Last month I attended the Berlin Yoga Conference, and I was quite nervous about it. It was my first “gig” on such a big event. And although it ended a little bit different than I thought it would I enjoyed doing what I love .. teaching Katonah Yoga®.

One attendee was Mareike, a 500h Vinyasa Yoga teacher (read more about and from her on her blog). I didn’t know that before. I never know who is coming to class. It is my saving grace … kinda. I once had a celeb in my class and I didn’t recognise him. Not even when he came back for a 2nd class. Can you imagine LOL. But I digress. Back to the class.

After class Mareike approached me and told me that she was stoked and speechless and simply surprised. She told me about her SI-Joint and that she went to see osteopaths for months and only now, after my class, she feels painfree.

As a blogger she did what bloggers do … she wrote about it. I asked her if I can repost it  because she describes so very well that the practice works.

Thank you so much for putting it out, Mareike.

The second day of the Yoga conference surprised me with a mix of very different styles and teachers. I spotted an old co-worker in one of the lectures, who took me afterwards to Andrea Sauter’s Katonah Yoga workshop. Even it was my last class of the day, I want to start with this one as it left an impression.

Honestly, I never really heard much about Katonah yoga and never practiced it before – writing this I have to keep looking up the name, being scared to mix up the “a” and “o” ;-). However, having over 700h of Yoga teacher training behind me in different styles, I thought I at least experienced a lot and it can’t be that different.

But how Socrates already said: The Only Thing I Know For Sure Is That I Know Nothing At All, For Sure!

The only real familiar thing in the class, was my Yoga mat below me and the face of my old co-worker next to me. Otherwise, everything was different.

Andrea described Katonah Yoga in an earlier interview like this:

Katonah Yoga uses the practice to broaden the mind and develop the imagination. We practice yoga to alter our psychology by reorganizing and reinforming our physiology. The goal of the practice is to become whole, in order to live a life of integrity and happiness.

Honestly, I can’t describe it in words how the class was different to a Vinyasa or Hatha Yoga class. I am always open to new ways, to explore the body in a different way. And Katonah Yoga offered that in all aspects.

Andrea started the class explaining that it will be all different from what we know and physically challenging since our body might not be used to the practice. And she was right.

How we went into the poses, executed the poses and came out, was different to my usual Yoga style. I had to work extremely hard, even though I am a fit person.

In different ways, I felt like a beginner again. Often, I needed to look at her to see if I do it really correctly. Usually I only listen as I am very familiar with the poses and proper alignment.

But these are the things I really enjoy. Expanding your usual practice. Moving the body in a different way.

Throughout the class, you could hear a lot of laughter. Something I noticed right away. I teach in quiet Scandinavia where people are very introverted. Seeing people opening up and perhaps taking themselves and the practice not too seriously, was a nice change of habit.

But of course, new is often challenging for the ego. Usually, we don’t like new things too much, especially if we are not good in it right away (even there is no good in Yoga). Throughout the class, I had a lot of moments, thinking “this is weird”, “not sure if I like this”, “this is silly”. But these voices became quieter and quieter time over time.

At the end of the class, I felt so great – in a way I didn’t experience in a long time. My SI joint had been bugging me for days with quite some pain in the lower back area and I tried a lot of things to fix it. Finally, 90 min of Katonah Yoga brought relief. The pain was gone after the class. Thanks, Andrea.

(read the original blog post here)