If we’ve learned anything in the past 1,5 years is that we really really need to be more aware of our own mental health and wellbeing than ever before. Self-care was of course already a thing before the pandemic, but it certainly reached a wider audience during it due to the mental stress and isolation many of us went through.
But of course, self-care is a very subjective practice and everyone has a different understanding of it. From sharing inspirational quotes on Instagram, visiting yoga classes, or taking the time to cook a healthy dinner for one – self-care has so many faces. My personal version of self-care is taking a long bath with tinted green lights while fantasizing about hikes in the tropical jungle, and sometimes I take myself out to brunch alone. On the other hand, we have this writer who joins orgies as a form of self-care. Well, everyone to their own, right?
Our partner in crime Sophia Halamoda, with who we published the fabulous Like A Berliner book, has come out with an adorable comic about her own self-care routine, and let’s say, it is really of a different kind… But look for yourself!
Read on…
by Frank | Stories
Especially in winter when the days are short and the light is gloomy, every Berliner wishes to hop on a plane to Bali or at least to South Europe. But all the plane-hopping is surely not so good for our planet and not the best choice if you have a fulltime job and a family here in Berlin.
Exactly 11 years ago on a really hard winter night, a friend of mine brought me to my first SUNYOGA class in Kreuzberg. Afterward, I felt completely exhausted but in the nicest way. Like you had spent a whole day at the ocean. Back then I had never heard of the concept of Hot Yoga and did not know anything about the health benefits and how it would change my life for good.
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by Claudio | Wellness
In this day and age, we are constantly exposed to countless impressions and digital distractions that leave us exhausted. Many apps try to reach us with their push messages, while social media is making it easy to compare ourselves to our high-achieving colleagues at work. And if that isn’t enough stress, living in a big city like Berlin, life is loud and busy. In need of good wellness tips, I reached out to the amazing Michaela Aue, who has got detoxing and balanced living down, like no other. Michaela works as a yoga teacher and consultant and has recently launched a very powerful podcast, Die Kunst du selbst zu sein (The art of being you), that discusses everything we need for a balanced and healthy life.
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by Franziska | People, Wellness
artist: Sean Norvet.
Even if you don’t agree with any form of drug use, there is a controlled or more healthy way to consume many substances, and there are many different reasons why people seek that respective substance. Knowing and reflecting on these different forms of how and reasons, why people are looking for their high, can prevent a lot of misunderstandings and stigmas in our everyday life. In light of the Altered Conference, held in Berlin for the first time in 2017, with workshops, talks and rituals on the subject of psychedelics, conscious drug practices, and the social issues that come along with it, we thought about different approaches to substance use that exist here. After all, it’s not as easy as You take drugs, so you’re a total wreck! In collaboration with the Altered team, we put together a list of 5 different scenes and motivations that are significant in Berlin.
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by Andy | Stories
Miramonti Hotel
Even if you live a healthy lifestyle between yoga classes and Quinoa Avocado bowls: a big city like Berlin with its hustle and bustle is surely not beneficial for our health. Air pollution, sound pollution, electric pollution are just a few annoying things. Where I suffer actually the most are bars that feel like a deep dive into an ashtray full of cigarettes or the typical 12-hour working shifts sitting in offices destroying your eyes in front of a flickery computer. Of course, Berlin has beautiful nature with plenty of lakes and forests just outside the city. But the landscape is flat and boring like a pancake. So if you want to breathe pure mountain air and get an eyegasm while checking out the curvy Dolomites you have to follow us on our little Berlin escape down to South Tyrol.
We have been a fan of this region for several years now and try to get there as often as we can. This time around we had the chance to try out some specific health and balance activities the tourism office of South Tyrol is offering. Not only the pricing of this program is more than fair. On South Tyrol Balance you have the chance to choose from so many different activities that you will be surprised how many diverse experiences you can have in just one region.
Below we will guide you through our 7 favorite South Tyrol wellness experiences with some pretty awesome pictures we took over there.
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by Claudio | Travel, Wellness
“Would you like a make-over?” This is usually not the kind of question you want to hear from anybody (especially family or friends who should always love you the way you like). But when this question comes in an eMail send by Brunette – a hair salon some of my friends were already telling me so much about – Frank and I didn’t think twice about giving it a try.
A couple of months ago we decided to arrange a “hair date” to test this newly redesigned hair salon inside a former barn. Actually, for me it was more like a social experiment to see if a hair dresser would dare to tell my dear Frank to cut his rocker hair off. But unfortunately the gay couple who runs this place, Lars and Andre, have more an open heart for the well-being and the comfort of their customers rather than my entertaining hidden agenda. So be it! The hair date went fine, and while I really got quite a strong make-over, Frank just got what he wished for: a little trim of the end of his long blonde hair.
The salon is situated in a hidden courtyard at Tempelhofer Ufer, not too far away from the gallery district of Potsdamer Straße. The whole area around Potsdamer Straße has become the new it-place. So Brunette might be on your way if you want to spend your night at some vernissage or other social event in that area.
Still we recommend to make an appointment when you have some free time to spare to enjoy their treatments and care to the fullest. The address and some images after the jump.
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by Claudio | Schöneberg, Wellness
photos: Grit Siwonia
Yoga is just for yuppies, for crazy hippie women or for body fanatics. The prejudices about yoga are numerous and persistent. And they are all true. Because yoga is for everybody. The yoga world is one of the most non-excluding bubbles I have ever stumbled upon. Either you wear a suit and work in a bank all week or wear a long hippie gown and sell tea in a tea shop. It doesn’t matter anymore when you are standing on the mat practicing yoga together. And that is actually kind of the best social side effect of yoga. People who would never interact with each other start speaking with a cup of tea in their hand after the class. For me it is the diversity of people practicing yoga that makes it a great social adventure all the times I go to my sun yoga studio.
If you are intrigued by this world of yoga and spirituality but never got the chance to experience it I can warmly recommend the Agape Zoe Festival. Inside in the paradisiac Eden Studios (where contemporary dancers train during the week) this weekend from September 10th till 11th a great spectrum of yoga, meditation and other approaches to all kinds of mind and body practices are presented. And since it is Berlin after the yoga classes there will be a nice electronic DJ set to finish gloriously. If you want to participate you can buy a ticket our take part in our raffle in the comments area. Check out their website for more info and watch the trailer and more photos after the jump.
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by Claudio | Wellness
photos: Alicia Kassebohm
The fertile fuel of the mythic Berlin of the 90s and early 2000s was the abundance of unused buildings and spaces all around the city, especially in the East. So many business opportunities for small entrepreneurs, night clubs, music venues and even for yoga studios became possible through affordable space. This created a spirit of daring, bold minds open to new and experimental entrepreneurial concepts. And even if the rents nowadays are rising, this spirit remains to enrich the city day by day with yet another new amazing local business.
One month ago my friend and Yoga teacher Michaela Aue discovered a hidden gem in the second backyard of Prenzlauer Allee: an unused loft space with the rough Eastern charm of 90s Berlin. The space inspired her to team up with meditation expert Sophie Weiser to create a unique idea: Your Space – a creative hub that doesn’t need a label. Your Space will offer regular yoga and meditation classes during the week and unique and inspiring workshops in different disciplines on the weekend. Well connected to the local scene Michaela and Sophie gathered some of the best teachers and practitioners in town to celebrate the art of connecting body and mind.
Check out their weekly schedule here and follow them on Facebook for news and updates. More pictures, address and info after the jump.
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by Claudio | Prenzlauer Berg, Wellness
A lot of the big cities of this world are known for their fast pace and stressfulness – not so Berlin. Here we like a more calm and relaxed lifestyle and we like to use every opportunity to come down and forget about our daily grind. Maybe it’s also because we have some amazing options in terms of wellness places that makes us so relaxed. In this spirit, we want to introduce some of our favourite destinations of beauty and wellness in Berlin. With these yoga studios, spas, gardens, salons and holistic retreats, you can easily escape the busy metropolis for a while, clear your mind and find tranquility. Click on to see our suggestions on where you can go to unwind and pamper yourself! Read on…
by Skylar | City Guide, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Schöneberg
photo: Kai Bienert
Sound pollution? Hmm, interesting. I think for being such a big city Berlin is very quiet. Perhaps you might disagree if you live on the Karl-Marx-Allee or the Danziger Straße but compared to the busy and irritating noise of any other city even these two streets are quiet and even monotonous in their noise production. The reason why Berliners have probably more hearing problems than other people is the infinity of ways you can voluntarily put yourself in danger. Yeah, yeah, the old story of Berlin being the capital of Techno. Well, if you are hearing a strange noise inside your head you should take the opportunity to get yourself into the Music Spa of the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin called New Music Spa – The Book of Wellness at Radialsystem V. More infos after the jump. Read on…
by Claudio | Entertainment, Events, Friedrichshain, Music
