For me, yoga means home, peace, and a safe space to grow. Only metaphorically speaking, because it is life on the road and the daily change of environment that helps me truly live the yoga philosophy on and off the mat. Through these pictures and a few words, I’ll try to pass on some of the insights from our life in the van to you.

FREEDOM

Yoga can be done truly anywhere and it´s only on us deciding when and where we want to hold our practice. This fact gives me such relief and freedom to discover the world. Since I have been travelling and road-tripping (already for some years now), I have done my yoga practice every morning no matter where I am – sometimes I find myself by beautiful lakes, mountains or the ocean, and sometimes I wake up at a parking spot, just next to the road... But my practice is still there, waiting to wake me up and prepare for the day. During the warm months or in the warm destination it is a bit easier to find the yoga spot - nature is calling and waiting for us with open arms to reconnect with her and practice outdoors. For me, that is the best spot for my practice. The perfect and endless yoga studio. This possibility of being outside, breathing the fresh air, and using our senses to truly feel the place, gives another dimension to my practice.

STABILITY During our type of slow travelling, there is no schedule, no plans, and we rarely know where we’ll end up. ( slow travelling is my favourite way how to travel. You need nothing more than time and patience. In my opinion, that's the only way to fully tune in to the place you are in, the nature around you and meet with local people and their culture. It gives you a deeper experience that you wouldn't find through travel guides.) I love that, but I also need a little stable point in my day. And that´s yoga for me. It’s the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning. It’s the best medicine for my body and mind. Always with me whenever I am getting lost.

SIMPLICITY Life is simple when we know what makes us happy. In our case, it is nature, sports and yoga. The best all together. So why seek more? This little home - van we have allows us to be close to it all the time. Simply just by opening one door. Maybe one day, we will want to change our lifestyle and settle down, who knows? But I am quite sure that currently, this is the perfect home situation we could ever dream of.

CONNECTION

This has happened to me already so many times. We ended up in a beautiful spot to sleep with multiple other travellers like us. I do my sunrise morning routine, alone, everyone else is still sleeping. During the day we exchange a few talks and the next morning instead of waking up alone, there are suddenly four of us, practising the Sun salutations together! I love sharing my passion, inspiring and creating moments like this.

MINIMALISM Among other similarities between the yoga philosophy and the van life is the act of non-attachment. In the van, it is mostly to things and places. Our backyard is unlimited. On the contrary, the inside space we have is very limited. That means not buying useless things. It applies to everything – from clothes to food. Indeed our outdoor sports gear takes up a bit of space, but luckily, for yoga, nothing is needed. It’s all within you (maybe a mat, but my travel-thin mat is light and doesn't take up much!)

EXPLORE What a wonderful world! Exploring new places out there in the amazing nature, every day, thanks to our mobile home. Exploring new inner adventures, feelings and the asana´s impact on me, thanks to yoga and meditation practice. This creates the needed balance and reset point for the mind after (or before) all the new experiences. Through this reset, we store them nicely inside, and we get grounded and prepared for what happens next.

SUSTAINABILITY

By living in a van, I´ve learnt how much water we use in our daily life. In the real house, we almost don't realize it (only when we pay the bills by the end of the month). But here, if we wouldn´t pay attention, our full tank (100l) could go away in a flash! And so we care. (Because searching for water streams every day is a bit annoying and also because we know that the water on this planet is precious and we want to leave it to nature as much as possible.) And, in the end, the cold morning swims/showers in the Scandinavian lakes and rivers start to have a very beautiful charm.

A few tips on how to stay true to your daily practice while travelling

• Travel slow
• Nature is the perfect yoga spot
• Take your travel mat with you
• Wake up before others to have the peace-solo time for your practice
• Create a small routine to get grounded before going to bed
• Try a local studio in a local language
• Create unusual connections through yoga with your fellow travellers

About us – how and why we started with van life To be on the road, to discovering nature, people, and cultures with all their languages and beliefs has always been my dream. I like to leave an impact everywhere I go, by sharing my passion for yoga and conscious living. It somehow all clicked when I met with my boyfriend, who is an outdoor photographer and who was already living in the van for some time. Our view on life matched and we decided to discover this beautiful planet together, having our small home with us, and being grateful for the free-lance work that allows us to be outside for most of our time, enjoying the nature that surrounds us