These reviews come from people who have experienced our classes, courses, and individual sessions. Their stories highlight how movement therapy, mindfulness, and somatic practices can create meaningful changes in pain, stress, and overall quality of life. Each testimonial reflects a real healing journey and the transformative power of integrative wellness approaches.
PAIN RELIEF & ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
Andreas Müller – “I’ve been practicing yoga with Pinelopi for seven years now, and her classes have been invaluable to me, helping me with my trauma issues as well as with my slipped disc and my back problems. Every lesson at her studio is a fountain of relief, relaxation and well-being. We, Yogis, are truly blessed to have her, and I am deeply grateful for her support. She really cares.”
Felizia Aggelidi– “Pinelopi and her Alexander Technique lessons have really helped me in ways that physical therapy couldn’t. I have had two serious car accidents resulting in Chronic Pain Syndrome and with the help of these lessons I have been able to sit at a desk and draw without chronic headaches and neck tension. I have seen a big difference in many of my everyday movements like walking and I have especially seen an improvement in my knee pain while standing up and sitting down. Because through Alexander Technique Pinelopi teaches me a toolkit that I can use in my personal life every day, I have grown more confident that I can achieve a life with less pain and more freedom of movement, and that gives me hope and less anxiety about the future, which means less stress, which is also very good for my body. When I started the lessons, I had very little body awareness, but now I can pause before movements and redirect my habits and that is what creates permanent change in the long run – relearning the movements that cause or contribute to pain. I cannot imagine my life without these lessons because they have become a big part of my physical function and health.”
Meg Saxby – “In 2017, I had a bad rock climbing accident, followed by a surgery on both of my ankles. I did plenty of physiotherapy to recover, but, 18 months later, walking still felt clunky, and I had developed plantar fasciitis in both feet. I decided to try Alexander Technique with Pinelopi to see if I could recover more deeply. She helped me gently notice some of the ways my body had compensated around the injuries, and slowly repattern my gait. It helped enormously! The plantar fasciitis went away and I can now walk for much longer distances comfortably. I would definitely recommend working with Pinelopi — her work was effective and gentle, and the effects have been long lasting.“
Anya – “When I came to Berlin in 2017, I had already been an Alexander Technique pupil in London for about ten years, and I was missing my lessons a lot. So, I was very happy to join Pinelopi in the autumn 2022 for lessons during her final year of Alexander Technique teacher training, and I have been going to see her fairly regularly ever since. I have chronic pain issues, and working with her helps me keep it in check. I feel grounded and less anxious after a lesson, my body feels more at ease and I can move more freely. Pinelopi has a calming presence, she is warm, kind, empathic and non-judgmental, and she has provided me with tools that I can incorporate into my daily routines. That she is also a yoga teacher is an added bonus for me! Working with her gives me the support I need with my pain issues. I always look forward to our lessons together.”
Mark Lodge – “I’ve been a student of Pinelopi for the past 9 years. When I first met her I was suffering from extreme lower back pain and pain in my knee. With her very mindful yoga and now with the Alexander technique I have improved my posture and I now feel pain free for many years and I sleep so much better. I use a lot of what I’ve learned from her in my job (working with teenagers). Breathing and grounding techniques.”
Bella – “I’m currently recovering from a long birth, which ended with an emergency cesarean. One day after surgery, the physiotherapists were astonished by the range of movements and positions I displayed, given the trauma my body has undergone. “I owe it all to the Alexander technique and yoga”, I told them proudly. Throughout the years of being Pinelopi’s yoga student and receiving her Alexander Technique treatments, I’ve healed from chronic neck pain; gained ergonomic tools I use in my daily office work helping me get over tendinitis; picked up on methods to move through space under multiple physical strains and circumstances (including pregnancy). Emotionally, I’m less anxious and am more able to soothe in challenging situations. Pinelopi formed around her a community of healing, mindful exchange and care that is one of a kind, and all of us who are part of it owe her a great deal.”
Gareth Lineker – “I have been regularly attending Pinelopi Sioni’s yoga and Alexander Technique classes since 2021. I started going to her classes because I had chronic tension and inflammation in my right shoulder and neck pain caused by poor posture when working at the computer and stress. After just a few yoga classes, my pain was gone. I also had constant pain in my right leg from my hip to my ankle due to playing football. Thanks to Pinelopi’s Alexander Technique classes, this pain completely disappeared after a few months. Today, my overall body awareness is much better and I am hardly stressed anymore. My posture, strength and awareness have improved greatly and I can move completely pain-free. I can wholeheartedly recommend Pinelopi’s work; she has a holistic approach based on mindfulness and compassion towards her clients. She is an outstanding teacher.”
Avital Yomdin – “When coming to the Alexander Technique classes, I did not know what to expect but I trusted Pinelopi completely from years of knowing her as my yoga teacher. Already in the third session, I found a way of dealing with a problem I thought could not be solved: my knees used to crack with every step I took. With a few small adjustments, I now know how to walk in a way that is healthier and easier – and no more cracks! This continued with every session – in each one a tiny alteration in the way I do the most repetitive movements solved a problem I had or gave me a new way of moving that took so much less effort. For the last five years, I have been suffering from sudden and very strong pains in my knees – now that I changed how I go up the stairs- they are gone! It sounds like magic, I know. It is not. It is a lot of mindfulness in moments when we are usually on auto-pilot. The results are both subtle and mind blowing simultaneously. Pinelopi has a way of leading your body in the most gentle, attentive and intuitive way. Her touch alone felt healing, and when combined with her knowledge and intuition, I could not believe the progress me and my body made. I recommend this technique with Pinelopi’s guidance from the bottom of my heart. Give yourself this gift, it is so worth it!”
Avital Yomdin (Second testimonial) – “I had written a review shortly after having my 10 sessions with Pinelopi. I was already so impressed, but now that more time has passed, I feel like I have to write again. In the past few days, I have felt several times a day how these sessions affect me. When I’m in pain, I go into the semi-supine pose without thinking of it. My body remembers the impulses and corrections Pinelopi gave me, and I find myself melting into the floor. Normally, that is all it takes to release the painful tension. But yesterday, something happened that shocked me completely: I found myself running, and I really needed to catch a bus. My body tensed up so much and was hurting all over within seconds, but I had to catch that bus. Suddenly, while running, I started to gently send notes to my body – like the ones I do when I want to find the balanced standing pose: find the center of the feet, soften the knees, release hip joints, back like a sail, shoulders to the side, and the neck free. The pain dissolved. MID-RUN. For me, this feels almost like science fiction. It’s not – it’s Pinelopi’s guidance. I truly cannot recommend this amazing teacher more.”
Katherine Spingarn – “I have learned to love Alexander Technique through Pinelopi. I started to take lessons with her because I was suffering from lower-back pain exacerbated by my work in preschools. The lessons began as traditional Alexander Technique lessons, but when I told her that I really never sit in chairs for adults, she immediately began to think up movements specific to my life that we could explore and add to the lessons. She is always excited to hear about what I discover about my body between lessons and how the lessons have begun to become present in my daily movements. Pinelopi has a very clear and confident touch and asks for consent to touch you, both of which make it easy for me to trust her with my body and my boundaries. The repetition of Alexander Technique has really worked for me. After 10+ lessons in Alexander Technique and Pinelopi’s Yoga and Alexander Technique classes, I notice how the sayings in AT are so routine now that they are accessible to me during my crazy work days. When I sit at the rowdy lunch table with a bunch of kids, I can think “back is back” and release my lower back and am almost to the point that I can think of the space above my head as I repeatedly sit down and stand up from my child-sized chair to refill dishes of food. This is big for me, as my body and my physical needs are the last things I think about during my work day. I notice that through my new awareness of my movement patterns and the AT tools to divert those movements to new ones, my back and stomach have gotten much stronger and my pain much less frequent. AT is not a quick fix for a problem, but rather a technique that becomes slowly integrated into your life and pops up more and more frequently as you begin to become more aware of your body. These classes feel like an investment in my current and future health.”
Yann G. – “Thanks to her and the Alexander Technique, my long-lasting neck pain is gone. When it wants to show up again, I quickly get rid of it by recognising, pausing and redirecting. I learnt and unlearnt a lot about my bodily habits. I enjoy a lot playing with the principles throughout the day. I am definitely living with less tensions in the body and day after day I discover the person I am underneath these layers of holding and body tensions.
I also recently attended the Pinelopi Resourcing Course. I learnt a lot about the nervous system, which has helped me to gain a better understanding of myself. The class provided me with skills that I use every day at work. I use these to keep my nervous system regulated, stay in the moment and act when things get a bit hairy. I feel much more at ease these days. I am less overwhelmed by some work and everyday situations that used to leave me feeling drained for a long time. I can even stay with myself and feel safe while having an argument. It’s a huge relief.”
Gareth James – “I’ve been seeing Pinelopi for Alexander Technique sessions for several months, and I really learn a lot each time. She creates a really relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, and I’ve become much more aware of how I move and use my body. It’s helped with some back and neck pain issues I was dealing with. Highly recommend!”
Erel Cohen – “In my humble opinion about the place and specially the Alexander technique is that it is a game changer. It is like i came to the session with a wooden body and left as a real boy… amazing experience!”
Sonja Lohr – “Pinelopi’s classes, inspired by the Alexander Technique, have been truly transformative. They helped me improve my posture, release tension, and deepen my yoga practice. I’ve learned to move with more intention and greater body awareness. Simple cues, like softening the back of my knees, release something in my hip joints even while I’m waiting at a pedestrian light. Letting my head float away from my tail helps me stand taller with ease. I’m deeply grateful for her insightful and gentle teaching.”
STRESS & EMOTIONAL WELLNESS
Evie Papada– “Learning from Pinelopi’s Resourcing Course on the nervous system has had a profound impact on how I handle stress. I’ve learned simple but powerful tools that help me calm my nervous system, ground myself, and release tension—skills I now use daily. I used to get bloated when experiencing stress at work or home and it was often painful and hard to breathe. The tools she gave me have helped me manage my breathing and relieve myself from bloating without the use of pharmaceutical supplements. I feel more in control, more present, and much better equipped to take care of myself in demanding situations.”
Christina K. – “Through the Alexander Technique and through the resourcing course with Pinelopi, I learned to notice quiet tension. Now I can notice its whispers, soften the strain, and unlearn old habits—finding comfort and freedom where there once was discomfort. By exploring my nervous system, I discovered my window of capacity and found ways to be with others while still staying connected to myself—meeting life with more presence. Thank you, Pinelopi.”
Keith Richards – “I attended a 4 day yoga retreat, that was planned, organised and facilitated by Pinelopi Sioni. At the time of the retreat I had recently suffered from a work-related burnout. During the course of the retreat I experienced a substantial improvement in my symptoms. That improvement proved to be sustainable. In particular I attribute the healing process to Ms Sioni’s professional, thoughtful and empathetic approach to yoga and meditation teaching.”
Rocking Ringlet – “I’ve been attending various yoga and meditation courses at EYB, and I truly appreciate Pinelopi and her Alexander Technique-infused yoga teaching. Her approach has consistently helped me refine and deepen my own practice. Recently, I participated in her Resourcing course, which explored the universal nature of the nervous system while honoring our deeply personal responses to fight, flight, and freeze. Her classes are always guided by mindful care, creating a space for both personal and spiritual growth. EYB is more than just a yoga studio—it’s a true community of care, offering a welcoming and supportive environment for self-exploration and healing. Highly recommend!”
Afroditi Pol – “Pinelopi is the best teacher one can have. Every class with her is a unique experience. After every lesson I feel relief, physical and mental. Words are not enough to describe her kindness and charisma!”
YOGA & MOVEMENT THERAPY
Conrad N. – “I’ve joined her yoga class because my desktop job had me confined to sitting in a chair for way too long. I felt the impact both on my physical health and my mental well being. My back was “acting up” regularly and it was very hard to motivate myself to do anything about it. But her class helped me with both. I’m experiencing back issues far less frequently and I am always looking forward to your next class.”
Shaleah Dawnyel – “This teacher’s yoga changed my life. I used to think yoga was kind of a joke. I had taken classes all over the world but never found a teacher or a practice to commit to until I met Pinelopi. Her kindness, calming nature and sensitivity are just the beginning of what makes her so wonderful to take classes from… She is fluent in several languages and as a result her teaching and word choices are very descriptive and deliberate. Her voice is soothing yet strong. She not only often demonstrates a pose but also breaks it down into levels depending on how you are feeling on a given day. This encourages a high level of body awareness and self care. Very in-tune with the people in her class, she pays close attention to needs and adjustments while keeping an overall class flow. She is deep and spiritual enough to make you certain that you are doing something profound for your body mind and spirit, but she never goes off on terrible esoteric rants or delves in ignorant over simplifications of karma. Her classes are extremely well planned and it is clear that each move has been designed to flow into the next, to balance out the energy and work being done on both sides of a pose, and ultimately to produce pleasure in the body for maximum benefit. I was fortunate enough to study with her for almost 2 years. Pinelopi’s instruction now goes with me everywhere, even into lesser yoga classes. The breathing techniques and paying attention to my own limits along with her amazing guided meditations have become a cornerstone of my evolutionary process. I am INCREDIBLY grateful.”
Frederic Culmann – “A beautiful place to practice hatha yoga in presence or online – I’ve been practicing online for the past 3 years and enjoyed every moment of it. Pinelopi is a very kind, experienced and dedicated teacher, providing detailed instructions and explanations, and introducing some very interesting somatic elements from her Alexander practice. The well balanced 90 min hybrid class provides a generous timeframe for Pranayama, asanas and meditation, and a recording of each class is available in case attending live isn’t possible. I’ve been practicing yoga for many years, and this is probably the best class I ever attended.”
Nepumuck Locke – “Best teacher I met so far! Pinelopi is a great teacher. She is open, friendly and obviously enjoying what she does. I want to recommend her for beginners as well as experienced yoga students. She is demonstrating as well as explaining. And she always offers various stages, so you can go as far as is good for you. She is encouraging you to figure out what feels good for your body while also respecting your limits. Your own possibilities and boundaries are more important than competing or receiving a certain goal. Adjustments are made, if you want to. She taught me to focus on myself to be able to let go. Most people leave her classes with a huge smile on their faces.”
Valentina Karga – “I have done lots of kinds of yoga in many different places in Berlin around the world, because I travel a lot. But since I discovered Pinelopi in the English Yoga Berlin, I felt that this is one of the most sincere, deep and holistic yoga practice I have had and that this is what I was looking for. So, I am going there for several years now and I keep learning this way. I am very grateful for this!”
Nils Riecken – “This is a wonderful place for yoga and Pinelopi is the nicest and most attentive yoga teacher I have had. With her, it doesn’t feel like “sports” as some yoga classes do, but it’s really about relaxing, becoming more attentive of your body, strengthening your body and minding your limits, all at once.”
Jon Ng – “I had the pleasure of taking individual classes with Pinelopi where we focused on meditation and the basics of hatha yoga. Pinelopi is such a wonderfully kind and intuitive teacher, and I always felt comfortable asking her for further explanations. Many of the things we touched on are ideas I now use in my practice every day. Although I have now left Berlin, I know that I will continue learning from her from afar and whenever I am in town :)”
OVERALL WELLNESS JOURNEY
Dharma Addict – “I was lucky to even make it into my first class at English Yoga Berlin. I was there well ahead of time, but the instructor Pinelopi stopped me at the door and told me chances were slim that I’d be able to practice yoga with her this evening. They have many classes on offer at their studio in the exKinder Kino on Görlitzerstr. 39, but the Thursday class at six in the evening is normally full. Pinelopi is very serious about her yoga. To keep up the quality, she only allows 10 students per class. I was pretty impressed with this. I’ve seen classes packed so full there is no room to do the asanas, but in Pinelopi’s Hatha yoga class there were 10 yoga mats laying evenly spaced on 10 fur rugs. It looked lovely. I wanted in the class. There were two others waiting outside the class, hoping to get in as well. If the people who registered and paid for the class didn’t show up by 6PM, they were out and we were in. It’s a hard, cold world sometimes, and this time their misfortune worked in our favor. As the evening church bells were ringing, we were called into the class. I felt a little guilty when I heard the doorbell ring as were moving into the first poses, but I was glad to have a place on the mat.
Absolutely Beginners
There was no such competition or stress once we got in the studio. In fact this was by far the gentlest yoga class that I’ve ever been to. The class started with Savasana, the corpse pose, lying flat on our backs. As we were walking in she was talking the class through a relaxing body scan. She did another corpse pose after our first round of sun salutations. The class moved at a very relaxed pace. She really took the time to allow us to take the time to feel ourselves inside our bodies.
This was a beginners class, but beginners or all levels, mean different things to different instructors. I usually only go to beginners or all level classes, even though I’ve been practicing for years, and I’m still almost always struggling to keep up. But Pinelopi really designed this class with the newbie in mind. She was very good about breaking down all the asanas into moves that each level could do. Every step of the way she would pause and say something like, “If you’re in this pose and are thinking, ‘Wow… cool stretch.’ Then don’t go any farther.” I was warm and sweating after the first couple of sun salutations, but this is the first yoga class that I’ve been to that I wanted to do more than the instructor was asking of me.
A Magic Woman
During the last Savasana, she did a modified Yoga Nidra exercise that was the highlight of the class and made me curious if she was practicing the art of magic. She started with the usual drawing of attention to the body parts, starting with the right hand then focused in on the right thumb, then fingers, moved up the hand and arm and down the body to the toes. She did the same thing with the left side. She started the body scan again from the top of the head and down the front and again from the toes and up the back. According to her bio on the website, she speaks about five languages, but I imagined that her native tongue is Spanish or some other Latin flavor. (I later found out that she is in fact Greek.) Her voice is strong and distinct, and as she spoke, it felt like a firm hand was pressing gently over each body part she mentioned. But even though this was pretty good it wasn’t even close to the best part.
The best part was when she directed our attention to the sounds outside the yoga studio. The yoga studio is right outside of Görlitzer park where the usual hum and thrum of the city prevails. After bringing our attention to the noise, she had us count the sounds we were hearing. I was surprised to find that there was a finite number of sounds, just a few really. Kids were playing. Cars drove by. People were talking in the courtyard. Someone was hammering and that was about it. She had us focus on each sound individually, spending time on each sound before moving to the next. Discretely the sounds were relatively manageable. Then she had us bring all the sounds together and listen to them all at once. It was a few moments into this that she started a Tibetan singing bowl. Slowly and softly the circular ringing tone of the singing bowl rose louder and louder until its sound overpowered all the other sounds we were focusing on. Then she stopped playing and let the sound ring out. As the sound of the singing bowl faded into nothingness, so did all of the other sounds. There was almost total silence in a yoga studio that was just few moments ago swarming with noise from the outside. It was like she took a volume control a turned down all the noise of the city. It was a brilliant and masterful control of the senses.
I asked her about the Yoga Nidra, and she said it was just a small sample of the work that she does. She has a class on Tuesdays at 8PM where she really explores “the yoga of the mind” as she calls it. I put the Tuesday yoga class in my calendar as soon as I got home. I’ve got to try it.
I had a friend ask me a couple of weeks ago, when I told him that I was doing this blog project, if I knew of any really gentle yoga classes, and even though I wanted to sound like an expert, I really didn’t know what to tell him because I had just started the project. But now I know just where to send him, English Yoga Berlin. I encourage you to check one out.”
Irene S.- “I have been a student in Pinelopi’s Studio for some time now. I also attended some of her workshops and retreats and I can say it is a life-changing experience. From recovering from a bicycle accident, getting back normal movement in my knee after an operation, to understanding and daily applying many techniques and resources that are helpful in most situations that I experience every day, I can say that Pinelopi understands the links between the body, the systems in which this body navigates and the emotions around it. Her work is inspiring and has been very important for my recovery from many situations as a patient, as a person and a mother. Her knowledge, her experience and kindness are reflected in the improvement that happens in my life and the life of many I know. She is awesome!”
Andra V.- “Pinelopi’s yoga classes have been a constant part of my training and “me time” for several years. In addition to Hatha yoga, I’m grateful to have had the chance to attend several of her courses on meditation, resourcing, and chakras, as well as Alexander Technique classes and private sessions, including Alexander Technique applied to yoga. Beyond the classes, I’m happy to have joined a few retreats with her and to be part of a wonderful community of people. My body, which often experiences back pain, and my overall well-being have benefited greatly from the practice and her teaching style. One thing I appreciate most about Pinelopi’s teaching is her focus on the present moment and her attention to one’s body and overall being during practice. This increases body and mind awareness, which, in my opinion, helps the healing process. Through her curiosity, knowledge, experiences, and commitment to contributing to a better world, Pinelopi enriches her practice with useful insights about the body, nervous system, and connection to spirit and the world around us.”
Azzurra Camoglio – “Thanks to my Alexander Technique sessions with Pinelopi and Jörg, I have discovered a liberating sense of freedom and effortlessness. Within just a couple of months, Alexander Technique opened the door to a new “me”: I am more relaxed, agile, and self-reliant in my day-to-day life and my perception of how my body works and what I can do with it has changed dramatically. The best part? Thanks to both the sessions with Pinelopi and Jörg and my daily practice on my own, my body awareness is still evolving every single day in a very exciting way. In the past, I used to tense up and put my body under great pressure without even realizing it, and yet now I can notice pretty fast when it happens, correct my “course of action” letting go of my “old” habits, and take advantage of the healthier habits that became available thanks to Alexander Technique. Depending on what my body needs in a specific situation, I now have plenty of options to choose from and every single day is a new opportunity to get to know my body a little bit better and to improve my flexibility.”
Chris L. – “We did not learn how to read today! said six year old me after the first day of school. I thought things done in kindergarten (like holding a pencil and sitting in front of a desk for a while) were all the skills needed to soon read each book of the library. Walking up to the fifth class of AT felt similar to that day. My first lessons of AT had been eye-opening and I saw myself as nearly finished. After double the time, it feels more like I know the basics and have an idea of what is ahead. Quite like the first years in school and reading for fun. Being able to read, I had seen that some books can actually be the door to endless worlds. On a physical plane, AT lessons grounded me more securely by rooting my feet better to the ground. The lessons gave my spirit a calmer home to live in by clearing up the ribcage´s mechanisms for better breathing. My head lifts and connects better to the spine and body. The repositioned skull gives my eyes a new perspective to see clearer and even farther. The position feels more optimal because there is less squinting of the eyes and the turning of the head feels more fluid.”
Rinat – “I found English Yoga Berlin by chance since it was close by my old apartment, and even when I moved far away, I never stopped coming. The teaching, the atmosphere, the welcoming nature of the group and the community built around it turned it to my happy place, my peaceful place and my place to be. Highly recommended to anyone – yogis or not.”
Deli Dels – “I have been to a couple of classes at English Yoga Berlin and it was really something special for me! the environment was really relaxing and nice. I personally liked the kind of yoga they practice there and i just love that they use the tibetan bowls for the relaxations they do at the end of the classes. People were super nice, the environment was great and the place itself seems to be filled with incredibly nice energy and relaxing vibes! I definitely recommend English Yoga Berlin as the best place for discovering and practicing Yoga! :)”
RETREATS & TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Gilly – “It was a fantastic, balanced, joyful, deep weekend and I only wish it was longer! Thank you for the care, the knowledge, the spirit of things you bring into that. My heart expanded and breathed and softened and i am doing as much as I can to keep it there…”
Keith Richards – “I attended a 4 day yoga retreat, that was planned, organised and facilitated by Pinelopi Sioni. At the time of the retreat I had recently suffered from a work-related burnout. During the course of the retreat I experienced a substantial improvement in my symptoms. That improvement proved to be sustainable. In particular I attribute the healing process to Ms Sioni’s professional, thoughtful and empathetic approach to yoga and meditation teaching.”
