Über veränderbare Morgenroutinen und verschiedene Stile in der Meditation

Vielen Dank an Marianne und Natalie von Soul Collective Berlin, die mich in ihrem wöchentlichen Soul Sessions Newsletter interviewt und vorgestellt haben. Im Interview sprechen wir u.a. über Morgenroutine und Meditation. Ich verrate, wie sich meine Morgenroutine je nach Laune, Lebenslage, Bedürfnissen und Jahreszeit flexibel verändert, erkläre verschiedene Stile in der Meditation und wie man die für sich „richtige” bzw. passende Meditation findet.

Hier könnt ihr das gesamte Interview lesen.

What is your morning ritual?
My morning ritual changes a lot according to my mood and current needs, to the seasons and my life situation. I like to be flexible with my routine, and this is also what I teach. When you have the tools to ground, energize, calm and inspire yourself, you can create a new routine whenever you want. What never changes is my routine of tongue scraping first thing in the morning and drinking some warm water. Now in summer, I like to silently drink my water while preparing a morning tea which I take up to the rooftop terrace. There I sip my tea, enjoy the morning quietude, journal a bit and meditate, mostly just closing my eyes, observing my breath, welcoming myself into my body and this new day on earth, observing the sounds around me, and just tuning in. It’s a freestyle routine, and it may change tomorrow.

What styles of meditation do you practice and teach? 
Alone I practice mostly silent sitting, observing my breath, sometimes in combination with a little pranayama before diving into silence or also some movement. I love active meditations, but to be honest, they are more fun and also more powerful when done in a group. Still, on some days, I practice a little kundalini meditation by myself (shaking and dancing before sitting still and observing the energy flow).

My teaching depends a lot on the context: For shorter online group sessions, I usually go for either mindfulness-based meditations, Chakra meditations with visualizations or a short version of Osho’s Kundalini meditation. In my 1:1 trainings, I introduce my clients to a broad selection of all the techniques I love and which I think might work for them so that they can choose according to their preferences. And during a retreat, when we have three days or a week, I always try to include a few different ones, taking the participants on a journey.

What initially inspired you to share meditation with others? 
Becoming a meditation teacher was never my plan. I started out of pure interest and curiosity, and went on exploring with no specific agenda or goal. I tried many rather different styles – Osho’s active meditations, chakra meditations, a Vipassana retreat and an MBSR course. The MBSR course with its non-spiritual, purely scientific approach, which was yet so powerful, inspired me to want to share the gift of meditation with the people around me, even those who had reservations against meditation, so that they too could benefit from it. In the end, I didn’t train to be an MBSR teacher, but this is when the seed was planted.

I did my first facilitations in an Osho camp in Greece, where I also trained. There I led classes of more than 20 people at once, live, in person, in flesh and blood and with lots of sweat. Through covid, much of my offerings happened online, but now I’m back to both live in person sessions and online sessions.

What are the differences between active and passive meditation, and how can someone find the meditation style that is right for them?
The most important difference is obviously that active meditations are active. They usually follow a certain choreography: You move your body to music/sounds and in some you also produce sounds yourself (e.g. humming or gibberish). Active meditations give the mind something to focus on without intellectualizing.

To find what’s right for you, just try these different practices without taking yourself too seriously. Active meditations can be a really nice entry-point for all those who think they cannot meditate because they find it hard to sit still and quiet the mind.

Osho said: Give a technique a chance and try it for a few days in a row to see if you like it. If you like it and it does something for you, do it until you’re done with it. But if you find out fast that you don’t like it, it’s okay to drop it without trying to force yourself into it. Plus, always important to remember: the method is not the meditation and meditation is not a method. The method is just the tool. Meditation is what happens inside of you.

What can someone expect from joining your “Endless Summer Retreat” this November on Mallorca? 
The “Endless Summer Retreat” on Mallorca takes us out of grey Berlin/Germany and drops us into a gorgeous place on earth for a week, with a lush green garden and a pool. It’s just the perfect setting to relax, recharge and (re)connect. We always have super nice groups in which all ages and levels, all bodies and genders come together. Last year, we had people from their late twenties to their mid-fifties. The program is a nicely choreographed journey combining yoga (nidra and yin but also power yoga), different meditations (mindfulness-based still and silent meditations, walking meditation, active meditations), breathwork, sound journey(s)… Maybe we’ll even integrate a powerful and sweaty dance and HIT session by the pool if we feel like it – we always leave some space for improvisation and adjust our schedule to what the group needs. People can also look forward to delicious soul food by our local chef Inalu. One afternoon is completely free, so people can explore the surrounding countryside or take a taxi to explore the island.

How did you first connect with Clarissa, and what do you love about working with her? 
We met during a potluck picnic in a park organized by a yoga studio we were both working for. We immediately clicked and stayed connected through Instagram. I went to one of her moon circles, and she joined one of my meditations. A few months later, when I was hibernating in Tenerife, she asked me if I wanted to facilitate the meditation sessions of her autumn retreat in Brandenburg. Doing my own retreats had been a dream for a while, and I even put “retreats” and “co-creation” on my vision board. So it was a clear: “Hell yes!” A few days later, she sent me the link to Tramuntana Flow, our Mallorca retreat space. She said she knew it was a little crazy since we had never even worked together but asked if I wanted to do this with her too. I was intrigued but also a little overwhelmed. My Human Design is projector with emotional authority, and I always need a little time to feel things through. A few days later, I said yes. And the rest is history.

In general, we really flow together: Our knowledge and styles complement each other. She brings in breathwork and a more sporty yoga style, and I bring meditations and yin yoga. This way, we co-create very versatile experiences.

(More info on Clarissa: https://www.clarissadierang.de/)

Do you have any upcoming events or offerings? How can we stay connected with you? 
Already planned are the following group events:

• Sound Bath with Clarissa, Saturday, September 9th 11am to 12:15pm
• Autumn Bliss Retreat in Brandenburg with Clarissa, October 20 to 22nd. Places are filling up, so don’t wait too long.
• Endless Summer Retreat in Mallorca with Clarissa, November 4th to 11th – a few places left.

In the pipeline:

• I’m planning an all-day Active Meditation Experience event with 6 active Osho meditations in one day. Probably in Neukölln. The date is not yet fixed, but it will probably happen on a Saturday or Sunday in autumn (September or Octiber). Those who are interested can leave their email address HERE.

How to work with me:

• You can join the before-mentioned group events (retreats or sound journeys) or work with me as your personal meditation trainer in 1:1 sessions or book a package for a life coaching – which also includes meditation.
• You can also book a private retreat or a private sound journey with me.

Noémie recommends: