Nataraja Yoga

Is yoga really “more than asana”…? 🧘🏻‍♀️

What does this mean?

Meditation
Chanting mantra
Finding your flow….?

💫 It means all of these things 💫

But even WITHIN asana practice, yoga is so much more than making shapes with your body

Here’s why:

The Physiology:
❤️ Cardiovascular system
🫁 Respiratory system
⚛️ Endocrine system
🫧 Lymphatic system
👀 Proprioceptive system
🦄 Nervous system

In order to remain healthy and fully functional, we don’t just need to use our muscles.

We need to use all of these. And using them fully equates to FLEXIBILITY.

Our bodies are so much more than muscle and bone, and the external aesthetic often obsessed over these days.

⏭️ Our bodies function properly because of a bunch of systems on the inside, which we never really think about.

⏭️ When we move our bodies in yoga asana, the poses are often not just about using our strength and increasing our heart rate through a high-power cardio class, but building resilience in these internal systems.
> The ability to breathe properly under pressure.
> Using our eyes and ears in order to understand where we are in a room, in a situation.
> Moving our spine so that out lymphatic system detoxifies the body effectively.
> Testing ourselves so that we can burn off or stimulate excess or deficient hormones from our endocrine system; adrenaline, cortisol, seratonin - the things which add to stress or depression.
> And, with all of this, creating an ADAPTABLE nervous system. Having a nervous system which is flexible, resilient, adaptable, is much better than being “regulated” - in my view, regulation means stuck, controlled, that’s not what we want, we need to know how to handle stress.

Life throws things at us which may “dysregulate” our systems, physically and emotionally. Being able to handle life, to be resilient and able to adapt, is key to remaining balanced. And that notion of balance can shift and change depending on where we are and what we do and who we are surrounded with.

So… Yoga, creates adaptability, flexibility, resilience, strength, and the things we need to handle LIFE.

Time for some basics.

Things that have made me smile lately.
🍵 🧘🏻‍♀️ 🌲 🐈 ❤️

And memes…. 🎭

Isn’t the idea of retreating that we GET AWAY from things that push us to strive and compare and force…?

That we WITHDRAW, move back, find secluded places to REST…?

Sanctuary Retreat is literally the living dictionary definition of RETREAT.

That’s why I don’t have endless photos of what we do.

It’s an experience.

Not a content creation weekend.

Of course you wanna have a nice time, it has to be COSY. Our farmhouse is gorgeous. And does make some s3xy meals….

If one wants to follow the real guidelines of yoga - Pratyahara, Dhāraṇā, Svādhyāya, Santosha - one doesn’t need to be photographed throughout.

This is a weekend to deepen your practice, not in asana but in relationship to YOURSELF, and your relationship to nature. Full NOURISHMENT in all ways.

We’re almost off-grid, we practice outdoors, we eat alongside the peacock, we go wild swimming and tree-hugging. And we don’t care whether our joggers match our hoodie.

It’s simple a hygge and friendly weekend of completely chilling out and enjoying yourself without any constraints…

If this resonates with you, and you want to grasp THE ART OF BALANCE, join us for this fully sense-soothing weekend in the Swedish forest.

* 1-4 October 2026
* 1.5 hours from Copenhagen.
* 3x meals a day.
* 3x practices a day.
* Sauna, tub, nature, seclusion…

The info is all up on my profile ❤️

Really - the clue is in the name.

What is an Advanced class?

This question has come up between a few colleagues recently. I’m feeling a bit of a backlash to stand up for yoga practice amongst an industry that’s being flooded with fitness. Because sadly / somehow, yoga has been pushed into the same sector as fitness. Should it be, or should it not be….? That’s a bigger discussion.

But here we are:

Are we talking about being able to hold a headstand for ten breaths, or even twenty?
Do some crazy arm balance transitions and jump back to Chaturanga after a chin-stand?

A lot of people these days think that an advanced class means doing more crazy things with their body - which is advanced performance skills and acrobatics, but not advanced yoga.

Asana is not all there is to yoga.
And it’s starting to grate on me continually having to explain this….

What is happening with the rest of your body and your yoga, amongst all of the high energy movements and poses?
Are you breathing?
Are you focusing?
Are you regulating and observing?
What part of your psyche is developing?

There’s a considerable a difference between ADVANCED and ADVANCING.

Advanced means a fixed and completed state of being.

Advancing means a continually moving and changing force.

Yoga is not a thing to complete. One does not complete yoga.

Yoga is a continually moving part of life and you are a continually changing being.

An advanced class could be one which becomes more complex not in its approach to fast-paced asana and performance, but to other aspects of yoga. It could offer more insights into the Sutras or other texts, in its offering of meditation, pratyahara, pranayama, and so on.

In a world where people favour pushing boundaries and going wild to continuously achieve, how about achieving something really crazy…?

Like finding the ability to sit still and quiet for ten whole minutes…

Isn’t that what the Sages wrote, thousands of years ago…..? 🫣

🌸 WHAT DO YOU THINK….?? 🌸

Feel free to comment / rant / discuss / disagree ⬇️