Konstanze

Lineage and Teachers

I started practicing yoga on a regular basis in 2003. I was introduced to the Ashtanga method by my first teachers, Peter Greve and Nicole Verheyden with whom, in 2011, I did a 2,5 yrs teacher training, encompassing 1500hrs.

 

In 2009, right after completing my academic studies with a Master degree in Western Philosophy, I met my root teacher Dena Kingsberg. Dena is one of the few certified women in the Ashtanga world. She practiced under her teacher Sri K. Pattabhi Jois – co-founder of the method of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga – for many years.

 

Pattabhi Jois himself was a disciple of the early Sri T. Krishnamacharya who is attributed being the “father of modern Yoga” – a vast spectrum of what we know of yoga in today’s world stems from him.

 

In 2016, I finished a 2000hrs, three-year in-depth training with Dena in her Motherland Australia. During this time, I finished Third Series and started out on Fourth.

 

On the onsets of my second pregnancy, in 2019, I traced the line of Krishnamacharya’s teachings further down – and, apparently, was ready to meet my teachers for the next years and decades to come, A.G Mohan and Indra Mohan.
For up to two decades, A.G and Indra Mohan were close disciples of the late Krishnamacharya. I currently pursue in-depth studies of Yoga Therapy, Yoga Philosophy and of the manifold subtler practices of Yoga with the Mohan family.

 

Their influence as well as the requirements of family-life with young children have changed my approach and understanding of the practice of yoga profoundly.

Teaching

One of Krishnamacharya’s key principles was: Adapt the yoga to the student.

 

Over the years and with experience, this principle has become an intrinsic part of how I approach my role as a teacher. With precision and care I embark on the journey of the Ashtanga practice with a student that is ready. If, however, the standardised format of the Ashtanga Series doesn’t meet the requirements of a student yet, I skilfully individualise the practice according to the students needs and capacities.

 

And yet, in whatever way we might approach those postures in class, the steady, peaceful, underlying tone of my teaching is to convey that they aren’t but the external framework. The poses aren’t but our humble means of getting in touch with the richness that the Yoga has to offer. The essence of Yoga is Self-transformation. Accompanying my students on that inner journey through genuine connection, interest and guidance is the source of my work.