Rolling Asanas – Stillness in Motion
Keeping the Balance in each and every glide
Each glide on the wheels – a snapshot of a single-leg balancing pose in yoga
“Yogas chitta vritti nirodha” – By now, there are Yoga studios all over the world in every western and eastern country and if you ask the Yoga practitioners of this world how they would define Yoga, each and every one would give you a different definition of what Yoga means to them.
“Yogas chitta vritte nirodha” – is the definition by Patanjani and states that as soon as you can still the modifications and activity of the mind, you are in yoga.
By now, I’ve started teaching Yoga in my most favorite Yoga Studio in Cologne, at beautiful Shakti Yoga. The sensation when being in a Vinyasa flow and or meditation and being fully aligned with body, mind and soul comes to me when being on my skates – wheeling around and being fully aligned with body, breath, and mind.
I’d like to think, I’m basically practicing Yoga while skating from place A to place B in my mind.
At the same time, both Yoga and Skating can be physically demanding. The in the western world most prominent part of Yoga – the Asanas – helped me in my time back home to train my body in terms of strength and flexibility for the Skatepacking Journey and now, on the journey, the Yoga Asanas will stay with me to help me keep my body functioning after and before rolling.
Whatever we do in life, it will always be about Balance
In Yoga, we are balancing our whole body on one leg, on our arms or in any other position which is unusual from the common way of balancing our weight on two feet.
In Skating, there is no other way than keeping your balance on your wheels. If Balance is lost, either we do not move anymore or we fall – making balance one of the most essential skills to use and learn on wheels.
Most importantly, in both worlds, we need to balance our brain, our thoughts, our actions, our emotions and our energy according to the place of world that we are living in in that current moment.
In the Western world, Yoga is sometimes reduced to fancy poses and stylish outfits. But at its heart, it’s about presence, breath, and connection. When I speak of Rolling Yoga, I don’t mean to simplify or redefine Yoga or taking away any of the beauty and spirituality of this ancient discipline – Instead, I see it as a way to experience flow, balance, and awareness through movement on wheels, while staying true to its deeper essence.
There’s something meditative about gliding, about finding ease in movement while staying centered – Similar to what we experience in Yoga.
Rolling Asanas – A random selection of Asanas on the road
Virabhadrasana III
Balancing body, mind and soul in motion
Flying Pigeon
Stretching Glutes in between rolling while activation the core
Eka pada koundinyasana
Giving your legs a break and stretch while twisting
Tree Pose
Keeping (supported) Balance
Navasana Variation
Strengthening the core and stretching hamstrings while keeping balance
Rolling Dolphin
To bring space and strength to shoulders and core