Irschenberg - Yoga seems rather abstract to many.
Christine Rank from Irschenberg rectifies this in her new book "Bayrisch Yoga" and offers an easy introduction with pleasure.
Ms. Rank, how did you get into yoga yourself?
Very early.
When I grew up in Wattersdorf, it wasn't a digital era.
I was outside a lot on the alpine pastures and in nature.
Even as a teenager, I always enjoyed doing headstands and noticed that then I felt better and more alert.
When I was 17 I met my husband.
He was a hunter and I often went to the hide with him and was able to experience and enjoy the silence in nature with him.
I really got into yoga when I was 21. I was in London and noticed that what I've always done intuitively is yoga.
Back in Bavaria, I did my yoga teacher training.
How did the idea for Bavarian Yoga come about?
I then developed Bavarian Yoga out of traditional yoga with my own wealth of experience and gave courses at the vhs.
At the time it was still quite exotic.
At that time, my husband was even asked whether I was part of a sect.
Then he was able to calm down well by saying: "Well, well, that's a good thing, then do your breathing exercises and get completely cold and give a rest." After all, it was not so easy for me with my fresh temperament fell in love with sitting in silence next to my husband on the high stand for three hours.
He died suddenly in 2019 - I dedicated this book to him with deepest gratitude.
What is the difference between Bavarian yoga and traditional yoga?
There's a huge difference there.
There are so many yoga teachers and I don't want to deny anything to anyone, but Bavarian yoga is about finding an easy start.
It is doable for everyone.
You don't need any equipment either.
I often just do a little Bavarian yoga in between, for example when I go for a walk with my dogs.
In Bavarian Yoga there is no compulsory program and no set sequence of exercises.
It's about doing yoga with joy.
If you don't like one exercise, there are plenty of others.
It was also important to me to find new names for the sometimes abstract terms.
Yoga originally comes from India.
How does that fit into the Bavarian way of life?
Pausing is part of Indian yoga.
The cozy Bavarian style, the closeness to nature and the freedom to live and let live go well with this.
Bavarian Yoga is for everyone, immobile or flexible, young or old, fat or thin.
Is yoga more intense in nature than at home in the living room?
You cant say it like that.
The location is not that important.
It is crucial that you take your time and take a deep breath.
You can do this outside or at home simply with the window open.
Yoga is always new.
You do the same exercise 100 times and it's always different.
Now in the steady time it is actually ideal to go yogging.
Do you have a favorite place for yoga practice?
I would spontaneously say that I keep rediscovering favorite places.
It's so nice to go for a walk, especially now with the snow.
For example, I like to do the dancer on the go.
The ease this exercise conveys is great.
I am always on a voyage of discovery to find new favorite places to go yoga.
Where I also like to do yoga is in the vhs, because I am passionate about teaching and I am happy when people go out happily after the course.
In the book you have also put together series of exercises, for example for mothers, care workers or insomniacs - so there are no more excuses.
Finally, do you have a motivation tip for our readers to keep going, even if some exercise may be difficult at first?
It is important to do yoga regularly, but that also depends on everyday life.
Sometimes I don't do that intensely for two days, but then there is another day when I do yoga very intensively.
Even if I have to wait somewhere, I insert the Fiaß-Hutschn exercise, for example.
My tip would be to make it as easy as possible for yourself.
In the book, the exercises are arranged according to their level of difficulty: blue, red or black slope.
If you do a few exercises every day, you will quickly feel how flexible you are and that Bavarian yoga becomes a need.
So you will ultimately stick with it and feel as smooth as a Bavarian cream.
“Bayrisch Yoga” by Christine Rank has been published by Frischluft-Edition, costs 19.95 euros and is available in local bookshops.
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