Liina is originally from Estonia, where she started practicing yoga over 20 years ago. She comes from a business background and her “no pain, no gain” attitude slowly but surely was leading her towards a burn-out in her late 20s. The only constant in her hectic lifestyle was yoga, which gradually was sprouting questions and longings that she had not felt before. In 2007 she took a sabbatical and traveled through India and Asia. By the end of that year, she found herself at a yoga teacher training course in Byron Bay, Australia. She’s never looked back since! She started teaching in 2008 at Byron Yoga Centre, and since then has completed approx. 3000 hours worth of anatomy, fascia, yoga philosophy and meditation trainings. She has been living and teaching in Berlin since 2014, yet is currently sharing her time between Berlin and Italy, where she is building a sustainable off-grid homestead based on permaculture principles.
Liina’s approach to yoga is non-dogmatic, grounded both in the extensive study of various movement and meditation modalities and in her own personal journey. Her classes aim to empower, encourage exploration and offer a safe space to connect more intimately with both – the visible and the invisible, the form and the formless, the mundane and the mystical.
In recent years somatics has become central to her teaching. A somatic approach to yoga can be applied to any style of yoga, as “somatic” is an umbrella term used for a variety of practices that emphasize the felt sense. In short, somatics is about mind-body-nervous system integration and increasing self-awareness through movement. The small, slow, gentle movements are guided and felt from within (rather than emphasizing external alignment) and are aimed at helping to engage the muscles more functionally (restoring the body’s innate wisdom) and at re-learning to relax the muscles (releasing chronic tension patterns). The key factors that define a somatic approach are: moving from within, internal perception and feeling/sensing. A lot of this work is strongly influenced by Moshe Feldenkrais (the Feldenkrais method), Therapeutic Somatics founded by Thomas Hanna, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (Mind Body Centering) and the Alexander Technique. The slow and self-reflective nature of the practice plus the emphasis on safety and learning to move within comfortable ranges makes somatic yoga accessible to those with restricted movement, injury and also to beginners. Yet the detail and nuance that you can learn to access in your body and movement make the practice explorative, fresh and interesting also to any curious long-time practitioner.
Liina blends somatics with yin yoga, flow and restorative yoga for an experience of greater ease, freedom, strength and empowerment that comes from being aligned from the inside out!
slow flow (somatic) – en
“If you win the morning, you win the day.”
A nourishing start to your day with a 45-minute well-rounded practice that you can do from the comfort of your own home. The somatic flow sessions will be a blend of somatics (mind-body integration), gentle flow, meditation and breathwork as a way to build sensory awareness. The slow sliding, gliding and rocking movements of a somatic practice ease you into your body and allow for the shapes to be guided from within. Even though the practice is slow and accessible, it does build strength and stability along with greater freedom of movement and fluidity.
yin yoga – en
Yin is a call to be present with what is, to not rush for solutions, to slow down and drop inward, it is to be with the unknown… surrendered. In a yin yoga practice the simple floor poses, held for a longer pause with curiosity and awareness without forcing or pushing, become containers for self-inquiry and self-regulation. The slowness and stillness of the practice help to cultivate our capacity to meet, be with, make contact, feel and allow what’s arising internally – be it positive, negative or neutral. Most yin sessions also include some slow and gentle somatic movements, which invite you into your felt sense and the feel of the body, whereby subtle signals from the body guide you on “how” and “where” to move.
classes
mo 8.00-8.45 / en/ slow flow (somatic)/ all levels/ online only
fri 8.00-8.45 / en/ slow flow (somatic)/ all levels/ online only