Born and raised in Munich Germany, I was always passionate about sports and movement. However, the competitive side of most sports common in German culture did not attract me at all. I was rather interested in learning new skills and improving established ones. I wanted to explore rather the repeat. Discovering small details as well as general principles.
So I chose a very different path at first: audio engineering. It combined scientific curiosity with a broad understanding of physics, engineering skills (electronics, mechanics and signal processing) and even the creative expression of music. It was a great time. Very interesting, and inspiring. But I never seemed to develop a passion for it. Something was missing.
Around 2010 I discovered AcroYoga through Ishine Gape aka barefootyoga.me.
To be honest, at first, I was bit turned off by the Yoga part. The Ohm-ing, and “opening of chakras” and all that. But the acro part was great. And receiving a good Thai-Yoga-massage for the first time was also an amazing experience.
2013 I discovered the world of partner acrobatics (which was, and partially still is, quite different from the world of AcroYoga) and immediately fell in love with it. Like Noel (one of the senior teachers from the Netherlands) wrote nicely in his book: “It was a feeling of finally coming home.” That same year I did the Partneracrobatics.com teacher training and from there on traveled to countless conventions, and festivals every year.
Eventually I also discovered the deep spirituality of Yoga. I opened up to the transformative power behind all the incents, gong bowls and the torture of sitting cross-legged on the floor. I felt how the practice transformed my life in a very positive way.
The fantastic combination of acrobatics, Yoga and bodywork did such a great job in bringing me out of my hyperactive mind, into the body, into sensing, into the here and now. The world came a bit closer. I felt so much more balanced and content. Now I knew what I had missed in the mind-centered, logical world of engineering. I had a full mind but didn’t know about mindfulness. Moving and feeling my body, breathing, sensing, emotions, my connection to the world around me, inside of me and the here and now.
In 2014 I started sharing my passion in weekly classes in Munich as well as on barefootyoga.me retreats and increasingly on Yoga festivals.
Having always been more a shy and introverted person, it was quite challenging in the beginning to suddenly stand (or sit, on the floor) in front of people waiting for me to present them something worth paying for. But somehow it very soon felt natural. It was easy for me to not think about their or my expectations. Just being. Just doing. And the feedback gave me affirmation. It feels got to earn respect and appreciation. Having something valuable to share and hence a direct purpose in society. And of course to get payed as well.
But that’s never what really mattered to me. It is one of the greatest things I have ever experienced to have the honor of facilitating a space where adults of various walks of life rediscover their (sometimes long forgotten) inner child. To see them just play and lough and smile like worries and thoughts about the future or past don’t exist. Just this moment. It is so nice to guide them into that transformative process AcroYoga has blessed me with.
As life progresses I also keep moving on.
Spiritually I discovered that the Indian perspective on the world is very far from “my” reality. I have found teachers who are from a more similar cultural background as me, and are able to guide and support me a lot better on this path. Currently this is especially Christian Meyer.
Movementwise I fell in love with the “movement culture” as introduced by Ido Portal. Exploring movement beyond the focused lens of any specific discipline. Discovering new options and pathways. Raising kinesthetic awareness. Improving coordination, mobility and stability, agility and ability, elegance and efficiency, control and creative expression.
I study biomechanics, functional anatomy, various styles of movement practice, physical exercise and training, postural restoration/improvement, embodiment and mind-body-integration. For dynamic movements the main inspirations are gymnastics, capoeira and contemporary dance. For my subtler body awareness explorations various forms of bodywork (Thai-Yoga-Massage, Cranio-Sacral-Biodynamics), Feldenkrais, somatic movement, PRI, DNS and many techniques derived from Yoga are some of the inspirations.