YogaFest, 6 &7 June 2015 at Houthavens Amsterdam
5 ELEMENTS, Flowing with nature by Noëlle Sterk
I feel honoured to share two yogaclasses at YogaFest Amsterdam, the first edition of a sparkling yoga festival in Houthavens, Amsterdam. Personally I am not a “asana-junkie”, I love to do yoga and love to teach “asana” but yoga has so much more to offer. In my life, yoga is about tuning into nature, finding my natural balance and living a natural lifestyle. Which can be challenging in an urban environment! Something to consider while doing your asana practise, is “where am I”. What time of the year, which phase of the moon, what time of the day and how does my body feel at this very moment. And as a woman: where am I in my moon cycle? Honouring these aspects can create a truly healthy yoga practise. True has nothing to do with performance; showing what you are capable of while wearing your coolest outfits. It is about truly listening to what your body needs and embrace that. The 5ELEMENTS need to be in balance at all times so FIRE+HEAT+ACTION does not always make sense. Neither does EARTH+SLOW+LAZY.
So, 6&7 June, we are in early Summer, the FIRE element is getting to its peak. I’ll be teaching in late afternoon, when the FIRE element is just about to cool down and the heart and small intestine gently pass their duty to the kidney’s and bladder. We are entering the WATER element here. We are in waxing crescent moon; the upward, rising energy is slowly calming down. So I could present a hot, steamy FIRE practise, but it is most likely that your bodies love to be challenged but reserve some energy for later. Therefore I will present a slow flow 5ELEMENTS class designed by the element WATER, tapping in to the flowing and fluid qualities of this element and supporting the kidneys and bladder. The movements can be wild but slowing down after; the movements might be slow but by bringing all of your awareness into each part of the movement, it will ground you down. After a full day with many impressions it will bring you right back into your physical centre and mental stability. And last but not least, the classes will be full of fun … with unexpected free flow movements because every river loves to move outside the banks sometimes!
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