“You are enough” – a phrase you come across again and again in the yoga scene. Surely you’ve heard it, too. But what does it mean? That you are already good as you are right now; that you don’t have to change anything about yourself to deserve love, success and all the good things in this world. An important reminder in today’s society, where advertising and social media always give us the impression that we need to be thinner, prettier, richer.

In the yoga world, on the other hand, we learn acceptance: we learn to respect our body and its limits and – almost shockingly – to love it, too. And with the thought of being enough comes the thought of having enough: Enough money, enough clothes, enough stuff. And then, quite possibly, the realization of doing enough also creeps in: enough working, enough being there for others.

The concept of “being enough” is very present in yoga and in the scene. Rightly so, in my opinion! The thing is: Yoga itself is not enough for me.

What do I mean by that?

Maybe you’re thinking “yoga isn’t enough for her? What the hell is she trying to say?”.

Or maybe it’s unusual for a yoga teacher to utter such a thing. Shouldn’t yoga be my life saver and life purpose? No. Absolutely not.

What I mean by that statement is that I don’t want to walk through the world with blinders on. I don’t want to be exclusive to the yoga scene, I want to try other forms of exercise, have other hobbies, I want to meet people who have nothing to do with yoga.

Here’s why:

I have a wide range of interests

I have always been very enthusiastic and curious. This combination ensures that I can warm up to many different topics and want to learn more about them once the spark is lit. From my perspective, there are so many incredibly great things in the world that deserve my attention that I would consider it a waste to dwell on just one of them. For me, it’s water sports and books, but I also love drawing, even though I’m not particularly good at it 🙂

It makes me a better teacher

If you’ve ever looked around this blog, you’ll notice that other categories pop up besides “Yoga”. The two categories, “Ayurveda“ and “Journaling“ are regularly incorporated into my teaching. Why? Because they complement yoga perfectly. Ayurveda is even the sister science of yoga, but nowhere near as mainstream as yoga. And journaling? This method beautifully supports introspection in yoga. Would it be enough for me to simply say in class, “It’s fall right now, so it’s Vata time,” or would it be enough to just research some journal prompts online and give them to my students? Not to me. I wanted to dive deeper into these topics, so I educated myself to really add value to my classes, for the people who participate.

And even the things that are completely foreign to yoga at first glance make me a better teacher. Through other sports like swimming, diving, hiking, I experience the benefits of yoga in completely new areas on the one hand, and on the other hand I broaden my horizons – which brings me to the next point.

I do not want to have tunnel vision

Neither as a teacher nor as a private person I want to be someone who is only concerned with the yoga world.

I don’t think it does anyone any good to only stay within a single scene and never dare to look outside the box.

The flexibility that our body acquires in yoga should also be present in the mind, and that happens best through diverse experiences and exchange with people – even with people who are not necessarily like-minded. Especially with people who have nothing at all to do with yoga, very interesting dialogues often develop. It’s a great feeling to be able to learn from each other and to inspire each other.

How about you? Are you a yoga enthusiast and if so, how much space does it occupy in your life? And if you are not (yet) a yoga enthusiast – what brought you here? And what is it that you are otherwise engaged in? Share what you’re passionate about in the comments!