Resilience in Softness

Hello to everybody, my name is Alexandra. I am a writer, yoga teacher and mum of two kids. In the first half of my life, I was pretty much of a yang type person, you could have called me a “tough cookie”. I did it my way, and I did pretty well. I was quite successful at an early age. In my 20´s I worked as a journalist, interviewed war criminals for the BBC and reported about German skinheads. In my 30´s I finished a screenwriting school and wrote screenplays for feature films with well known actors. At the age of 40 I followed my passion- Yoga - did a yoga teacher training and right away worked as a teacher at Spirit yoga.

All of a sudden life changed. I gave birth to my second child, and shortly after, I had a life-threatening surgery. The moment I woke up from the anesthesia, all had changed. The inside pressure was gone. Lying in hospital I was just amazed by the simple fact of being able to breathe, to feel, to smell, to taste – of the wonder of being alive. Life never went back to where it was before. It took me two years to recover. Two years where I had to learn new tools of resilience. Higher, faster, further, did not work anymore. Not a single bit. Not one single day. I had to be patient. With my body, with my heart, with my soul. And I needed people to walk alongside with me on that new, soft road which turned out to be truly beautiful and heartfelt. My muscles were weak, my thinking was slow, my warrior confidence was shocked. I had to learn a new language. The language was called softness. The more words of the new language called softness I learned, the more resilience I found within. I started with my body. I discovered the somatic floor work SATYA of Tias Little, where gravity is invited as your best friend, where the body is given time and space to heal itself. I filled my connective tissues, muscles, joints, nerves and fibers with ease. I learned the ability to move gently, soft and small. I discovered the joy, the beauty and the grace in moving my body with non-forcing techniques. Slowly but consistently I built a vibrant strength from within, which prepared me to step back in the role of a yoga teacher and to have the opportunity to also work with the wonderful Ana Forrest on the Advanced Teacher Training.

“The most gentle thing in the world, overcomes the most hard thing in the world.” Lao Tzu.

Today I am pretty much back to normal and I think we all need both. The soft and the strong. The sukha and the sthira. The space for oneself and the community. The warrior shoes and the gentle heart. We need resilience in softness which can be found in any yoga pose and in the approach to life in general.

Have you ever tried to tenderly hold space for yourself in your yoga practice? Have you ever played with filling a strong pose with a soft approach and a soft pose with strong breathing? Have you ever truly listened to what makes a person speak instead of just listening to their words? Have you ever walked slowly, feeling the earth under your feet while observing the beauty in every day life? Have you ever tried to smile at a stranger, just like that? Have you ever whole hearteldly said “I am sorry” when you hurt somebody – regardless of being right or wrong? … And have you ever tried to write down in your own words where you find resilience in softness? I am happy to offer my yoga and professional writing tools and experiences together with the amazing heart felt tools of Sita Menon and share it with all of you in the workshop resilience in softness on February 16th.

Two hands together, Alexandra.