Winnie Winnetu
yoga teacher at yogi living
about winnie
I wanted more freedom, more love and joy in my life. So, I took a huge risk. I put my political science career behind me and left for India to study yoga. This is the story of how I became Winnie Winnetu yoga teacher and what it has come to mean for me.
Winnie Winnetu
how i lost a dream and found yoga
Before I became Winnie Winnetu yoga teacher I lived a very different life. I had a prestigious career in political science which was a dream come true for me at the time. My hope was to be able to contribute to positive change in the world through publication of my research. However, instead of my work being a catalyst for change, what I saw was ever-increasing greed and destruction. So many people living in fear of each other.
My high pressure career was also taking a toll on my health and on a personal level I was stuck in unhealthy relationships. I was unaware of just how much stress was building up in my body in those years, but I had begun to feel a urgent need to find a new way forward. The seed of a new version of me, Winnie Winnetu, was ready to sprout.
In short, I wanted more freedom, more love and joy in my life. So, I took a huge risk. I put my political science career behind me and left for India to study yoga philosophy.
Winnie Winnetu In India
Going to India was about seeking a deeper dimension of life, finding a philosophy with deeper values. India became a second home for me. What I brought back with me changed my life. India was where Winnie Winnetu was born.
I went to learn yoga, took training as a yoga teacher and was teaching my own yoga classes. I travelled back and forth between the order of Sweden and the chaotic marketplaces, vibrant colors and temple songs that are India.
Indian philosophy taught me to look at myself, my attachments, my relationships. I started to see them in a new way. Years of accumulated stress left my body. Gone was the pain and inflammation I had known. My friends said I looked 10 years younger. I felt that way too. I had shed my old skin and become Winnie Winnetu.
Winnie Winnetu In Sweden
For 5 years I ran yoga teacher training courses in India. Then started to feel a pull to open my own yoga center in Sweden. This manifested as Yogi Living Ashram, where I now do most of my yoga teaching and use my adopted name of Winnie Winnetu.
I was surprised when people began telling me they felt my yoga teaching was very healing. I had never considered myself a healer. What a wonderful discovery! It is what still drives me to teach today. Healing people creates a profound sense of happiness in me.
In the world of yoga, I see images of perfect yoga poses, perfect bodies and branded accessories. Yoga is not how we look it is about connecting mind and body. A process that takes place inside you. The least flexible student can be the one most truly practicing yoga. Turn attention inward and you notice subtle energy currents. Let them guide your practice. You will be amazed at the difference it makes!
Teaching yoga
I teach original forms of yoga that I learned first-hand from Indian yogis and Tibetan monks. I integrate this ancient knowledge with modern scientific research into yoga.
There is a large body of research confirming the health benefits of yoga and how yoga practice works on the root cause of most diseases: chronic stress. It is important to know which yoga practices to use for which physical condition and for what result. The different forms of yoga work on your body in quite specific ways.
Typically, my yoga classes are improvised. By sensing the needs of my students I intuitively give what is most needed.
Tantra yoga
Love is the only thing that really matters. I believe that it is not knowledge that we lack when trying to build a better world. It is love.
I set out to teach tantric techniques of love and connection. I do not teach the distorted version (neo-Tantra) defined by uninhibited sex. The kind of Tantra yoga I teach creates a love connection between people. There are many methods for this.
The most fundamental technique is the tantric hug. This is a wonderful technique for opening up the heart. Using synchronized breathing and feeling into each other’s heart center, it is possible to connect and share love energy. This is something you can practice with your partner to reach a higher level of love. It is also a practice that can be shared with anyone.
Kundalini Awakening
Kundalini yoga kriyas consist of practices sitting in asana and focussing the mind to move energy through the chakras.
I am confident if you practice Kundalini yoga every day, in time you will certainly experience a level of Kundalini Awakening. I had my own awakening through Kundalini yoga practice. It is a magical experience I would love to facilitate in other yogis.
Kundalini yoga also promises a deeper more lasting balance in life. I can create a protective shield around myself, keeping me emotionally stable, regardless of the situations I face. I feel the difference if I forget to practice for a few days! I am less stable, more prone to fear and anger, and more sensitive to others moods and projections.
Yoga therapy
Yoga therapy creates a strong foundation for physical and mental wellbeing. It is particularly effective for stress, anxiety and depression. My classes are based on an easy set of practices taken from Hatha and Yin Yoga. Also, I take my students into a deep trance Yoga Nidra journey that replaces negative energy with positive and always brings a smile to peoples faces.
I bring into class whatever my students need. Some need anger release and so I teach the tantrum kriya. Some need to release stress through laughter and so I teach laughter yoga. The needs of the class are what matters most.
Students who are open to receive healing experience near-instant stress release. Moreover, longer regular practice creates long-term healing.
Winnie Winnetu
my yoga philosophy
Yoga for me is personal transformation. I believe that controlling and opening up for your energy flow is essential to curing prolonged periods of accumulated emotional stress, and career stress, finding self-love, and even restoring youthfulness (as age is determined more by your energy flow and less by your physical age).
In my classes, I like not to be confined to any style, but to blend these styles for the ultimate result in order to maximize the healing effect on the energy flow of the body and balance heart and mind.
We have the ability to change. More than just becoming Winnie Winnetu, we can change the destructive patterns of humanity caused by too much greed and too little love. I firmly believe that Yoga can positively contribute to a society based on love and compassion for all living beings rather than a society based on material possessions and greed.
Yoga For The Vagus Nerve: Is It The Antidote To Stress?
Yoga for the vagus nerve lowers anxiety and is profoundly relaxing. Regular practice reduces stress hormones, boosts the immune system and improves sleep.
Living as a tantrika
Yoga can change your life. I know because it happened to me. I had a career in political science, but wanted more freedom, love and joy in my life. So, I took a huge risk. I put my career behind me and left for India to study yoga. I chose to become Winnie Winnetu.
I hope Living As A Tantrika inspires you to practice yoga and one day come see us at Yogi Living.