Welcome to the official blog for VAVA Yoga, created and run by Bernd and Kasia!  Well... Official is a relative word, as there isn't a great deal official about us, but there's a time and a place for everything.  This blog will keep you updated on where we're going to be and what we're going to be doing, while hopefully delivering some quality insights into life and the ever tricky art of living.

A little about us: my full name is Bernd Windhofer, and I am very much a citizen of the world.  Born and raised in Austria for my first decade, I then moved on to hotter, if not greener, pastures in Australia, where I was to remain for rather a while, before moving on to Singapore for a few years, and more recently London.  I came upon the yogic practices back in 2001, and have had a daily practice from that moment on.  Without wanting to sound overly dramatic, yoga has completely changed my life.  I'm a happier, friendlier, healthier person, and while life hasn't suddenly became the most idyllic, problem-free existence one can dream of, I am now infinitely better at dealing with the inevitable issues that come along.  And that's just the start of what the practice can give. 

Katarzyna Barbara Alexandra Stryczniewicz, or simply Kasia for the uninitiated, grew up in Krakow, Poland, by a truly glorious lake.  She fell in love with the yogic practices the moment she tried them, very quickly booking herself into a month's intensive teacher training, and never looking back.  She spent five years on and off in London, interspersed with bouts of living and practicing in the Bahamas and Canada.  She's said to me time and again that practicing feels like coming home, managing to tap into the unchanging beauty that lives within.  Even in our time together, I have seen her heart unfold and open more and more, and at the same time, a formidable strength grow from a deep place inside her.  She's a truly remarkable young woman, with boundless enthusiasm, and is absolutely brilliant at passing on these teachings, moving people with the yoga practices as the yoga practices have moved her.

Kasia and I met in London in early 2011, and have been growing together on and off the mat ever since.  We've connected with each other through love, and are continuing to explore each other, life and love in all its permutations.

On to the genesis of VAVA Yoga!  We created this name for the entity that is the two of us as yogis and teachers of yoga, with the eventual aim of opening a bricks and mortar school.  In the meantime, we are already booked in for various teaching engagements in different parts of the world, and are looking to continue teaching internationally for a while, as we continue to go with our passion of enabling others to access the incredible transformative power that these practices give. 

Feel free to browse our facebook page, under the name of VAVA Yoga, "like" us if you like us, and enjoy the multitude of photos!  Do get in touch via the facebook page or this blog if you have any questions for us, or simply feel like saying hi.

Life is far from an easy journey, even for the most seemingly privileged of human beings, but when approached with the right tools and attitude, can be an incredible, never ending ride that takes us ever closer to our true nature.  In yoga practice, all we need is our mat, a little time, and a willingness to learn, and the lotus flower at our heart will unfold.  I speak from personal experience that while some of the truths we come across through practice may not be pleasant, they never cease to make us lighter in every possible sense.  Practice, learn, and enjoy the multitude of wonders that surround us every day.

Om namaha

Bernd.