection with this loving state. In the Biodynamic cranio-sacral therapy tradition this power is called the Intelligence of Life or the Organizing Principle of Life. There’s is an organization we are part of and we can recognize that wisdom when we are attuned to it. Our heart understands. This experience is oneness with all. All life is sacred and divine for me.

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FREEDOM is a feeling that we don’t limit ourselves neither consciously nor unconsciously. These limits include limits we think other people control our life with. All the practices I lead, yoga, meditation, dance, are good in the research of freedom. In these practices we sometimes meet difficult feelings and we can see we ourselves are standing on our way. This is a gradual process and it’s enriched with the bodywork that makes the tensions melt away and gives space to the vital energy to move. When we don’t control our creative power, thoughts and emotions coming from inside, but we express ourselves with love and truthfulness, the freedom is present. Freedom is also the synonym of the awareness of the infinite potential in us and in others.

HEALTH is an attitude toward life. It doesn’t mean we would never be sick, but it’s the openness to health also in times of sickness. I consider it’s important to pay attention to what is functioning, what is flowing and what life is giving to us in any moment. Sickness is always a symptom of some invisible deeper problem. That’s why sickness is a blessing, for it is an opportunity to dive deeper and to re-direct life to a healthier direction.

The mind sees usually more problems than anything else. If we live a lot in our mind, we probably see life as a field of problems. The health is freedom from the mind. Sometimes a thought that diminishes us or frightens us can just pop up and make our emotions come up too. Then it’s not so easy to convince oneself that everything is all right. We need meditation to be healthy. It helps us to calm our mind and take some distance with our thoughts. Meditation gives us presence and freedom. It takes us deeply to the peace and behind our own fears. This experience changes a lot in one’s life. When we know that we have safety in us, we just need to connect to it again.

GIVING SPACE within healthy boundaries is the cornerstone of my teaching. I want to look at what is functioning, where is the possibility for growth instead of looking at what’s missing or what’s not functioning. I know that the majority of people never had enough space just to be themselves. I believe that when you can practice in the loving presence of someone else, deep relaxation happens. The happiness of being seen, heard and experienced in many levels opens the heart for love in everybody. Love is space.

The mind sees usually more problems than anything else. If we live a lot in our mind, we probably see life as a field of problems. The health is freedom from the mind. Sometimes a thought that diminishes us or frightens us can just pop up and make our emotions come up too. Then it’s not so easy to convince oneself that everything is all right. We need meditation to be healthy. It helps us to calm our mind and take some distance with our thoughts. Meditation gives us presence and freedom. It takes us deeply to the peace and behind our own fears. This experience changes a lot in one’s life. When we know that we have safety in us, we just need to connect to it again.

GIVING SPACE within healthy boundaries is the cornerstone of my teaching. I want to look at what is functioning, where is the possibility for growth instead of looking at what’s missing or what’s not functioning. I know that the majority of people never had enough space just to be themselves. I believe that when you can practice in the loving presence of someone else, deep relaxation happens. The happiness of being seen, heard and experienced in many levels opens the heart for love in everybody. Love is space.

KINDNESS is an attitude we cultivate in my workshops and trainings. We tend to have a loving and constructive communication in all situations. Consequently we take others into consideration with their uniqueness and their backgrounds and we try to be clear, coherent and friendly in our speech and action. If we sometimes react in a different way, we peacefully look for righteous solutions together to end up with an outcome that feels right for all.

People in workshops or trainings build a community and people together represent our human relations in miniature. During a workshop students can focus more on their own communication and behavior and they might be able to become aware of a feature that they can work on more profoundly in the workshop. You train for life, not for the training.

Because JOY is the deepest vibration in life, our attention is directed towards it and all practices will serve this goal to make students connect to the life’s joyful stream again. When everything is seen with joy, it helps us to become more aware of things that keep us away from joy. When the vital energy is running freely in our body, that is pure joy.

A deep joy leads us naturally to GROWTH. Joy that bubbles in the body and fills the breath is opening us towards growth. We want to grow emotionally and spiritually. This means that all the challenges are seen as richness of life, because they allow us to rise, to become purer, to find new creativity and better solutions. When we have grown up, it’s time to start a spiritual path, a path inside.