SANDRA SCHULTZE
Mysore Yoga Paris, Feb 2019
Name: Sandra Schultze
Nationality: German
Occupation: Video Editor, Film-photographer, Yoga teacher
When and how did you start practicing yoga? I was always quite cynical about these weird people chanting Om with hands in prayer pose. It always made me think of those funny scary hippies chanting Hare Krishna on the streets of Les Halles when I was a teenager. Somebody told me that it was a sect. So I kept my distance with everything that sounded or looked spiritual. I guess I just didn’t understand, and my ignorance kept me away. But one day I fell in love with a man who was practicing yoga. I watched him moving on his mat in the morning light and understood how wrong I was. I asked him to teach me. That was my first sun Salutations. That was five years ago.
How did you find Mysore Yoga Paris? This man I fell in love with, was not living in France. And because I had no clue where to start I asked him what classes in Paris he would recommend. He googled a bit, found a few studios, and told me I should try this « Mysore Yoga Paris » place.
Describe what the Shala is to you? The Shala is the place I go to with a feeling of joy and urge to fulfil, and that I leave with more joy, with peace in my mind and with a feeling of being fulfilled. There is something like a simple comforting promise about it. Like a home, a mountain, effortlessly and naturally strong and stable.
Has a committed Mysore practice changed you, how? It has changed me in many subtle ways. I am not sure if it is only cultivating a committed Mysore practice - it is perhaps also the general yoga path that I encountered quite late in life. Many things changed, from my way of living, my priorities in life, my relationships, my level of stress, my level of confidence, my perceptions of things, my focus of interest, what I eat, how I care for my body and health, my relationship with time... All these things and many others changed and are changing even beyond my will or control. It just happens, from within.
What inspires you to continue practicing? The feeling that I am accompanied and supported in my transformations by my practice, by my teacher, by the community.
Does your practice influence your work as a film-photographer & editor in what way? The practice made me step out of my edit room. It made me understand that I had to get more in touch with people and work with communities. I am still editing, but I am also shooting and teaching more and more. The practice gave me confidence, tranquillity and a little more distance.
Your practice in 3 words: Fulness, Anchor, Softness.
Where do you go to find peace in Paris? The Père Lachaise cemetery which is like a haven of peace in midst of the city. Visitors are keeping low and quiet, in respect for the dead. It is a silent place of Savasana Masters.