{"id":669,"date":"2015-10-01T17:09:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T15:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/?p=669"},"modified":"2015-10-01T17:54:25","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T15:54:25","slug":"669","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/?p=669","title":{"rendered":"Yoga for the soul"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><i>Yoga for the soul <\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I got into kundalini yoga about a year ago. Before then, I had a brief flirt with hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga and an on-going affair with bikram. Each of these styles taught me something different about my body, my mind, and their limits. But somehow, none of these styles were cutting it fully for me. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">About kundalini yoga I did not know much, except that there were white turbans involved, snakes rolled up in bottom of one&#8217;s spine, and lots of devotional singing. Crazy, I thought. Definitely not my cup of tea. The stars had aligned differently, and last October I walked into a kundalini yoga studio in Vienna\/Austria. Skeptical at first, I signed up for an autumn course with Aimee, ready to observe how this style would affect me. From the beginning, I was happy to see that the teacher was not moving things around with force and commands &#8211; something that I grew resistant to over time. Instead, the encouragement to explore our boundaries seemed to come with a subtle, undescribable flow of energy among the surrounding yogis. Some <i>kriyas<\/i> (sets of dynamic exercises accompanied by breath work and chanting) were easy and short, others were directly challenging our resistance and barriers within. I used to leave the studio feeling energized, radiant and light; this feeling would stay with me for a few days after. Often, I caught myself automatically repeating the <i>kriya<\/i> of the week at home or humming the closing mantra. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">There was no doubt that this yoga style and teacher were a bit different from what I experienced before. It was not just that we were tuning in with <i>ong namo guru dev namo<\/i> at the beginning of the class, it was also that the teacher was tuning in to us, our current states of being, as well as the current teachings of our surroundings. Based on this positive experience, I was thrilled to visit Aimee&#8217;s new yoga studio in Liguria\/Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Bild&#8221; src=&#8221;http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/header2.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; animation=&#8221;left&#8221; sticky=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;left&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; \/][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The place itself looked magical. <strong>Borgomaro<\/strong> is imbued with pristine beauty, providing all one can ask from a meditative retreat: mountains, a glowing river with waterfalls, and a charming medieval village center. The sea is just few minutes driving. I felt that this new setting, far away from the hassle of big city and civilization stress, allows one to take yoga one step further.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Deep immersion to the surroundings and communication with the elements was a part of this. Without struggle, without any <i>conscious<\/i> work, I found my awareness getting subtle enough to receive information from nature. As the old zen saying says,<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;Before Zen, mountains were mountains and trees were trees.<br \/>\n<\/span>During Zen, mountains were thrones of the spirits and trees were the voices of wisdom.<br \/>\nAfter Zen, mountains were mountains and trees were trees.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Bild&#8221; src=&#8221;http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMAG1813.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; animation=&#8221;left&#8221; sticky=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;left&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; \/][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Coming to <em>Yoga Liguria<\/em> and savoring each moment of being put me closer to the true identity of who I was. The alchemy of this, for me, was the harmonious combination of this magical place and the no pressure, no bullsh*t way the yoga teaching was delivered. This is not to say that the yoga sessions were not challenging. I broke down in the middle of a longevity <i>kriya<\/i> on the seashore and dealt with residual pain leaving my body all three days. When I left, though, I felt reborn: inspired, creative and light about my life.<br \/>\n____<br \/>\nText \u00a9\u00a0Karla Gabbiani Koutkova (Social Scientist, Researcher, Writer)<br \/>\n<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Fotos \u00a9 <\/span><a style=\"line-height: 1.5;\" href=\"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/?page_id=105\" target=\"_blank\">Aim\u00e9e Denkmann<\/a><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0(yogaliguria.com)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Bild&#8221; src=&#8221;http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/10712435_734353079953375_3638356463681811524_o.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; animation=&#8221;left&#8221; sticky=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;left&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; \/][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wanna come for a short regenerative retreat? There is a variety of options. Either you come just for Yoursoul, or also with your family, your partner, friends and\/or in a small group. Get in <a href=\"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/?page_id=68\" target=\"_blank\">contact<\/a> with us for more detailed information. Sat Nam &lt;3<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/yogaliguria\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;] Yoga for the soul I got into kundalini yoga about a year ago. Before then, I had a brief flirt with hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga and an on-going affair with bikram. Each of these styles taught me something different about my body, my mind, and their limits. But [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lovescope-journal-liguria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=669"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":688,"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions\/688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yogaliguria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}