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How to Set up an Ergonomic Workspace

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An online workshop with important tips for employees working from home and in hybrid work environments

Ergonomic Home Office Workshop Benefits :

  • reduces back pain
  • demonstrates diy/cheap changes to office infrastructure
  • prevents repetitive stress injuries
  • uncovers/improves typing habits
  • improves eye care health
  • explores work breaks’ efficiency

Testimonials:

We offer a variety of health and wellness workshops and this session got the most engagement and positive feedback this year! Pinelopi goes way beyond the ‘typical’ and offers practical tips, unbiased product recommendations and plenty of hacks for people who don’t want to spend a lot of money on their home office. Highly recommended!
Ava Hegedus – Head of Culture and Workplace at Uberall GmbH

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Read more testimonials from people and businesses who have already received the workshop.

Workshop Details:

This workshop is given in two sessions, each an hour and ten minutes long, recommended between a day and two weeks apart.
SESSION ONE: posture, infrastructure, quality of breaks, short stretching session
SESSION TWO: wrist care, eye care, general environment, questions
After the workshop, employees receive a detailed summary to customize their home office

Schedule and Pricing:

There is limited workshop availability.
350 Euro for a group up to 12 people
+ 5 Euro for each additional person

Request the workshop for your company:

Please write an email to discuss further details and dates for your company or to request the workshop for the general public. If you prefer an on-site workshop, that is also possible.
pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

Why this workshop and not just business classes?

I have given many business yoga classes that help employees reduce stress, stretch out stiff muscles and improve their breathing. Although these classes have been very valuable, I realized they were not enough. As soon as employees return to their desks the “hunched over habits” take over and the muscles stiffen up within two to three days, restricting their breathing, and decreasing their sense of well-being. Whats more, working conditions worsened as the pandemic forced many people to move to hybrid work and home offices. As a result, I developed this ergonomic home office workshop to help employees understand how to create healthy computer habits and to give many creative ideas of how to set up their home office.

About the teacher:

Beginning my yoga journey in 1999, I, Pinelopi, completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain. For over a decade, I have worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 I founded English Yoga Berlin.

I, then, deepened my knowledge through studying Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff. Meanwhile, I also studied with David Moore and attended several of his “Injury-free yoga” workshops of how to apply the Alexander Technique postural alignment to yoga poses.

In January 2023, I completed a 1600 hour three year training with Jorg Asshof in the Alexander Technique.

My ergonomic consultations are based on my knowledge of anatomy, alignment through the Alexander Technique, and a deep understanding of the body and mind’s needs through yoga.

My meditation philosophy is deeply inspired by Tara Brach and especially the RAIN meditation.

Semi-supine Audio Guides-Part three

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Stretching the Leg Without Compromising the Back

This Alexander Technique audio guide on stretching the leg from the semi-supine is part three of a longer series which you can access here. If you like using these guides, please consider contributing with a small donation through paypal.

Photo by Gianpaolo Antonucci on Unsplash

Today we explore how to stretch the leg without hollowing the back. The idea is that we observe the lower back as we stretch the leg and stop before it hollows. Then we give Alexander Technique directions and wait for the body to adapt. Often, when you wait, thinking your directions, and resisting the urge to interfere and wanting to change… a sort of melting occurs on its own. Your body “let´s go” in a different way to the way you use yourself usually. You are welcomed to write me an email and let me know how you experienced this!

Photo by Gianpaolo Antonucci on Unsplash

About the Author:

Hello! I am Pinelopi and I am an Alexander Technique Teacher in Berlin. I completed my training with Jörg Aßhoff over a period of three years and three months (1600 hours). I love giving Alexander Technique classes and uncovering deep habits. My favorite moments are when a student discovers new ways to use themselves and an “A-ha” expression lights up their face! If you want to book a class, contact me. To find out more about my background click here.

For me, the Alexander Technique is a way of life, and as such can be combined with any activity of life. I love to combine it together with the practice of Hatha Yoga. If you would like to see how that works, I invite you to join the “Yoga and Alexander Technique” class starting on March 9th, 2023. The yoga poses do not change, the experience of them does though!

Free Semi-Supine Audio Guides: Directions

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Thinking the Basic Alexander Technique Directions through the semi-supine audio

In this free semi-supine audio guide, we explore thinking the basic Alexander Technique directions and observe what kind of effect they have on our selves. These directions are:

  • Let the neck be free.
  • Let the head go forward and up (explained in the guide).
  • Let the back be long and wide.
  • Let the arms and legs be long.

Would you like to listen to more semi supine audio guides? Then you can click here.

About the Author:

I am Pinelopi and I am an Alexander Technique Teacher in Berlin. My training was 1600 hours long with Jörg Aßhoff over a period of three years and three months. I love giving Alexander Technique classes and uncovering deep habits. My favorite moments are when a student discovers new ways to use themselves and an “A-ha” expression lights up their face! If you want to book a class contact me.

Yoga and the Alexander Technique Berlin

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We carry our habits everywhere. If we tend to stress our neck before we lift our arm, we will do that regardless whether we are reaching for a box or bringing our arms up into the Warrior pose. The Alexander Technique looks into these deep habits and gives you small impulses that make a big difference in how to access a better coordination with your body as a whole. In this Yoga and the Alexander Technique course we will look at ways we enter yoga poses through the lens of the Alexander Technique, with the intention of uncovering deep habits.

How does the “Yoga and Alexander Technique Berlin” Course work?

Each class will consist of:

  • this course consists of four classes
  • beginning with ten minutes of the semi-supine with hands-on impulses
  • yoga poses
  • looking at how to do the poses with an Alexander Technique lens
  • 10 minute guided relaxation
  • space for questions and comments (optional)
  • this is a studio only class, it will not be streamed online

For Whom?

This course is for anybody who is interested in yoga or who is interested in the Alexander Technique. It is designed in a way that you can participate, regardless of your level of experience.

What to bring?

Mats, blankets and chairs are provided at the studio. For hygiene, it is best if you bring your own equipment, but you are welcome to use ours too!

When?

Every Thursday 8pm starting on March 9th to March 30th, 2023.

Duration: 1hour and 15 minutes.

Price: 40 euro if you sign up for the 4 classes, 14 euro if you want a drop in class.

Where?

English Yoga Berlin Görlitzerstr. 39 – Berlin

How to Sign up?

About the Teacher:

Beginning her yoga journey in 1999, Pinelopi completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain.  For the last decade, she has worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 she founded English Yoga Berlin. She studied Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff, and “Injury-free yoga” applying the Alexander Technique postural alignment to all yoga poses with  David Moore.  She is an Alexander Technique teacher and has graduated from Jörg Aßhoff‘s school in Berlin.

Meditation Course: Mindful Care-giving

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How can we bring mindfulness in our care-giving with children? In what ways can we help children through difficult emotions even when we are going through difficult times ourselves? How can we create more presence in such a high speed world? Let’s explore all these questions together in this six week course on Mindful Care-giving.

How does the “Mindful Care-giving” Meditation Course work?

Each class will consist of:

  • an introduction explaining the aspect of the meditation we will look at that day
  • short stretching session to move the body before we sit in stillness
  • 20 minute guided meditation on the topic
  • space for questions and comments (optional)
  • this class is both live on a Thursday at the studio and online for the whole of Saturday and Sunday. The 20 minute meditation remains online till the following Saturday so that you can practice it daily throughout that week.

Meditation course topics:

In this course we will explore:

  • the RAIN meditation and how to apply it to ourselves
  • share stories on how we can guide children through RAIN
  • practice bringing awareness to the beliefs that could be fueling certain reactions in us
  • learning to wonder about what the child is believing and how that is fueling their reactions
  • ways for all of us to slow down in our interactions and allow for spontaneous connection

For Whom?

This meditation course on mindful care-giving is open to everybody who has a relationship to children and teenagers. This can be parents, teachers, kindergarten teachers, grandparents, aunties, uncles and auncles, health practitioners, and grown-up friends of children and teenagers.

What to bring?

Mats, blankets and chairs are provided at the studio. If you use a meditation cushion or bench when you meditate, then please bring that with you.

When?

Every Thursday 8pm starting on January 12th to February 16th, 2023.

Duration: 45 – 60 minutes.

The recorded version of this class will get streamed on Saturdays and Sundays. The 20 minute meditation will stay available online for the whole course.

Price

55 euro for the 6 classes

Where?

English Yoga Berlin Görlitzerstr. 39 – Berlin

How to Sign up?

Write an email to pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

Hatha Yoga Retreat: “Gratitude Transforms”

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Email Pinelopi : pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

Thursday March 2nd, 2023 15:00- Sunday March 5th, 2023 14:00

Pinelopi is organizing a three day long weekend yoga retreat near Berlin on:

Photo by Donald Giannatti on Unsplash. Thank you!

We warmly invite you to intentionally spend three days together in presence and mindfulness!

The practice of gratitude is a catalyst for happiness. And yet, so many of us forget gratitude or misuse it. Why? How can we be present with what is, be honest with what we do not like, and cherish what we have and who we are in this very moment? In this yoga retreat we will explore the negativity bias, decoupling gratitude from guilt and embodying gratitude and its transformative power.

–come join us!

Where:

Rosenwaldhof  – This Yoga retreat on “Gratitude Transforms” will take place in a beautiful place in Brandenburg, 1.5 hours South-east of Berlin, on the river Havel, surrounded by nature.

What is included in the “Gratitude Transforms” yoga retreat:

  • Presentations, discussions and exercises about “Gratitude Transforms”
  • Guided Meditations
  • Tratak (candle gazing)
  • Five yoga sessions
  • Nature Walks
  • Star gazing and bonfire
  • Gratitude practices
  • Mantra chanting
  • Delicious vegetarian/ vegan meals, tea, coffee and fruit

Prices:

The full cost of the inclusive retreat is 489 – 539 (depending on your accommodation preference) – get in contact today for more info!

Accommodation options plus delicious food:

  • Shared double room with private bathroom
  • Single room with shared bathroom
  • Single room with private bathroom

Please note that payments to Pinelopi for the tuition (200€) and Rosenwaldhof for lodgings and food (289€-339€) will happen separately .

Early registration discount:  15 € discount if you register for the yoga retreat before January 17th, 2023. To reserve your space, please send an email and deposit 50 Euro by bank transfer or paypal.

*The deposit is fully refundable if a cancellation occurs before January 25th, 2023, and 50% refundable if cancellation occurs before February 7th, 2023. After which no refund is possible.

Since space is limited, register early before the spots fill up!

For more details, please write to:

pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

Worried about canceling due to corona?

I completely understand. You could purchase a “Reiserücktrittsversicherung” (travel insurance) that can reimburse you in case of sickness. In the unlikely case that I get corona and am unable to come, you will get the tuition money back and can still go and enjoy Rosenwaldhof, the lakes and forest, and the wonderful food and accommodation.

About the Teacher:

Beginning her yoga journey in 1999, Pinelopi completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain.  For the last decade, she has worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 she founded English Yoga Berlin. She studied Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff, and “Injury-free yoga” applying the Alexander Technique postural alignment to all yoga poses with  David Moore.  She is also an Alexander Technique teacher, and has recently graduated from Jörg Aßhoff‘s school in Berlin. Her workshops and retreats are inspired by Tara Brach‘s teachings.

Meditation Course: Exploring the negativity bias

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meditation course on the negativity bias

We all have an active negativity bias inside of us. In this six week course we will look at several aspects of meditation that can help make this bias lighter.

How does “Exploring the Negativity Bias” Meditation Course work?

Each class will consist of:

  • an introduction explaining the aspect of the meditation we will look at that day
  • short stretching session to move the body before we sit in stillness
  • 20 minute guided meditation on the topic
  • space for questions and comments (optional)
  • this class is both live on a Thursday at the studio and online for the whole of Saturday and Sunday. The 20 minute meditation remains online till the following Saturday so that you can practice it daily throughout that week.

Berlin Meditation Negativity Bias Course Topics:

We will explore how the negativity bias came to be and how strong it is within us, using the following meditation practices:

  • gratitude
  • inner love strengthening
  • loving kindness
  • savoring
  • community building

We will also explore misunderstandings that can be tightly winded with these practices in order to decouple gratitude from guilt and understand the difference between forced toxic positivity versus a healthy positive outlook.

For Whom?

This meditation course on exploring the negativity bias is open to everybody, from complete beginners to advanced students.

What to bring?

Mats, blankets and chairs are provided at the studio. If you use a meditation cushion or bench when you meditate, then please bring that with you.

When?

The next course will be in winter 2023. Please write an email to express your interest.

Duration: 45 – 60 minutes.

The recorded version of this class will get streamed on Saturdays and Sundays. The 20 minute meditation will stay available online for the whole course.

Price

55 euro for the 6 classes

Where?

English Yoga Berlin Görlitzerstr. 39 – Berlin

How to Sign up?

Write an email to pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

About the Teacher:

Pinelopi teaches workshops on "How to Set up an Ergonomic Home Office" to businesses and the general public.

Beginning her yoga journey in 1999, Pinelopi completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain.  For the last decade, she has worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 she founded English Yoga Berlin. She studied Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff, and “Injury-free yoga” applying the Alexander Technique postural alignment to all yoga poses with  David Moore.  She has now completed a three year training with Jorg Asshof and is an Alexander Technique teacher.  Her workshops and retreats are inspired by Tara Brach‘s teachings.

6 week hybrid Meditation Course in Berlin

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Meditation course in Berlin

We all need to find ways to touch base with our Self regularly. In this six week course we will look at different aspects of meditation and learn how to create our own practice.

How does the Berlin Meditation Course work?

Each class will consist of:

  • an introduction explaining the aspect of the meditation we will look at that day
  • short stretching session to move the body before we sit in stillness
  • 20 minute guided meditation on the topic
  • space for questions and comments (optional)
  • this class is both live on a Thursday and online for the whole of Saturday. The 20 minute meditation remains online till the following Saturday so that you can practice it daily throughout that week.

Berlin Meditation Course Topics:

  • Lesson One: Realizing we are Lost in Thought
  • Lesson Two: Detaching without Repressing
  • Lesson Three: Use the Door that is Here: Introducing RAIN
  • Lesson Four: Sticky Thoughts- what lies underneath?
  • Lesson Five: Identifying deep held beliefs and understanding their power
  • Lesson Six: What is the Here and Now.

For Whom?

This meditation course is open to everybody, from complete beginners to advanced students.

What to bring?

Mats, blankets and chairs are provided at the studio. If you use a meditation cushion or bench when you meditate, then please bring that with you.

Sitting in stillness can be taxing on the body. Check out our “Designing your own meditation posture” workshop where we spend two hours explaining what small tweaks you can make to your posture so that the posture fits your specific needs.

When?

Every Thursday 8pm starting. This course will be available in Autumn of 2023. Sign up to the newsletter to be informed of the exact dates.

Duration: 45 – 60 minutes.

The recorded version of this class will get streamed on the weekends. The 20 minute meditation will stay available online for the whole week.

Price

55 euro for the 6 classes

Where?

English Yoga Berlin Görlitzerstr. 39 – Berlin

How to Sign up?

Write an email to pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

About the Teacher:

Beginning her yoga journey in 1999, Pinelopi completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain.  For the last decade, she has worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 she founded English Yoga Berlin. Currently she is deepening her knowledge through Leslie Kaminoff’s Yoga Anatomy Course,  David Moore’s “Injury-free yoga” applying the Alexander Technique postural alignment to all yoga poses. She is now an Alexander Technique teacher and is studied with Jorg Asshof in Berlin.  Her workshops and retreats are inspired by Tara Brach‘s teachings.

Design the meditation Posture that fits your specific body

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How to find a meditation posture with less tension through the help of the Alexander Technique

Is your back in pain when you meditate? Do your legs go numb within the first minutes or get ankle pain? Do your shoulders tense up and affect the back of your neck? Have you had a meditation teacher tell you to simply sit through the discomfort without giving you individual support for your posture?

All these things are habitual when sitting in meditation, but are they actually necessary? Freeing the mind of thoughts is difficult enough, so why not spending some time understanding how to make the posture more suitable to your individual needs?

We all have different types of flexibility, postural habits and body structures. Suggesting a one-solution fits all is not helpful in the long run. This is why we created a workshop to give both general and personalized tips on how to make the posture work for your specific body by applying Alexander Technique principles to your meditation posture.

This workshop includes:

  • Looking at the postural habits that bring about pain.
  • Understanding how to engage the feet while meditating.
  • Finding your personal meditation posture in sitting and in walking with the help of an experienced Alexander Technique teacher plus an experienced yoga teacher
  • 20 minute meditation session where you can try-out your new found knowledge

When?

Sunday October 16th, 2022 – 11.00 -13.00

For whom?

This is for anyone who would like to reach a position more at ease while meditating. You do not have to be an experienced meditator to join… to be curious is enough!

Maximum 12 participants

Where?

English Yoga Berlin – Görlitzerstr. 39. 10967 Berlin

Price: 45 Euro

Early registration discount: 10 € discount if you register before September 20th, 2022. The workshop is refundable unless cancellation occurs later that October 4th, 2022, after which 50% refund. After October 4th, 2022, no more refunds are possible. Please register before the spots fill up!

What to bring:

Materials will be provided at the studio. However, you are also welcomed to bring your own cushion or meditation bench.

How to sign up:

Please write an email to:

pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

or

book directly your place here.

About the Teachers:

Joerg Aßhoff –  is an experienced Alexander Technique Teacher with a 30 year working experience. He is now the director of the Alexander-Technik-Schule in Berlin, teaching the next generation of Alexander Technique teachers. His expertise includes teaching at the University of Performing Arts, Community schools, and speech therapy schools. He practices Zen meditation since 1990 and studied with a Japanese Zen master for a long period of time.

Pinelopi Sioni – is in her third year of the Alexander Technique teacher training course, studying with Jörg Aßhoff in Berlin. She completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain. For over a decade, she has worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 she founded English Yoga Berlin. She then studied Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff;“Injury-free yoga” applying the Alexander Technique postural alignment to all yoga poses with David Moore. Her workshops and retreats are inspired by Tara Brach‘s teachings.

The Alexander Technique and my Feet

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As a person born with a club foot and having received corrective surgery as a baby, my feet have always been a sensitive spot for me. The way I learned to use my body as a child was a way to protect myself from pain and from movements that felt impossible to do. As a result, these habits of use developed into a very particular way of movement that brought me into decades of chronic pain. It has not been all bad. The pain brought me into yoga and stretching of very tight muscles. That in turn, brought me into the Alexander Technique and a deeper understanding of what it is I do that increases the tightness of those muscles.

The Alexander Technique does not deal directly with a single part of the body. A teacher will always work with the body as a whole, and that will have an effect on a specific part in an indirect manner. In short, one could say that for an Alexander Technique teacher, “Feet are never just feet. Feet are a reflection of the whole body.”

So these past three years of intense Alexander Technique have changed my whole body and the way I use it. As a result of these changes, three indirect changes have also occurred at my feet.

My foot grew a size.

Well, I guess it didn’t grow like kids’ feet grow .. but it must have released to fill its true size, because I no longer shop for size 41! I am assuming that I have had a lot of tension in my feet and that has been scrunching them up to a shorter size. At the beginning I thought that this was only me, but then one day when we were talking in class I realized that this has happened to half of the trainees in my course!

Fortunately I am the kind of person who only owns two pair of shoes, and this change did not mean a massive investment into my wardrobe!

Good bye insoles.

As you might imagine, being someone with my kind of history has made me always dependent on medical custom made insoles. Furthermore, after my club foot leg was lengthened it never reached the full length of the other leg. Doctors have told me different kinds of measurements from 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters difference…. apparently enough to create back pain.

I remember talking about insoles during one of our breaks in my first months of training. My teacher was being very cautious about staying completely neutral on the subject of insoles. Other trainees were saying negative comments about insoles… comments I have heard before, such as “Insoles make the feet lazy”. I felt the need to be protective over my insoles and responded loudly how my insoles have reduced my pain (something I still do believe). Inside me, there was turmoil. And somewhere, a little bit of hope. Could it be that I could get rid of them one day? Could it be that the way I walk changes so much that I do not need custom made insoles and shoes?

And then corona happened. Waiting at the doctor’s office for a new prescription of insoles felt reckless. Going to shops to buy new shoes and bringing them to another shop to change their height really did not feel like a high priority when we were isolating and living through a lock down. And so slowly, remembering the conversation I had at the beginning of my course… they left my life. At the beginning, there was pain and confusion in my body. But within two months, I was so surprised to find there was no more pain and that I could do without them. I have now been over a year without insoles. Something I never thought would be possible. And yet!

The way my shoes wear out is different.

In the past, the soles of the shoes I had would wear out quickly. The wear out was uneven. The outer edge of the sole was more worn out than the inner edge, causing a diagonal slant. This would happen within the first four months of having a new pair of shoes. What this means is that I would put more pressure on the outer edge of my feet when I walked, wearing the sole out unevenly.

But this too has changed! I bought new shoes and have been wearing them now for nearly a year. It makes me so happy to look at the soles and still see that they are evenly worn out. No more diagonal slants. My walking has changed. Where I put the pressure is different. And my shoes are proof.

  • Photo by Benjamin Faust on Unsplash
    The soles have been worn out diagonally
  • Photo by D. on Unsplash
    Even soles

About the Author:

Pinelopi is in her 3rd year of the Alexander Technique teacher training course, studying with Jorg Asshof in Berlin. She is now taking on Alexander Technique tester students. She is working at half price (25€) until she graduates in the spring of 2023.

Pinelopi completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain.  For over a decade, she has worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 she founded English Yoga Berlin. She then studied Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff; and“Injury-free yoga” applying the Alexander Technique postural alignment to all yoga poses with David Moore .Her workshops and retreats are inspired by Tara Brach‘s teachings.