... and that sometimes you have to let things “develop quietly on their own”.
An interview with our yoga instructor Claudia
Fabian: Dear Claudia, you’ve been with us at the StrandGut Resort for over 3 years now. How did you get into yoga back then? And what inspires you so much about it?
Claudia: I first came into contact with yoga about 20 years ago. At that time, a lot was changing around me and in my life. I was struggling with some conflicts and looking for something to draw strength from. That’s how I found yoga and I quickly realised that it was good for me. I began to gradually gain more clarity and to go through everyday life more often with a healthy serenity – which can definitely also be challenging on all levels. But that’s what yoga teaches me every day.
Fabian: What happened next for you?
Claudia: Having discovered yoga for myself, I first completed classical hatha yoga training in my home town of Essen. Afterwards, my path led me further to India to the origin of yoga, where I spent two years at the Mysore Academy of Yoga. That time was just totally inspiring for me. Mysore is also considered one of the birthplaces of yoga and you could really feel that everywhere. I am still in very close contact with some of the people I met there. For example, with my yoga instructor Sri Yogacharya Ramesh Kumar, who I’m extremely grateful to.
One of my key experiences was in 2008 when I was riding a scooter up Chamundi Hill, one of the eight sacred hills in South India. At that time, I didn’t even know where my journey was going, I was still pretty much at the beginning of my training in India. I was aware of the place from stories and from some videos, because almost all the great yoga masters have practised yoga asana on this hill. It was a very impressive experience when I reached the top of the hill, I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling. Earlier this year, 13 years later, my godson Tharun, who is now grown up, video called me, taking me up the hill once again. Now that yoga is such an integral part of my life, it was even more impressive and I was overcome with memories of back then. It really pays to do what you love and what you are passionate about, because you will do it well. Even if it takes a little longer. A poem by Rainer Maria Rilke comes to mind: “Leave judgement to your own quiet, undisturbed development, which like all progress must come from deep within and cannot be forced or hastened.”