Svenjavyoga

I am extremely excited about co-creating this retreat in Portugal in April! If you are interested and would like some further information, let me know 🏄

Soul in Flow ✨

The different Yoga & Surf Retreat!

We want to offer you a different perspective on how you approach surfing where we put mindfulness and your intuitive connection to the sea above pure focus on performance! With this retreat you will find a balance to our performance and goal oriented lives.

Domi and I have been creating a one week retreat, where the focus is on creating flow for your whole being and where ease, mindfulness and connection are our guiding qualities for our Surf & Yoga Sessions!

If you would like to to join us and our private cook ( ) in Portugal, here are some more details:

🏠Private Villa with Pool (max 8 guests) in Sagres, Portland
🗓️ 7.-13. April
🧘 2 daily Yoga & Breathwork Classes with Svenja
🏄 5 Surf Lessons with
🌯 Vegetarian Brunch, Midday Snacks & Dinner by

If you would like more information DM me or comment RETREAT below! 🤍

We can’t wait to create magic with you ✨

About Being All of You!

Don’t we all know this feeling from time to time, that we look “too this” or have “too much/too little of that”?

This is a little reminder that we all have this at some point and isn’t it actually a waste of energy spending more than a couple of minutes (just to acknowledge and let it pass) following those self criticising thoughts?

Living with uncertainty

The way my bus looks just as messy as my hair in this picture, is the perfect representation of life right now 🙃

A lot of doors are somewhat open, but none wide enough to be sure I will be able to walk through. There is quite some uncertainty which one I might be able to push open and which ones will close soon.

At the moment it’s a question of prioritising where to focus my energy, based on what gives me the most sense of purpose, while generating sufficient income to keep spinning, to keep being creative and to keep building the life I can very clearly see for myself now. But this vision not being a clear job description, but rather an embodiment of values and aspects of life that are essential to me.

A while back, not knowing what I will be doing in 6 months time would have caused me quite a bit of anxiety. Nowadays it’s more a mix of excitement and freedom. But it was a process, involving a little existential crisis, quite a lot of anxiety and definitely a few therapeutic bars of chocolate. 🍫

And it’s still not always easy, but I have learned to trust the process, to trust my intuition and most importantly to trust myself to know what is truly right for me.

I believe uncertainty is easier to navigate, if we find trust into and surrender to what is surrounding us (call it universe, call it fate, call it god or just the parts of our lives we won’t be able to control, no matter how hard we try), while also believing in the intuition and connection to self that we carry within and that allows us to take the decisions that are right for us.

Meditation and breathwork have helped me big time to get to this point. To find this connection to myself beyond all the beautiful and sometimes overwhelming noise and voices around us.

A little inquiry: How do you feel when navigating uncertainty? What might bring you a bit more easy, a little bit more trust in yourself?

Let’s talk about self image - the edition that goes beyond body, but is intimately connected...

Sometimes it’s so difficult for us to stop and acknowledge what we have achieved for ourselves. Especially as there is nearly always this voice that points out what we could have done better or that guides us straight towards the next goal without pausing - negative self talk. And when I am talking about achievements, I don’t limit it to success on the job or monthly income, but I also mean all those small steps we are taking to be a bit more ourselves, to restructure our lives in a way that it serves us, to maybe include this thing called “meditation” into your daily routine or to break a pattern that had been part of your life for a long time.

The people around us are often so much better in recognising those achievements (regardless of which nature) than we are ourselves - but shouldn’t we be our own best cheerleader?

And maybe achievement is not the right word after all...as we want to celebrate the process... how every moment of every day, we are doing our very best. And isn’t this something to acknowledge and give ourselves some credit for?

So maybe ask yourself how would a person close to you describe you, what qualities and what accomplishments would they describe, when asked about you?

Let’s talk about our self image - the body edition.

A while back, every photo shooting was quite daunting for me. Not being ok with how my body looked made me very uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Whenever I would see a picture of me, which might have shown a bit of belly fat (📷2), some (from my perspective) too big belly, hips or thighs (📷3&4); I would cringe and unconsciously my sense of self-worth would crumble. (Probably when you look at those pictures you don’t see at all what I see - the “beauty” of a problematic body image)

Amongst other things, what really helped me to improve how I would see my body, was to be very selective regarding whom I would follow on Instagram. If we are aware of it or not - what we see in our news feed, is what creates part of our reality and what we understand as “norm”.

So instead of following accounts that promote a healthy lifestyle, but who in reality are mainly posting edited pictures of how they like to be seen (in accordance with what society makes us believe to be beautiful), I consciously started to exclusively follow accounts that promote either a variety of different body types or that hardly show any pictures of themselves at all. Just so that I would not create a very unrealistic reality on physical appearances in my IG feed.

Maybe there is an opportunity for you as well to check in with yourself when you see content of other accounts on Instagram:
✨does it inform or entertain you and make you overall feel ok?
✨or does it make you feel anxious, nervous, like you are not good enough?

In our current world it’s not that easy to not use any Social media at all, but there is an opportunity to try to use it in a way that serves, instead of harms you.

Svenjavyoga is now on WhatsApp.

Svenjavyoga updated their phone number.

Spots are slowly filling up for the Yoga Retreat in September ✨

Before moving into the colder and darker season of the year, take this opportunity to recharge on all levels.

There will be
✨two daily yoga classes
✨daily meditation & breath-work
✨small workshops to dive deeper into the practice
✨a little surprise that will allow us to see ourselves through a different lense
✨delicious healthy food by &
✨free afternoons to explore the village, head to the beach, chill at the pool or take a surf lesson

If you would like to join or if you have any questions, please reach out 💌

I am incredibly excited and I am looking forward to see you in Fuerteventura soon! 🤍

Finding lightness even when life gets tough.

I always remind myself that everything that is happening around me is my story I am creating. It’s this storm that comes and eventually goes - never being permanent.

In the midst of Self employment and uncertainty about the future, it’s even more crucial to step back into the connection with self, to find this moments without running thoughts, without worrying about the future, without wondering about what you could have done differently in the past.

Situations like this will come up again and again in life. It’s about how we navigate them, and how we can take care of ourselves, making our mental wellbeing the priority.

For me it’s turning to my practices. Sometimes it’s an Asana practice, sometimes it’s some breath-work, sometimes a meditation or a run.

Tuning into the energy and following what is required to ground and to connect. Being present in my body, being present for myself.

„The way we see the world, depends on who we are.“ - Georg Feuerstein

Not two people will see the exact same things when looking at this picture - maybe they will be perceiving completely different atmospheres. Not two people will share the exact same memory of a conversation they just had. No one else will understand a painting or a song in the exact same way as I do. We all perceive reality differently and based on previous experiences and environments.

But isn’t exactly this where the beauty lies? Where inspiration can be found? In this exchange with others - who bring different perspectives from different backgrounds and ways of life - we can expand our own horizons, we can work on each other’s understanding and maybe learn to agree on disagreeing and being ok with it.

While society seems to be more and more divided, I am asking myself if maybe there is this opportunity for each of us individually to sometimes listen a bit more with a bit less judgement and a bit more compassion and openness - as we are all for a big part the results of our environments.

Me doing what I love 💕

Life can get busy and the first thing we then drop are often our self care practices - very much talking from experience 🙄

But regardless of how busy my day is, if I frequently take some time to connect to myself and create space in my mind and body, I get so much more out of the rest of my days. Not only in terms of productivity, but also in present moments I am consciously experiencing and the connections I build with my environment.

If you have a busy week ahead or you just want to take the opportunity to share your practice with our lovely group of yogis, join us for one of our classes in the coming week.

Swipe left to see the schedule 📆

DM me to book or if you have any questions ✨

Thanks .bennoehr for the sneaky shot 😉🙏

@ Fuerteventura, Canarias, Spain

Sometimes we need to dive deep to find what we need inside 🌊

Although we sometimes get carried away or worn out by the things that are happening around us, there is always this place inside each of us that we can retreat to, to find stillness and clarity. A clarity that helps us to move forward with a sense of integrity and purpose.

Always know that all wisdom and strength you need and is already inside of you - we just need to make time to connect ✨

~Weekly Schedule 🧘
If you would like to practice with me this week - swipe 👈 for class times.

@ Fuerteventura, Canarias, Spain

Sometimes when life gets heavy get some vitamin sea...

What I love about this island is that no matter what happens you can always take a little break and disappear to those magical remote places. Just for a couple of hours or maybe for a couple of nights. Places that allow you to recharge and process. Places to escape to, to slow down. And what comes in handy is that they always have the sea close by 🌊🙃

Where is this place for you?
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Thank you for this sneaky one .travel.surf 💕

This is me looking into the future bright eyed and bushy tailed!

My little (ad)venture is slowly taking shape - more on what to come veeery soon... ✨

👉swipe left to see next week’s yoga schedule

💌Shoot me a PM if you would like to join either of the classes or if you have any questions!
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Thank you .travel.surf for capturing me in one if my very happy places!

@ El Cotillo

~ Mindfulness & Surfing ~

From the moment you are in the water you are present with your whole being. You have no capacity for thoughts that pull your attention away. Surfing requires all of your senses:
-You keep your eyes open, watching for waves slowly forming on the horizon
-You feel the wind and the current, that will push you to or from the peak
-You smell the deep sea beneath you
-You hear the waves breaking, water moving

And all of this in most cases make surfers also more mindful of their environment, of the nature that surrounds them - a deep appreciation of its vulnerable complexity and beauty 🌈

But can we extend this practice even further:
✨Taking a few mindful moments, breathing when watching the sea before entering the water.
✨Taking a pleasure break when in the water taking everything in that your senses are receiving
✨Sitting down for a moment after your surf, noticing how your body feels in the very moment - energised, tired, at ease, tense, ...

These little practices can sometimes make the difference to integrate mindfulness even more into our daily lives.

And I personally absolutely love my mindful rides on this absolute beauty of a longboard by


@ Fuerteventura, Canarias, Spain

Personal lesson of the week🌈
~Perception~

We all have our own truths, our very individual ways to see the world and the people around us and the stories we are telling ourselves. This is natural, this is beautiful, but it can sometimes be limiting if we get stuck - not keeping an open mind for views and perspectives from people and cultures around us.

Or when we assume... ..how others are feeling. ..why others are acting in a certain way. ..based on our past experiences rather than allowing for a complex and different inner world of others.

✨Sometimes it’s good to pause, take a step back and get clarity on what is actually in front of you and what is just a construct in your mind based on your very personal past experiences.
✨And it’s alway good to take time to connect with yourself, to know what our own truth is, who we are, without getting carried away by other people’s experiences and perspectives.

⚖️It’s a balance between staying open while deeply inside staying connected with the core of who you are.

📸 after a surf/no surf beach day 🏄‍♀️

When was the last time you took a break? When was the last time you allowed yourself to exclusively be and not do?

For many of us even resting needs to be somehow productive. I am catching myself again and again how I try to sneak doing into my being, into my rest.

Often it’s easier to keep moving and to stay busy, than to find stillness. And being busy doesn’t need to feel bad or stressful in the moment, but over time it can start to become too much, if we don’t create space for ourselves to move into our parasympathetic nervous system, to rest and to digest - physically as well as emotionally.

I always get my little physical wake-up calls if I haven’t given myself enough time to rest - back pain, old inflammations flaring up, ...

Not everyone gets physical signs in this way, but maybe something else is present? As soon as I then start listening to how tired I actually am and start resting, I notice a shift in my physical as well as mental well-being:
~I am more confident, more rested within myself
~I am clearer in what I actually want
~Tension in my body slowly starts shifting
~Flare ups are slowly reducing

For some rest is just sleeping a bit longer, it might be sitting by the sea, it might be an extended daytime nap without any later commitments. Become curious about where you find your place of deep rest.

Optional inquiries to sit with and act upon 🙃:
When will be the next time you are going to take a break? When today you allowed yourself to exclusively be and not do?

So nah und doch so fern... 🤣

Great experience first time surfing a very new spot with absolutely beautiful waves - can’t wait until my skills can actually do them justice ✨

Thank you for a great session!


@ Fuerteventura, Canarias, Spain

Weekend fun surf with the best .travel.surf!

Still wobbly, always learning, but also always enjoying...

📸

@ Fuerteventura, Canarias, Spain

When working with clients, Balance Coaching is an extremely powerful tool, to shift perspectives and to approach situations and problems from a different angle.

It is a „muscle“ we can train to help us become unstuck and to find new and creative perspectives to replace old ones that are not serving us anymore. Perspectives that are informed by past experiences are not always beneficial in the present moment.

Therefore, working on gaining new perspectives that resonate with us, can improve how we approach problems or specific situations. Get creative with perspectives and imagine yourself being a different person or a specific object and how your problem looks like from this new, chosen perspective. Even if something „silly“ comes up, it might give you new ideas and lead you to a resonant and enabling perspective.

Maybe ask yourself which perspective is worth rewriting?

📸 .travel.surf
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~Finding Your Path~

I recently started to put a website together and part of it is the obvious „About“ page. While starting to put „My Journey“ into writing I realised how much has changed over the last years and what an incredible journey it has been.

A while a while back I was stuck on a path that probably looked desirable or „successful“ from the outside, I didn’t feel fulfilled on the inside.

Today I am extremely grateful that I found therapy, that I found yoga and that I found coaching. All of it combined helped me to find a path that feels just right and like mine to walk. This doesn’t mean that it’s always easy, but there is this deep sense of knowing that where I am right now is exactly where I am supposed to be!

This path will look very different for each single one of us. Some people are aware of what fulfils them since childhood, but for some of us it’s a process and a journey of self discovery to get to this place. And it’s not a matter of „once found you arrived“, but rather an ongoing conversation with oneself - creating space to keep reconnecting and staying connected with who we are beyond the believes we carry and external expectations.

Which path are you on and is it your path to walk? 🥾
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Coaching is NOT Therapy!

This is extremely important to me. Having done therapy as well as being coached, I can say from my own experience how different they are and how they are under no circumstances interchangeable. They have very different impacts and purposes, but both can add enormous value to your life, if done with the right intention and at the right time.

While I am a coach myself, I am also a huge advocate for therapy, having gone through and experienced the benefits of working with a therapist first hand myself. Unfortunately therapy is something that is still stigmatised in our society and from experience with people close to me, I know that many are avoiding seeking help from professionals for too long, due to shame and the false believes that you are weak and you need to be really “broken” if you sign up for professional help.

But signing up for therapy and seeking professional help if you are struggling with your mental health or past traumas in any shape of form is the right thing to do. The best decision I have ever made was when I started therapy a couple of years back!

Coaching on the other hand is a from of connecting with what is here now, to create the future we desire. It is about getting to know ourselves better, getting to know our values, our life purpose and how to connect with them. The coaching model I follow is based on the assumption that every coachee is “naturally creative, resourceful and whole”, and by this you do have all the wisdom inside of you that you need to take decisions that serve you. I believe this is an absolutely beautiful baseline to coach from, but at some points in our lives this might not feel true to us or we know that what happened in the past is something we should explore further. If this is the case, seeking support from a mental health professional is probably the right option at that particular time.

We all are part of the society that stigmatises therapy and therefore we all can do our small share to normalise mental health support. Maybe start by asking yourself what are your thoughts? And be honest-our unconscious bias can sometimes be very unconscious ;)

Continued in comments...

I am extremely grateful for all the inspiring women in my life ✨

All of them strong and fierce in their very unique and beautiful way! They are always supportive, they can challenge me at times, they inspire me to grow and we always lift each other up 💫

They take me into waves that put me completely out of my comfort zone ...
They are running their own successful businesses ...
They kick ass when it comes to managing families through a lockdown...
They create a safe space for open and honest conversations and connection...
They make self care and pleasure an integral part of their lives and hold others accountable to it...
They dare to think big and follow their dreams...
..and so much more!

And they are creating the tribe, the connection and the inspiration that is so incredibly valuable to me 🌈

What are you grateful for today?
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For anyone who is currently in Fuerteventura and would like to join me for a sunset yoga class...

OR

To all the tight shoulder, I feel my lower back, I could do with a bit more core strength, but I really don’t want to warm up surfers out there (can’t distance myself from it😇) ...

Join me next week for a Strong Hatha Flow on Monday or a Gentle Flow & Yin class on Thursday at the Surf Villa.

Depending on what you are looking for, you can either work on strength and mobility in Mondays class or soothe your nervous system while creating space in your body on Thursday.

If you are interested or have any questions, please reach out! 💌
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@ Fuerteventura, Canarias, Spain

🌪Before my first coaching session, I had no idea what to expect. Having done therapy before, and really valuing the impact it had on my live, I was rather sceptical that coaching could actually show me anything I hadn’t already worked on before. But coaching is NOT therapy - it focuses on the now to consciously create your future!

⚡️Coaching with commitment from coach and coachee can be an extremely powerful outlet to help the coachee get “unstuck” in areas where he or she might feel like running in a hamster wheel, to create the future the coachee truly desires. This can be related to work or personal life, this can be a very immediate situation or a long term decision…

✨What I especially love about the co-active way of coaching, is that the whole person is included. Therefore, every decision that will be made, any action taken as the outcome of a coaching session, comes from a place of integrity, from a place of resonance with body and mind. How often are we just doing, moving forward, keeping the hamster wheel spinning… Never stopping for a moment, to connect with ourselves and then create from a place of deep connection.

🌈 I did definitely feel stuck in a hamster wheel before starting my coaching journey and I truly believe that having someone asking powerful questions to support you in finding your own answers, your own truth and your own path, is something incredibly empowering and liberating.

✉️ If you have any questions about coaching, or you are curious to find out more, just shoot me a DM.