Hi, I’m Martina
My work comes from a place of embodied knowledge.
I teach only what I know, and I know what I know because I practice and continue to study many different philosophies and practices with many different teachers.
My first training was in Hatha Yoga, I then trained in Ashtanga, Yin Yoga, Trauma Informed, Self Myo Fascial Release, Yoga & Daoist Energetics, Yoga Nidra and lastly QiGong.
In my youth I suffered lots of violence and trauma. These practices saved me.
They taught me how to find ease not only in the present moment, but also through the challenges of life - which is the best skill ever!
I am here to support YOU, in your own journey, to take control of your nervous system and your life once again.
My Approach
My teachings are rooted in empowerment, care, understanding, acceptance and love. The practices I teach suit the body, not the other way around. It is important to remember that everybody, no matter physical limitations, everybody can practice. The practices can and shall be modified to suit the body's boundaries.
I teach tools and practices that my students can take with themselves to support their own wellbeing at all times.
No headstands just for the sake of it - we are here to heal and regulate.
Why practicing with me
Nobody else but you know what’s going on within your body when you practice. My aim as a teacher is to empower you through the practice, to teach you ways to understand what’s going on for you in that particular moment and what you can do to bring yourself back to balance.
The body is not just an amazing machine, but a container of all that you are beyond your bodily functions: emotions, beliefs, energy and trauma.
Know your boundaries, know yourself and know the steps you need to take in order to bloom.
Why Yoga works for PTSD
Yoga is to still the fluctuations of the mind.
It doesn’t matter the style of Yoga you practice, every yoga practice has the aim to still the mind, to let the true Self arise.
When you suffer trauma, it is very very likely that your nervous system stays stuck in the moment when the trauma(s) occurred.
This often translates to PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and while its symptoms are very varied, trauma survivors might live with unwanted memories and flashbacks, mood changes, feeling on edge or being easily startled and just struggling in general to find ease and relax.
By teaching to be in the present, and therefore recognizing that in this present moment you are safe, Yoga allows you not only to relax and stop the mind from wandering and re-living the trauma(s) but to find ease in the present.
The challenges of Yoga (whether a difficult posture or a longer hold) ask of you presence and to breathe your way through the challenge.
Yoga teaches to find the comfortable through the uncomfortable.
And once you find that place of ease and safety, you can tap back into it at all times.
Wellbeing and peace are always within us, we just need the map to get there.
I am here to give you that map.