Teacher Travels: The German Alps

I think Walt Disney was a fan of Bavaria

 

What makes a place home?    

Is it the place where your people originate?    

Is it where your friends and family live?    

Is it where you work?    

Is it where you keep your stuff?    

Is it where the sights and smells are familiar?    

Is it the place people speak your language?    

I recently traveled to what we’ve been jokingly calling the Homeland AKA – Germany.    

Previous to that, I’d never been to Germany nor did I have a burning desire to visit – we don’t know anyone there, last I heard they don’t serve cocktails with umbrellas there and it might be a tensy bit expensive.  It was my husband that really wanted to, so we did.    

I felt strangely at home when I got there.  Something about it felt very familiar and home-like.  Maybe it’s because my family is originally from Germany and the aesthetic came to the United States with them. Or the food was food I grew up with or that the people all looked vaguely like people I am related to.    

In any case, I felt strangely at home somewhere I’d never been before.    

For those of you that want to see – a quick trip to the Alps with Hacknbrew:    

 Day One – Garmish and Partenkirchen   

Hello, Bavaria!

 

The mountains! The architecture! The cute mister!

 

The gardens!

 

Flowerboxes everywhere!

 

Could it be any greener?

 

Day Two in the Alps: Mittenwald {no, I could not stop calling it “Mitten World”}   

The bus/train station - closed for repairs - and yet still beautiful!

 

There is no such thing as a bad view in Mittenwald.

 

Meandering meadow walk on the way to the trail UP the mountain.

 

Me and some random German family that hopped in my photo at the bottom of the mountain. I think they must do this all the time.

 

The view from just over the Austrian border - did I mention the hike was STEEP? Germans like them some hiking. I wish I would have thought to bring a flask like the guy sitting at a vista point along the way.

 

The bridge was less scary than I thought and more scary than Jed thought. You do the math.

 

A beer garden half way down the mountain? YES PLEASE! {PS the cake was mostly for him and the beer mostly for me}

 

The view. LOOK at the VIEW!!!!

 

I <3 Mittenwald.

 

Have you ever found yourself being at home somewhere you’d never been? Tell me about your travel surprises.  

My Yoga Manifesto – PART III- All People Can Do Yoga

iay awesomeness - photo credit: vanessa vichit-vadakan

Manifesto: a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization (or in this case, yoga teacher).

I believe all people can do yoga.

Yes, even you.

Some folks may be put off by yoga because they may think it’s about twisting their bodies into impossible poses usually found in a bag of pretzels.

Some people may be put off yoga because they think they are too ( chubby, old, young, busy, injured, poor, sad, happy, stressed out, tired, cool…)

Other may be put off yoga because they think they aren’t (flexible, strong, rich, fashionable, knowledgable…) enough.

Still others don’t do yoga because they think yoga is too (weird, out there, religious, trendy, bendy, slow, foreign).

I’m positive people that can find 1,001 reasons not to practice yoga.

I’d like to change all that.

You’ve just got to find the right teacher for your kind of yoga. The right teacher for you.

The right kind of teacher for you, right now, in the body you live in.

The right teacher for you will give modifications, work with the body you have, not have expectations of you, not judge you, not push you, not laugh at you. Generally not make you feel bad about yourself.

The right kind of teacher for you will explain what you are doing, help you move in and out of poses safely, show you how to use props to help you go places you can’t go on your own and maybe even make you giggle on occasion.

The right kind of teacher for you will help you see that yoga isn’t about perfecting poses, but about living in the body you have right now.

The right kind of teacher for you will help you find some stillness in the over-scheduled life we all seem to be living these days.

The right kind of teacher for you will help you see the beauty in the world.

The right kind of teacher for you will help you see the beauty in you.

If any of this sounds good to you, come take a class with me. Right now, I’m on the rotating new teacher schedule at It’s All Yoga in Sacramento. We’ve got a free class on Friday afternoons.

FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) –  sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.

If you are looking for a restorative class in Sacramento, we’ve got one of those too.

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What do you think makes a teacher right for you?