Olivier Sebastiaan Soffer

Vinyasa - en Hatha Yoga. Lead Teacher at the YMA.

When I did my first yoga class it felt like coming home. This may sound a bit frumpy but it just was like that. And maybe some of you recognize this feeling which is beyond words.

I tried Transcendental Meditation from Mahesh Maharishi Yogi and many other spiritual practices on my path. It was the tantra which truly transformed me and the Advaita ( Non Dualistic ) teachings that awakened me. There where even moments I thought about dropping all forms of practice after that. After all, what is needed when you are awake ?


But then there is a big disappointment in your life, a setback. You encounter stuff that puts you right back on earth. You are in pain. Mental pain that can be so strong it also becomes physical. This makes you humble again. Realizing that you are just a human being with its ups and downs.

So I returned back to my mat which was there all the time waiting for me. It welcomed me like a long lost friend. The hatha/vinyasa practice does not deny the pain. It welcomes the pain too.

Even at moments that my mind was so restless that there was not one moment of stillness during the full practice. Even then I experienced improvement after the class. Asana brings you home. Asana is the most Non Dual approach you can imagine. It says yes to the full package.

The mind, the body, the emotions, everything.

Yoga is the connecting door. Your mat is always here for you. It does not say I will take your pain away. That would only be disrespectful to the pain and its source. It welcomes the pain to. It shows you, it's okay to feel. That is just prove that you are alive. Finding the okayness with all emotions and feelings is the true liberation. No fairytales.

This insight made me wanna share the gift. Combining the knowledge of the non-dual teachings with the emotional aspects of tantra and the place where you are always home. Yoga.

Please join me on this path with no destination than the travel itself.

Olivier