NICOLE OHME

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

Your heart and the law of love
The people we fully engage with become the Bodhi tree of our
awakening. Our actions may be like tiny pebbles drowning in a vast sea. Each one of you unleashes a small wave of effects that affect the entire ocean of life. A person whom we listen to today, whom we
value, blossoms. We all have no idea how important we really are to the whole thing. most of us have not even remotely realized our
interpersonal potential. There is so much more to all of us – so much depth, so much compassion. And so much love.

Why you hear better with your heart
If you want to meet someone from the heart, tune into them – look at them, listen. Ask him how he/she is doing. And then listen to him/her with your heart, that’s the key. Your heart is constantly tuning in to other people’s feelings, perceiving them. When we open our hearts to another person, we gain their trust. We’re all afraid of showing our feelings because we think we’ll look weak or face rejection. But when we allow ourselves to just be with someone, quietly and with an open heart, trust comes naturally. Think of a person who gives you the space to be yourself. Such people are infinitely precious. Find someone who can listen to you and who accepts what you are feeling.
When two hearts connect, it always means that they accept each other. Lovers often don’t need words because they feel like one person.
And even if you’re not in love, just feel what the other is feeling.
And do this without evaluating, without judgment.
This is how you create harmony.
~ Christiane Schönemann (Happinez 1/23)

Monday 13.02.
Open Heart
Flow

Wednesday 15.02.
Follow your Heart
Flow

Thursday 16.02.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 17.02.
Light Heart
Organ Flow

Thank you for your open and listening hearts!

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogi and Yoginis,

You might have heard or read what I am sharing with you before, but it is always good to be reminded.

It is said that the gods considered where to hide the greatest power in the universe so that man would not be able to find it before he was mature enough to use it responsibly. Many proposals followed, all of which were rejected. Finally the wisest of gods spoke:
“I know what to do. Let’s hide the biggest force of the universe in man himself. He will never look for it there until he is mature enough to go the way within.”
To this all agreed, and there, deep hidden, it waits for us to discover it and make wise use of it.

If we choose the path of the heart, everything changes. We go beyond the purely physical side of our being and become aware of what we
really are: users of the brain, not the brain; travelers in a body, not the body; a thinker of thoughts who is so much more than any thought. The essence of our true being exists beyond time and space. And our personal reality defines us in our now. It is made up of things we
believe in, the emotions we feel, our unique memories, experiences and relationships. If you choose the path of the heart, we awaken and recognize: We are in this world, but not of it.
~ Christiane Schönemann (Happinez 1/23)

I believe true transformation is only happening if we have the courage to go within. Embracing all the facets of ourselves and love ourselves unconditionally.

Monday 06.02.
Love Yourself
Slow Flow

Wednesday 08.02.
Courage to Embrace all of You
Flow

Thursday 09.02.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 10.02.
Transform into a Butterfly
Flow

Keep on discovering your hidden treasure!

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

For the longest time I didn’t understand the concept of February the month of love or Valentines. But looking at the world and what it has become in the last years, I see it more as a reminder to all humanity that we have a heart that should be consolidated and acted on. I will give this month again extra attention to our heart in class.

Most of you have heard me saying before that yoga when it comes to alignment is rather a “boring” system, it is always the same. But because of the body being different in space and gravity working on it accordingly, it seems more complex. So it simple, but not easy 😉

I feel like the same thing applies to life. It comes all down to finding your center, your heart. Trying to use it in every situation life throws at you then all as a sudden it becomes more challenging. Again simple, but not easy!
Maybe Valentines is a good practice tool for beginners after all 🙂

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

” The path does not lead to heaven. The path leads into the heart”
~ Buddha

Monday 30.01.
Shoulder & Chest Opening
Flow

Wednesday 01.02.
Leading with the Heart
Slow Flow

Thursday 02.02.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 03.02.
Bow flipped in Space
Flow

Always more we can explore and find out about our heart!

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogi and Yoginis,

I found this little story in my magazine. I would like to share it with you.

The boy watched as the grandmother wrote a letter. At some point he asked: “Are you writing a story that happened to us? Is it maybe even a story about me?”
The grandmother stopped and with a smile she said to her
grandson: “Right, I’m writing about you. But more important than the words is the pencil I use. It would be nice if you were like him when you grow up. The boy looked at the pencil in confusion and couldn’t see anything special about him. “But it is just like all other pencils.”
It depends on how you look at things. The pencil has five qualities and if you can make them your own, you will become a person at peace with the world.
The first quality: You can do great things, but should never forget that there is a hand that guides your steps. This hand we call God and he shall always guide you according to his will.
The second quality: Sometimes I have to stop writing and use the sharpener. Therefore the pencil suffers a little, but afterwards it’s sharp again. So learn to endure pain from time to time, because it will make you a better person.
The third quality: So that we can erase mistakes, the pencil is equipped with an eraser. You must realize that correcting is not a bad thing, it is absolutely necessary to keep us on the right path.
The fourth quality: What matters in the pencil is not the wood or its outer form but the graphite mine that is in it. So always pay attention to what is going on inside you.
Finally, the fifth quality of the pencil: He always leaves a trace. You too must know that everything you do in life leaves traces and therefore try to do what you are doing very consciously.
~ Paulo Coelho (Author)

All what we do or don’t do with our body leaves traces in our body. If we move or do things consciously we can give our energy paths, health and overall well/being a direction and create the possibility for physical changes. Further more if we make a conscious
connection between body and mind, the desired changes will
manifest themselves as “pathways” in your body/mind.

Monday 23.01.
Leaving Traces
Flow

Wednesday 25.01.
Leaving Traces
Flow

Thursday 26.01.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 27.01.
Leaving Traces
Slow Flow

Let us stay conscious in every move we do!

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

” It is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free”
~ Jiddu Krishnamurti (Freedom from the known)

Did you ever find yourself holding on too much to the known?
Maybe because it is a security blanket of some sort or the thought of letting go creates anxiety in you?
But then there are moments you may be forced to leave your comfort zone and the rug has been pulled out underneath you. Either you can start to freeze, kick or scream while falling into a dark hole or begin begin to surrender and let go after you digested the first “shock”.
Soon after letting go you might feel a glimpse of new found freedom that brings excitement and opportunities along.
Even if you don’t know what the next step is or what is waiting around the corner for you, staying open for what the universe has in store for you, is the better option than tightening up and hiding out.

We all know the quote:
“In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.”
~ Albert Einstein

Yoga has been always a big aid when it comes to “crisis”.
It helps us to get out of the head, connects us with our body & breath – our essence.
That we can release tension, take conscious breaths and find peace with what is. By learning more about our body and mind and finding new ways to deepen and/or advance our practice, we practice to have faith in the new.

Monday 16.01.
New Ways
Slow Flow

Wednesday 18.01.
New Ways
Flow

Thursday 19.01.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 20.01.
New Ways
Flow

Time to explore the Elasti-Band together!

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

Aligning our energy centers from the bottom up is, as we discovered last week, quite powerful. A lot of information comes with each one of them. More awareness and attention we give to the centers, we see how it relates to our whole being that we can gain more valuable
information – physically, mentally, emotionally and even on the
cellular level.
The most important lesson for me last week was in the class about our solar plexus. Being reminded that feeling in power has nothing to do with more control or effort. In the contrary it depletes our 3rd energy center.
If we are able to laugh at our-self or a situation, we are not lessening the importance of it, instead we gain power over it. I guess it is time to take things and yourself not so serious.

This week we will move up to the 4th and 5th chakra. When I started teaching yoga about 25 years ago, I always said ” the world needs heart opening”. Looking at the world as it is now, I think love and healing is more important than ever.

Monday 09.01
Rooting down to shine above
Flow

Wednesday 11.01.
Healing heart
Slow Flow

Thursday 12.01.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 13.01.
Heart, Throat & Brain
Flow

Aligning the energy centers, what a great way to start the year!
Thank you for the inspiration for the theme – keep them coming 🙂

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

I have been contemplating what would be a good theme to start the year with. Signs from different sides have kept on showing up and pointing to
PEACE

With wars being still very present it doesn’t seem unusual, but
messages from within the line of wellbeing and leadership as well.

Here an Affirmation from wonderful Luise L. Hay
“The more peaceful I am inside, the more peace I have to share with others. Love is around every corner, and joy fills my entire world.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As most of you know, I have been working a lot with my dog the last couple months to create a stronger bond etc. Yesterday I opened up one of these advertisements for training animals I have seen plenty of time before, called Trust Technique. Sure enough the base of this is to be so much at peace yourself that it transfers to the animal. No surprise that it is working also with people and it all starts with oneself!

“Peace can only exist if we have complete security, both outwardly and inwardly, psychologically and environmentally. We all want security, even the greatest scientist and the poorest, very uneducated villager – all of us want security.
Like every animal, every living thing needs security.
And apparently we don’t have security. We have sought it in religions, in beliefs, in ideologies, in some form of authority; followed them, and yet we remain separate. We are asking, is that one of the basic causes why human beings, thinking they are separate, isolated entities, each one seeking his own particular form of security, must inevitably come into conflict with others who are also seeking their own particular form of security?
…
If you examine without any bias, without any tradition, if your brain is eager to find out whether it is possible to live in this world with
complete freedom and peace and therefore with order. One has to put this question. You may be a great scientist, a great painter, a marvellous poet, like Keats, but the scientist, the poet, the painter have their own sorrow, pain, anxiety like the rest of us. And as long as we think we are separate, conflict must exist – between the Arab and the Jew, as is happening in Beirut, between the black and the white, between the Muslim and the rest of the world. So please, consider this question
seriously – exercise our brains, not accept.

And if that is one of the causes of war, one of the causes of
conflict between human beings, this fallacy that each one of us is
entirely different, we are questioning that very thing. And if we are not, then we are the rest of mankind. You are the rest of mankind. With that goes tremendous responsibility which you may not like to have. We like to avoid responsibility.

~ Krishna Murti
(Excerpts out of: Only in peace can the human mind be free – 1983)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We all have felt a togetherness in our little global yoga community. In that safe space we are able to keep on growing together and strengthen it as well as finding our inner grounding and security.

Monday 02.01.
Activating the Root Chakra
Flow

Wednesday 04.01.
Moving up to the 2nd Chakra
Flow

Thursday 05.01.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 06.01.
Connecting with the Solar Plexus
Slow Flow

I think peace is a good counterbalance to the turbulent energies that a new year brings along!

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

“Acknowledging the good you have already in your life is the
foundation for all abundance”
~ Eckhart Tolle

An other personal story of mine.
There is a saying I heard about 20 years ago for the first time:
“If you think you are enlightened, pay your family a visit”
I always felt like it is spot on.

I don’t know if you ever had a close person, like boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife, tell you about some of your character trades that are irritating to them or bothering them?
If you are like me, you hear it and somewhat understand what he/she is saying, but then it is really hard to catch yourself and change it.

Well, I had an enlightening moment when my sister was visiting me recently.
I think it is ages ago since I have spend a whole week only with my sister. This one-on-one time made me realize that we really grew up with the same parents (lol). Some things seem to be ingrained in us and for me it was like looking into a mirror. Finally I could see clearly what the close person in my life meant all this time!
What can I say, experiencing the same behavior by my sister, made me now super aware and I will be able to change for sure 🙂
As shocking as it was for me at first, I am very grateful for this
learning experience!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I read this one recently and thought it is a good one for New Year Celebration.

“Gratitude is the wine for the soul.
Go on. Get drunk.”
~ Rumi

Monday 26.12.
Feel the abundance
Blind Flow

Wednesday 28.12.
Letting go
Flow

Friday 30.12.
Last detox
Flow

I am wishing you a fabulous 2023!

Love & Great Appreciation,

Nicole

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

this the holiday season is about love. So much is written, sung and done in the name of love and at the same time so complex and often misunderstood.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
~ Buddha

“The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.”
~ Henry Miller

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
~ Lao Tzu

“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
~ Helen Keller

“Gratitude is one of the strongest and most transformative states of being. It shifts your prospective from lack to abundance and allows you to focus on the good in your life, which in turn pulls more
goodness into your reality.”
~ unknown

Monday 19.12.
Happy Hips
Flow

Wednesday 21.12.
Open Heart – Relaxed Brain
Organ Flow

Thursday 22.12.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 23.12.
Freedom of Choice
Flow

You all became a part of me!

Love,

Nicole

My dear Yogis and Yoginis,

I was looking for a variety of Love and Gratitude quotes. Hoping that each one of you will be able to find at least one that is inspiring to you or you can connect with.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~ Albert Einstein

“It’s not happiness that brings us gratitude. It’s the gratitude that brings us happiness.”
~ Jeremiah Say

“Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.”
~ Wayne Dyer

“The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much and forgetting that you are special too.”
~ Ernest Hemmingway

“When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.”
~ Toni Robbins

“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”
~ Lionel Hampton

“Let us be grateful to the people that make us happy; they are charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
~ Marcel Proust

Monday 12.12.
Grounding – feet, legs, pelvis
Flow

Wednesday 14.12.
Mobility – pelvis, spine, head
Flow

Thursday 15.12.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice

Friday 16.12.
Connecting the dots
Slow Flow

You guys are my charming gardeners 🙂

Love,

Nicole