I started my "yoga journey" 32 years ago. The first classes I took were Hatha yoga for Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation school. I was at the time studying dance and I was curious of both the physical and spiritual aspects of yoga. After that I studied with an older hatha yoga teacher and we used to make jokes about me being her disciple. From early on it was a lot that appealed to me. The concentration, body awareness, the meditation and of course the wellbeing and the feeling of being calm and content after class. The hatha yoga I went to these days was pretty slow, I was studying dance but at this point Ashtanga Vinyasa classes was not so easy to find in Sweden. I took meditation classes with Thomas Frankell and he told me he was arranging the first Kundalini yoga Teacher training in Sweden. So I started taking Kundalini yoga classes and did the first Kundalini yoga (by yogi Bhajan ) training in Sweden, one year, weekends, (yogi Bhajan visited Sweden the year after) This was very exciting for me; he brought here teachers from other parts of the world as guest teachers. The years following years I was into kundalini, teaching a lot and also engaging in a Kundalini studio with four other ladies. After about 8 years of teaching I was leaning more toward Hatha yoga and I also trained as a Nia instructor. Nia means Neuromuscular Integrative action, a blend of dance, Yoga and martial arts that I studied with creators Carlos and Debbie Rosas. When traveling to New York I came across well-known teacher Alan Finger. I was very happy to explore the Vinyasa style of moving in and out with each movement. I took classes with Alan and some with other teachers such as Jean Kerner. But since I had small kids I could not deal with being away for one month for his Teacher training in New York as I desired. At home I looked up Ashtanga classes and started practice at Yoga Shala Stockholm. I got problems with my knees and I was very happy to meet Larry Schulz in 1995, he was a truly creative teacher and also very concerned that no student should get hurt. So I took 200 h Teacher training with Its Yoga at the Its Yoga Stockholm studio that was first started by Catarina Lacayo. This was with her and David Kyle. Later I took Rocket training 10 days 100 h with Larry Schulz and I assisted on Teacher trainings in Stockholm, and also Rocket training in San Francisco with Larry. When Catarina Lacayo with her husband Edwin decided to move back to Nicaragua It was logical to ask me and my husband Anders if we wanted to buy it. Since we were already looking for space to start our own yoga studio this was an easy choice, we were very happy. We offered classes and Teacher trainings in the style of It´s Yoga, Ashtanga Vinyasa with modifications and Rocket Vinyasa. We were running the studio for 6 years together, we divorced in 2014 and my husband then decided to work with another studio. Over the years I made its Yoga a studio with a lot of different styles, from intense Rocket to soft Yin yoga. In 2014 my husband filed for divorce and suddenly left the company leaving it to me. This was extremely bad timing as I had some physical problems and was being operated. At the same time as a big renovation was planned for spring 2015. Furthermore, the coworker on the office was also ill so I had to take a little break in the spring of 2015 for healing after treatments and also moving the company. Starting up again in September 2015 moving in to a slightly smaller space that I could more easily run was a blessing in disguise and has given me space to focus more on Teacher trainings which is something I really love to do and writing a book. Exept for the trainings mentioned above I have trained in Chakra yoga 50 h with my friend Ulrica Norberg. I took the Bridge TT program with Alan Finger whom I managed to come to Sweden so I could finally train with him. I have also taken the 300 h training with Alan Finger but still have a few lectures and classes to fill in, completing it in September since I missed out on the last block (was sick) Over the years I have trained with many other great teachers, short Teacher trainings and workshops with Natasha Rizopoulos, David Swenson, Sarah Powers, David Life and Sharon and more. I have studied a 5 day course in Yoga Anatomy with Ulrica Norberg. I am an educated masseur working with Ayurvedic yoga massage and aroma massage. I am trained as a mental care nurse and therefore have some anatomy training. In my own practice I´m moving more towards Vinyasa and even Hatha Yoga, therefore I´m taking the 300 h in the Ishta Yoga school, (Ishta means integration of Hatha, Ayurveda and Tantra) It´s a broad training, Vinyasa, Hatha and some restorative. While I still enjoy to practice Ashtanga Vinyasa and teach it I`m leaning more towards Vinyasa, the trainings I´m offering are based on Ashtanga vinyasa and Vinyasa Yoga. I have also lead Rocket vinyasa tranings, Rocket was created by Larry Schulz and was a milestone in my own practice. It´s a very uplifting practice and since people are asking for it I will teach 5-days intensives in the summer this and upcoming years but since it demands a pretty strong practice and I´m over 50 myself I will probably not offer it for more than a few years, Larry always said "teach what you practice and practice what you teach". I will always do yoga but I guess It´s natural that ones practice will be softer in middle and old age So for now what I need is to have my 200 h trainings approved directly from Yoga Alliance Uk. I have three variations of the same training ; one is 4 weeks intensive, and the second 10 weekends, the third is a module training 5 modules 4 days each. However, they all share the same content and homework. Both of these I have taught for 7 years in connected to Its Yoga International as their trainer and they are connected to Yoga Alliance US. I have rewritten the material to fit my own style and to bring in more Vinyasa Yoga. And also the Rocket Intermediate Vinyasa, 50 h. I want to give this Rocket inspired Vinyasa 50 h this and next year since there is no one in Sweden doing anything like it but are not certain I will continue depending on my own practice. My colleagues Catarina Lacayo and also Amber Gean from Cincinatti, Usa already registered with Yoga Alliance UK, Catarina was the one that gave me the tip. We were all friends with and students of with Larry Schulz and had our contract with him, he passed away a few years ago and his widow is now changing a lot and has send out new contracts that non of us wanted to sign. Namaste and kind regards Madeleine Stjernswärd