Hi, I’m Therese, I am an activist, yoga teacher and researcher, who believes in empowerment through embodiment and the decolonialization of yoga and wellbeing. I work with yoga teachers and unions in workshops and yoga teacher trainings to create an inclusive and fair yoga world. Additionally I work with activists and changemakers to enhance and uplift their effort using the tools of hatha yoga. All of this work is grounded in research and experience.

The Activist

As a queer person, a woman, a mother, as someone who loves her independence and freedom, as a nomad, a traveller, a seeker there is no other way then to be an activist. Unlearning and reinventing motherhood, partnership and family is an activist journey in itself. Campaigning for social justice and equality is an essential part of being me.

I love people. To explore cultures and ways of life is my driving force and passion. Experiencing how different people and peoples live and express themselves in the social sphere inspires me to learn and question my own positionality, actions and bias. What seems to be “normal” might not be in another culture and setting. That encourages me to unlearn the toxic parts of my own culture. As a European/German, white, middle-class cis-person I am privileged in many ways and I grew up taking those privileges for granted. Unpacking that and deconstructing those belief systems and power hierarchies within myself, my body, my mind is what my activism is about. Unlearning my bias, using my privilege and empowering the parts of me that have experienced discrimination and violence, is my activism from within.

This process humbles me and never ends. By showing up in the world with all that I am, giving love and holding space for others to explore and express their own identities is what drives my outward oriented activism.

The Yoga Teacher

Embodiment. Living within one’s body, through one’s body. Embodying all our identities, our traumas, our emotions and our superpowers. Anything can be learned mentally but only be understood fully through the body. To drive a change from within, the urge needs to be felt in the body and theory needs to be materialized to be impactful. For that reason I use physical practice and the toolbox of hatha yoga. I develop tools and techniques to uncover the biases, hold and heal the wounds of injustice and transform.

Transformation from within through mental and physical wellbeing and health is what I aim to achieve for myself and my society. Physical practice and/or asana practice can bring forth the subconscious and therefore our positioning, bias as well as the traumata and the belief systems we hold. All this is manifested in the body. Through skilful and conscious practice we can open ourselves up for the shadows to surface without having to find words or expressions. They can be experienced and worked through with no need for definition or mental understanding. That holds the potential to transform in a beautiful way. Additionally, physical well-being is a key part of feeling good, which makes being good so much easier. The toxicity in our time and culture, namely neoliberalism, forces us to be productive, push our own interest and not listen to our bodies. Unlearning that and making physical well-being an aim of our efforts, will help to transform the system.

However hatha yoga goes beyond the physical. Through an in-depth exploration and exercising of the breath deeper levels of consciousness can be accessed. The rhythm of breath connects us to the rhythms of nature as well as our own depth. Ultimately that leads to meditation. The practice of meditation trains the awareness and introspection needed for self-reflection and transformation. To me meditation has the biggest impact in how I show up in the world, how empathetic and open I am as well as how well I can respect my own boundaries. That results in honouring the others around me better.

The combination of physical exercise, breath and meditation in hatha yoga is genius and it works extremely well, which makes yoga such an amazing tool to drive personal well-being as well as change.  The yogic path is a path of transformation. And transformation is needed on a personal as well as a societal level transformation is the target we need to aim at.

The Researcher

I understand theory as a practice of freedom (bell hooks) and knowledge as a tool for self-empowerment. Therefore discourse, learning, theorizing, philosophy and knowledge transfer are essential parts of my work and my impact. For my research queer theory, postcolonial theory, intersectional feminism, yogic philosophy and poetry are my greatest inspirations. Building the bridge between and linking ancient wisdom to contemporary transformational thought is a key aspect of my research inquiries. All those theories are directed at liberation. Research for me is a way for getting to know myself and my society and understanding what is needed. I love to dive deeply and immerse myself in a topic and exploration completely. Using the mind in this academic way, reading, contemplating and writing is what sparks me and my way forward.