Yoga playlist spring is up on my Spotify.
It has been more than a year since we entered the COVID era. These times have taken their toll and it has not always been easy to keep our heads up, especially during the darker seasons. But alas, spring is coming and with it light, energy and – hopefully – a newfound resilience. Stay healthy, vibrant and joyful. Yoga will guide the way.
Just click on the link below and enjoy ♡
I have quite the sweet tooth and really need to hold back on sweets like cakes or cookies to not eat them on a daily basis. However I find that if I bake or produce at home I enjoy eating sweets a lot more since I am in control of the amount of sugar and the quality of ingredients used.
Melt the coconut oil. Mix the amaranth and chia seeds together with the coconut oil, agave nectar and almond butter.
Fill into muffin mold (I prefer the silicone type) and press the mass firmly and evenly into the mold. Cool the bites in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and freeze them for about 15 minutes prior to taking them out of the mold.
Slather the bites with melted chocolate and let them cool down once more.
Yoga playlist autumn is up on my Spotify.
Especially as we enter the darker seasons, take some time to start your practice with meditation and pranayama. Then remove stagnant energies finding your flow in movement and shapes, exploring your bodies` needs and desires. Towards the end of your practice, gently wind down before you allow yourself to rest in a nourishing savasana.
Just click on the link below and enjoy ♡
THIS GROWING LOVE
As soon as I hit the twelve week mark, my nausea started to wear off. By the end of May, my body felt like mine again and all the discomfort had miraculously disappeared.
Sure, there was this growing belly and my thighs, breasts and buttocks became rounder by the day. I actually started showing very early on and throughout the first two trimesters my belly was going to be on the larger side. However I absolutely loved these changes and every inch of my body who did such an amazing job at providing and nurturing our little boy.
By week twelve I had already told everyone about the pregnancy, including my job, due to either coincidence or decision. Anyways there was no hiding my discomfort during the first trimester and I felt more relief communicating my situation than keeping it to myself.
Which meant that as I was now entering this second phase of pregnancy, all I had to do was to relax and enjoy. June was really a perfect time for this. With summer around the corner and my body almost back to its pre-pregnancy levels of activity I started to practice yoga again, went for a swim or dip almost every other day and took up classes like pregnancy yoga and aqua workout. I continued to teach my full schedule, minimising the demonstration part in my classes and instead focusing on giving even clearer cues and assists to my students. As I usually bicycle to my classes, I spend an average 40 minuets per day moving which felt great in my body and mind. As for food, I had come back to my usual eating habits, with no cravings or irregularities whatsoever.
Also, this was the time of the ultrasounds getting more and more exciting as we would see our little boy grow. Yaron didn’t miss one appointment and I love that we got to share this experience. By mid June our little babies` body and head looked entirely human and had lost all its embryo resemblance. To see him, to witness his movements and heartbeat made our connection even stronger. Shortly before going on my summer vacation, we got to see him in a 4D ultrasound and already found a resemblance to Yaron in his features.
In our relationship little rituals had started to grow that deepened the bond between the three of us. There were times of simply touching and caressing my belly, times of speaking to the baby, often as if he already lived with us outside of the womb, times of playing music to him by placing headphones on my belly. These moments during the day were precious and always left me feel nurtured and taken care of, with a deep sense of gratitude. I had started a little journal where I wrote entries on my experiences and feelings and attached the ultrasound pictures. When alone, I loved to sing songs and dance and especially chanting mantras always stirred something and made our little boy move and respond.
I also loved how everyone became so sweet and attentive the moment I started to show. Complete strangers would offer nice words, I would never stay without a seat in the subway and generally everybody would be careful and polite around me. The respect and sense of protection this unborn life brought out in the people around me was a beautiful and unexpected experience.
In my family there is this tradition of going on summer vacations together, even now that most of us siblings are grown up. I pondered whether I should hold on to this ritual one last time and finally decided that yes, I was going on one last family summer vacation before dedicating most of my time to our own little tribe. So by the end of July I left to Southern Spain, where I was going to spend a few weeks with my parents and four siblings. Even though I missed Yaron and felt more vulnerable than usual it was a beautiful time. I will always remember those weeks as a gift to myself and my family, wo got to share the first hand experience of me being pregnant and our little son growing inside of my belly. By the end of the holiday everybody had felt the little guy move and grown a deeper connection. My mum proved to be super intuitive and always felt exactly what we needed, without ever imposing. These were sweet days of slow mornings, outdoor yoga practice, daily swims in the ocean, small hikes, playing games or simply dozing off in the middle of the day. The perfect way to end my second trimester.
I made a new Yoga playlist and its perfect for this summer season just about to end!
Indulge in sweet meditation and pranayama before you gently start to move your body. Explore shapes, play with forms and tune into what your body and mind desire. Be gentle or firm, soft or challenging – there are no rules to movement as long as your body feels safe and your spirit alive.
Just click on the link below and enjoy ♡
Retreat: Finding Stillness
Early Bird Price until August 15 only!
Join me for this wonderful experience in beautiful Mellau, Austria. 4 days of yoga, wellness, relaxation and deliciously healthy food. Your perfect little getaway for a long weekend.
Mellau is located in the Bregenz Forest in the state of Vorarlberg. The rustic village is nestled into a beautiful valley and surrounded by an impressive mountain range – the perfect place to unplug and nurture your body, mind and soul.
We will start our day with an energizing Vinyasa Flow class, where fluidity and alignment merge beautifully into sequences that are at times challenging, yet playful and accessible. During the day you will have time to wind down in the sauna and wellness area, go for a stroll or hike in the breathtaking nature surrounding the hotel or simply enjoy sweet moments of calm. In the evening we will wind down in a gentle Yin Yoga practice that will leave you replenished and grounded.
This retreat will take place from October 10 – 13 in Mellau, Austria and includes 2 yoga classes per day. Accommodation and vegetarian board will be booked separately via the Hotel Bären.
For booking and more information please go to: Yogalife.
READY FOR PREGNANCY
Ever since I can remember I saw myself as a mother and thought I was going to be a young mum. My mum had myself in her early twenties and I being raised surrounded by people under 30 always felt precious to me. Plus, I have four siblings and changed diapers of three of them so being with small children comes naturally to me.
Yet, my twenties passed quickly with travelling and enjoying life to the fullest and having a child was certainly not on my agenda.
When I had just turned 30 I met the man whom I am now married to. Yaron and I started a pretty serious relationship right from the beginning but with him being a Colombian living in the US and me being German we had to sort out our living situation first which took almost five years. After trying different scenarios and home bases we finally decided to settle in Munich two years ago. It was just by the end of 2018 that we started to feel ready for having a baby.
January and February passed and we were still careful around the time of fertility.
Then we decided to visit Yaron`s family and the home he grew up in on a month long trip to Colombia. This experience was special to both of us: I was eager to get to know this part of him and he reconnected to his roots after years of being abroad. It was in Colombia that we payed less attention to my cycle and by the end of the trip Yaron told me: let`s have a baby. What we didn`t know then: I already carried our little baby boy.
I returned from Colombia a few days before him.
Two days after I had come back, somewhere in the back of my mind, I started to wonder about my period. Yet it wasn`t until the fourth day that I did the calculation and realised: I was five days overdue.
Of course, this realisation came on a Sunday where all the shops are closed in Germany and no pregnancy tests easily available. Plus, Yaron was on a family gathering without access to WIFI and talking by the phone was virtually impossible. As Sunday went along I became more and more nervous until I finally gave in and called my mum. I shared my thoughts on possibly being pregnant with her and she did a great job holding my pieces together. When I finally managed to talk to Yaron for a minute we decided to take the test together the next day via Skype and set a time for it.
On Monday I taught a Morning Flow Yoga class and went to visit a friend and her newborn daughter, passing the time until Yaron would be awake in Colombia. It was a very special in between state of being nervous, the feeling of carrying a secret and also excitement about the possibility of being pregnant.
By the time I bought the test I felt a sense of certainty that it would turn out positive.
We connected via Skype and I took Yaron along the whole process: the peeing in the cup, the unpacking of the test, and then: two strong blue lines after less than two seconds. It was true: we were going to be parents.
OH THE CHANGES
It took us both by surprise that we made a baby the very first time it was actually possible – but in the happy, excited way. We were going to be parents! After some time tuning into my feelings and savouring the news and I shared them with my mum and set a coffee date with my dad for the very next day. I felt like I wanted to tell the whole world that our life just changed in a split second and that I somehow loved it already. Yaron told his mum and family too, since they were still together in Colombia and he was going to come home the next day. I set an appointment with my gynaecologist and bought a book on pregnancy and early childhood. There was a whole universe to explore and I felt so ready to dive in.
I had another three days of rejoicing in the news, sharing my secret with a few more of my close ones and reuniting with Yaron before I started to feel … off. The changes in my hormones began to show their effects and changes crept in slowly but surely. An uneasiness in my gut, moments of sleepiness during the day, a hightened sensitivity and zero interest in my regular Yoga practice. By the end of the week, the hormones had a firm grip on me.
Before getting pregnant I disregarded morning sickness as a discomfort, a momentary situation that came up in movies and people talked about. Never would I have imagined the intensity of it. For the entire remaining first Trimester I felt constantly sick. I would wake up in the morning feeling awful, and only eating a salty cracker and drinking 2-3 cups of herbal tea would allow me to leave the bed. Then, I had to eat something, even though everything disgusted me. I would go and teach my classes, and right after coming home I had to eat again, fighting my repugnancy. Afterwards a heavy sleepiness would force me to lie down and sometimes I slept for up to two hours. When I woke from my sleep, I would feel worse than before, paired with a sense of depression about life and things in general that only eating would soften and so the cycle started repeating itself. Plus, I had such a heightened sensitivity to smells that I couldn´t even cook food myself, let alone be around strong smells. Coffee, onions, garlic, perfumes – everything was banned from the house. There were tears at least once per day, mostly over the issue of food and I became extremely mean and unfair towards Yaron in these moments, even though he was a true hero, doing everything and anything for me.
Other changes started to appear too that took some getting used to. I completely lost my yoga practice, and the only time I tried to do some soft morning yoga after a light breakfast I felt terrible. My body was changing and I didn`t know how to live in it yet. Everything felt loose and wide and unstable and moving my body like I used to simply not right. I began to worry about teaching, about loosing my practice, about the effects of pregnancy and having a baby on my profession. It took some time to accept the status quo and stop thinking of everything I should do and instead trusting that everything will unfold without my doing and relaxing into it.
About two weeks after learning about my pregnancy we had the first appointment with my gynaecologist and actually saw the baby as a little dark spot with a heartbeat. A little blip. Our little blip!
This is probably the most exciting news I’ll ever share!
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Our little family of two is growing and we expect a baby boy in December ♡ ♡ ♡
We are beyond delighted, grateful and in awe of this little miracle unfolding.
It has been quite a journey so far… from first nervous guesses on a Sunday with no pregnancy tests available due to stores being closed, to finding out while Yaron was still on a family visit in Colombia, to intense weeks of constant sickness accompanied by emotional rollercoaster rides to a – so far – very calm and content second trimester.
From what I learned, it is lovely to connect to other peoples experiences when the first baby is due so I`ll share our baby stories here in a little more detail for those of you who are interested in following this journey.
Much love from the three of us ♡
Finally this baby has gone online!
Check out my new webpage and let me know what you think ♡
One wouldn’t believe how much work goes into a webpage, even the most simple ones. There’s the texts, the picture material, the general idea for the look you want to create and then of course the design itself – a job I could never do but admire deeply.
There’s still some minor changes and additions in the pipeline but I already love it!
Hello lovelies ♡
Starting on Monday, May 20, I will teaching a weekly open class at the beautiful studio Patrick Broome Yoga Schwabing: Mondays, from 7:30 – 8:30 am. Join me in a gentle morning flow that will leave you feel nourished, at ease and energized for the day ahead.
This class has previously taken place at Patrick Broome Yoga Lehel – so everyone who has joined me there on Monday mornings is more than welcome to transfer to Studio Schwabing with me.
Studio Schwabing is quite the special location since its the oldest of the Broome studios and one of the first Yoga studios ever in Munich. The neighbourhood is also lovely with plenty of cafes and of course the English Garden in walking distance.
I can`t wait to see you there on the mat!
♡ Patrick Broome Schwabing ♡
Schellingstraße 63
80799 München
www.patrickbroome.de
marah nanda yoga 