The strike was quite simple and objectively not very nice. I simply stopped teaching my own classes in my own Yoga shala. I announced it on the website and our telegram group, but still people faced closed doors.
I saw no other way of getting a response from students practicing with me, because all prior "more inviting" (as usually demanded) calls kept being ignored.
Do you know about climate change, do you care about it, do you act accordingly?
I would have preferred not to go on this strike and losing more than a whole month of income, even maybe lots of practitioners who don't like the way I do it even if in theory they understand the problem.
I certainly prefer never to to make anyone frustrated, angry or sad.
But please understand the background of all this. The only alternative at this point would have been giving up all hope in Yoga, leave it to selfishness and capitalism and close the Shala exactly after 20 years.
I'll try to explain the reasons here. It takes time to read my thoughts. But believe me it takes ten times more to think and write them. Please forgive textual flaws. It's tough to write and edit texts in two languages with a very limited amount of time.

Over the past ten years I've tried to motivate people around me to engagine in whatever ecological or social they could imagine, on a personal plane, locally or globally. Without much success.
Even (or especially?) those, who can practice "yoga" every single day, claimed having not enought time even once a year for protesting against our governments that the violate the human rights of all children on this planet.
It's logical that we invest more time and money for selfish interest. But not even the slightest bit for altruistic engagement?
A terrible thought started to rise within me: Are maybe Yoga practitioners in average even more selfish than other people? Has the altruistic agenda of Yoga become so much perverted, that it attracts, excuses and even promotes selfishness? Has the hypocricy of so many famous social media Yoga teachers poisoned enough people that Yoga must be given up? Is Yoga just a symptom or has it even become a cause of selfishness? Have even I unwillingly supporting or even created a monster?
Instagram and Facebook are full of "Yogis", celebrating a hedonistic and selfish lifestyle party in the global South.
But where are those who don't find this behavior appropriate in the face of the global disaster caused by this? Millions of people die right now because of climate change and we have nothing better to do than throwing fuel on their heads? Just for winter comforts plus Yoga to forget that this very behavior is responsible for that?

<> In December 2023, a visiting long term Ashtanga practitioner from Norway asked me for a social discount for a few classes. No problem, of course.
On the last day she told me she will fly to Bali for a few weeks, because, well, it's too cold in Europe. It was only a small discount. But what a slap in the face! I hardly earn enough to support my family and teachers and yet I have subsidized the destruction of our planet.
That was the famous drop.

The more selfish our actions, the more suffering we create. The foundation of Yoga is to overcome this. Moreover, it is clear according to the scriptures, that we also have the duty to fight injustice. There is a whole book about this called "Bhagavad Gita".
We cannot just fly around the planet any more. The CO2 emissions will cause global damage for hundreds or thousands of years to come. This is inhuman and anti-yogic. How can we not care!?!

Nothing is easier than criticizing those who are actually outside your own sphere of action (the meat industry, private jet usage or politicians) or perceived to be (the rich, to whom we actually belong globally). Hardly anything is more difficult than pointing out negative consequences in the behavior of one's own "scene" and demanding change where we can actually have an impact: ourselves, our friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. As soon as you do that, almost everyone around you feels offended. It was always agreed that everyone else was to blame!

Anger never arises from false accusations, but only if they hit the nail on the head. Anger comes from recognizing a conflict between a fake positive self-image and an objective, rather negative reality. Anger arises when we realize that someone sees that we are acting against our own standards. It's easier to blame the messenger. Had we not been told, the world would be perfectly fine, right? Of course not.

Basically, this is exactly what yoga is about: self-examination, the recognition of universal ethical principles within us, a corresponding transformation of thinking and acting. In addition, however, there is also the obligation not to ignore violations of universal principles, especially in one's own environment. There is no customary right to be allowed to torture other living beings or to damage our living space, air or water. And we do all of this collectively by burning fossil fuels. On a large scale, very little individually. But on an individual scale it is monstrous.

Too many of us still buy into the lies of the fossil fuel industry, that some imaginary world organization must solve the problem for us. But who else than exactly that globalized industry makes sure (at any cost!) that this will never happen? Who invests billions of blood Dollars to sure that we will never wake up, never stop sucking their dirty fuels like junkies?
They made you believe the individual cannot change anything. That is a lie. Because they are afraid. Just a few people stopped eating meat 40 years ago. Look now. They are afraid of you starting the change. A future is possible. But it needs you.

If you want to support my cause simply send me an Email. IF you hate me because I threaten your business or habits, please write me too. I do this for you, too, and for your children or the children of your friends and family and all future beings. If you care.

Since last week a few practitioners and teachers opened a "Climate Action" group on telegram . Please join. At least let us know you exist. Wherever you are.

I know not everyone is happy about my decision. But it does not feel right to just keep going. I need the time. It's hard to drop all hopes in the power of building a non-selfish Yoga tradition. It's easy to have an opinion on why all this is not a good approach. I am happy to join the superior ways you create. Blabla does not help. Email me.

Before we even pretend to be practicing Yoga, we must develop a solid inner ethical compass. That is Patanjali's most important message from 2000 years ago. The five Yama-s are the first and most relevant level of the eight famous limbs. They constitute the great vow, an ethical foundation which all religions and societies - in theory - agree upon.
No one we know would probably dispute them. We all agree, that this should be our human DNA.
How much more so is it of course the very heart of all Yoga practice. There is no Yoga when we violate any of them, no matter who we are, where we are, when we are or in which situations we are.

1. ahimsā-satyāsteya-brahmacaryāparigrahā yamāḥ
   The (5) yama-s are: Ahimsa (nonviolence), satya (authenticity), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (one-with-all), āparigraha (non-grabbing-around)
2. jāti-deśa-kāla-samayānavacchinnāḥ sārva-bhaumā mahāvratam
   (They are) the great vow: Birth-place-era-circumstances-unlimited. In all situations.

We as part of a tiny global elite have already destroyed vast areas of the planet and kicked-off a practically unstoppable process of global warming.
We have no right to abuse the planet for our selfish agenda called the "western lifestyle".
95% of the world's population suffers from our air travel, our materializm, our greed. Yoga today has become a major part of that toxic system.
The solution is very simple and has very little to do with Yoga, just that it is explicitly stressed as the yogic primer: Live a lifestyle that every human could copy without destroying the planet.. Yoga means taking a CO2 calculator and to stop what needs to be stopped at once. If it's air travel, it's air travel. Yoga means becoming honest with yourself.

The violation of the great vow has become the core of modern Yoga. This is very shameful.
That which has been re-framed as "Yoga" in only 20-30 years creates and nurtures selfish teacher personalities who are greedy for money and power. Don't get mislead by teachers who redefined an egotistical and superficial lifestyle as "yogic".
Capitalizm has perverted Yoga into a deeply rotten toxin - just like everything else.
Don't buy into a corrupt system. Yoga is a deeply transformational practice. It was never meant for short-term pleasure.
The massive violation of the mahavratam especially by Yoga teachers and practitioners is especially painful for spiritual practitioners and seekers.
It gets multiplied in mere commercial (so-called) yoga teacher trainings. Let us end this shameful situation. Let us RE-CLAIM YOGA. Together.