The founder of EkhartYoga.com talks about running Europe’s most popular yoga-streaming site usually wake up early around 7 am, make myself a cup of warm wafer and have a special moment with my dog, Stip. He’s the sweetest thing early in the morning and it always puts me in the right mood for the day. When my husband gets up, we’ll meditate together: either a guided meditation or doing our own thing. If I feel quite calm, I’ll just sit with what is and leave a space for breathing and deepening the sense of being. But if I have a busy mind, I might do a clearing meditation. The clearing meditation is the basis of my philosophy for daily life – I check in and sit with whatever is there; I don’t distract myself from if.
‘I don’t always have breakfast – I listen to my body and only have something if my body wakes up really hungry, which if usually doesn’t. I have a sensitivity to gluten, but if I have a long break between eating, say from 8pm to noon the following day, my body has time to clear everything, the sensitivity doesn’t show up and I can eat gluten again. Of course, Esther starts the day with a heart-opening moment with her dog Stip love to, and then that’s sorted.
Europe’s Most Popular Yoga-Streaming Site Photo Gallery
Ekhart Yoga is a team effort
WINDING DOWN
‘It I haven’t done a movement yoga practice in the morning, I’ll do it at the end of the afternoon, as it’s a good way to bring me back up if I’m feeling fired. Although I love the stronger practices, my mind can be quite these things are very personal, but it works for me. However, if I’m filming a new yoga class for the website, I will have breakfast as I need sustained ‘Around 12 o’clock, we all sit together for lunch and chat about things other than work. We set out a active, and I’ve learned that strong practices aggravate my ego. This is not the right practice for the person I’m trying to be – the energy. I’ll soak chia, hemp, linseeds and goji berries in a plant-based milk, then top it up with fresh fruit.’
BEING THERE
‘Yoga and meditation have given me so much. That’s the reason I set up Ekhart Yoga – to share that with as many people as possible. The site offers 10- to 90-minute-long yoga sessions from a wide range of basic lunch together so everyone can help themselves and we make sure we all take a proper break away from our desks. At some point in the day, I’ll also take Stip for a walk.
‘We’ve recently relaunched the EkhartYoga.com website and we’re also launching something a little best version of myself – so I do slow and mindful flows and work with lots of grounding and standing poses.
‘In the evening, I’ll cook vegetables with lentils, tofu or chia seeds, but only a little rice or pasta. We sometimes go to the forest for a walk with the dog, or I might read about meditation or yoga or anatomy. Yoga has teachers offering different styles and areas of focus, along with 30-day yoga challenges, mindfulness programmes and meditations.
WORDS: Eve Boggenpoel
‘Once I get to the office, we usually do a little huddle first thing, where we give each other some good news and decide the focus for the day. If I’m not filming classes myself, my job is to be there for everyone who needs me. I want our teachers to do what they love and are good at, otherwise they won’t give their best. Sometimes students ask for specific things, such as a class on IBS, so I’ll send out an email to a few teachers and ask who has the knowledge and the inspiration to do that. There’s always someone who says they’d ‘I like to teach people how to listen to and understand the language of the body.’
‘Yoga has made my life so much easier. It’s given me such peace’ different in January called Find your Yoga Rhythm. This is where we invite people to experiment with different yoga practices at different times of the day, to help them discover what works best for their system. I like to teach people how to listen to and understand the language of the body. People can find out how to join the Find Your Yoga Rhythm programme through our website or on Facebook and Instagram.’ made my life much easier because I’m able to step back and not identify with situations that I’m in. It’s given me so much peace.’
ESTHER’S TIPS TO DEEPEN YOUR YOGA PRACTICE
+ ‘The pose is there to suit your body, not the other way around.’
+ ‘Listen to your body first, then listen to your teacher.’
+ ‘If you feel out of balance, ask yourself if there are any changes you could make. For example, doing your strong morning routine later in the day. Find what best suits your body.’
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