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The studio where Stef is offering her English Meditation class in Stuttgart is located in a lovely old building. You have to walk through a lush garden first until you find the door and enter. The meditation room is big and open, the light is dim and you feel that this is a place of relaxation instantaneously.

Stef came to the door to greet me with a warm welcome. She is full of energy but at the same time there is something soothing about her presence that makes you feel calm right away.

I changed into more comfy clothes and sat down on a mat on the floor. Stef had prepared two different pillows for me to sit on and I could try which one felt better. I was even offered a nice cup of tea which I was drinking while she explained the concept of her meditation class to me.

Stef guides through the meditation with her soft voice, giving you friendly instructions like “focus on your breathing” and “follow the air in your body” which help you concentrate on these simple exercises. The meditation is supported by relaxing background music which I liked a lot, as it also helped me focus. Moreover, in every class Stef will introduce a new topic. For my class it was “living in the present”. What is important to Stef: There is no right or wrong when it comes to meditation. Everything that feels good to you in this moment IS good for you. She even encourages you to change position during the meditation if you start feeling uncomfortable, or cover yourself in a blanket (which she has thoughtfully placed next to your mat) when you feel cold. I’ve always thought the rules for meditation are very strict and that you should not move while meditating so I was quite relieved. I even changed my position once at the end of the class and didn’t feel weird about doing so.

Stef’s English meditation class in Stuttgart starts with her encouraging you to write down whatever is on your mind in that moment. This is something I’ve never heard of before but it was a very nice idea. At the beginning you might not know what to write (and Stef will ensure you that not writing anything is just as fine!) but once you start, you might not be able to stop 🙂 That’s at least how I felt. There are so many things going on in our minds every second. This exercise helps you to put down any thoughts that might bug you at that point in time. And with writing them down you allow your mind to let go of them so that it is free for the meditation. For me, it absolutely worked.

Then Stef began guiding me through the meditation exercises. I’ve never done much meditation before, despite some additional minutes at the end of a yoga class I was taking. But that was about it! Sitting still and concentrating on your breathing for 45 minutes always seemed like something I wouldn’t be able to do. But guess what? When the meditation came to an end I didn’t want it to stop! It felt so good. I was really relaxed, my whole body was soft and warm and I felt very comfy on my mat and pillow. I could have seriously continued on for another hour.

The English meditation class in Stuttgart ended as it began: picking up pen and paper and writing down what was your mind following the meditation. It felt like closing the loop. I can imagine that there will be days you come in with a question that has been on your mind for days and at the end of the class you will have found the answer. In my case on that day I just wrote down that I feel very happy and in balance with myself and that I will be back for more classes 🙂

Who benefits from Stef’s English meditation class in Stuttgart?

When the class was over I had the opportunity to talk to Stef for a little while. I was curious to find out who benefits most from her English meditation class from her point of view. She explained to me that in the end, meditation is for everybody and for any levels. In our fast moving, highly digitalized world, finding peace of mind is something everyone benefits from. Her classes are designed to suit newcomers as well as people who are experienced with meditation already, as her approach is her unique style and will offer a new experience to any participants.

As you guys know, I am pregnant in the third trimester and I can tell you that the meditation felt really, really good even in this state. And I can imagine that pregnant women benefit highly from meditation in general. Pregnancy often comes with some form of anxiety. You hope the baby is fine, you wonder how the birth will be and much more. This can really drive you crazy and prevent you from falling asleep at night or make you uneasy and restless during the day. Sitting down and concentrating on nothing but your breathing can help you escape these thoughts – whilst at the beginning you may only get in control of your thoughts during the class, the more you meditate the more you will learn the skill to manage those beyond the classroom environment.

Last but not least, apart from her English meditation class in Stuttgart Stef also offers a meditation class in French in the same studio in Stuttgart! As Stef herself is a French citizen from Guadeloupe, I am sure her guided meditation is at least as good in French as it is in English 🙂

Where and when do the classes take place?

The classes are held every Thursday mornings. The Studio is only 10 min away by bus from Stuttgart main station. To sign-up for a class please do so directly via her meetup page: https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/Reboot-meditation

Weekly classes on Thursday mornings:

• Early bird class in English at 6.30am
• French class at 9.15am
• English class at 10.30am

Additional classes and workshops (all events are listed on the Reboot Meditation Meetup page):

Often Stef offers meditation classes on Sundays late morning.
She also offers workshops to dive deeper into certain topics like Self-Compassion.

Location:
Yoga & Pilates in der galerie
Friedenstraße 12
70190 Stuttgart
Bus 42, stop: Friedenstraße
Underground stop: Neckartor
From Stuttgart main station: only 10 min by bus

More about Stef

Stef is a bilingual meditation guide and a Life-Transition Coach specialized in the relationship that we have with ourselves. Stef is from Guadeloupe (a beautiful island in the French Caribbean). After having lived many years in Europe, the US and Switzerland, she has finally set her new home in Stuttgart in early 2019 and is now starting to offer French and English meditation classes in Stuttgart.

Find out more about Stef on her website: stephanielantin.com

Stef is also on Instagram: www.instagram.com/steflantin

Picture credit title photo: Sandra Ruth Photography

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 Calisthenics are a form of street workout consisting of a variety of natural movements like running, standing, grasping, pushing and so on. You mainly use your body weight to do the exercises. The equipment you find in a calisthenics park, for example monkeyladders, bars and poles, only helps you to increase your performance. The parks I point out in this post are all open for everybody and free of charge so no more excuses not to perform calisthenics in Stuttgart ;-).

Maxim is a fitness-instructor-to-be (check out his fun and inspiring Instagram profile!) and showed me some very effective exercises. 

Then it was my turn. Don’t get fooled by the smile on my face. We took the pictures at the very beginning of the workout. I had to dig in deep afterwards.

If you want to check out the calisthenics park in Stuttgart-Degerloch, here’s the address:

LAC-Stadion, Bopseräcker 4-5, 70597 Stuttgart

The park is open every day. Sometimes sport groups have a reservation. To find out more check out the website of LAC Degerloch and open the pdf named “Belegungsplan”.

If you live in the north of Stuttgart, the calisthenics park in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen might be more convenient for you:

Sersheimer Str. 31, 70437 Stuttgart

Their website states that the park offers chin-up-bars, parallel bars, low bars and a monkeyladder.

And then there’s the calisthenics park at Südheimer Platz in the south of Stuttgart:

Südheimer Platz, 70199 Stuttgart

When I was there recently I noticed amongst others: a climbing pole, headstand-bars, low bars, a monkeyladder and push-up-bars.

Have you ever tried calisthenics in Stuttgart in one of these parks? How did you like them?

If you want to read more about fitness in Stuttgart, check out these older posts:

Introductory class at CrossFit Animarum in Stuttgart

Functional Fitness in Stuttgart

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For those of you who haven’t heard of CrossFit yet, or only have a vague idea what it might be (as I did before I visited CrossFit Animarium in Stuttgart), here’s a brief definition:

CrossFit focuses on strength and condition alike. The workouts include aspects of weightlifting, gymnastics, running, rowing and more and are based on functional movements. The athletes (yep, as soon as you start practicing CrossFit, you can call yourself proudly an athlete :-)) use gear from various disciplines like barbells, gymnastics rings, jump ropes, kettlebells and such. Intensity is essential and it is measured in work divided by time or by power. What makes CrossFit special for me is the idea of community and training in small groups. You cheer when someone has scored a personal record and your trainer doesn’t only know your name but also all your weak points and he or she coaches you how you can get better every day.

I didn’t know what would await me when I stepped into the CrossFit box (yep, box, not studio :-)) in Stuttgart-Stammheim. A group was already lifting weights and it looked super exhausting to me. I observed them for a minute, then my trainer for the intro, Xavier, came up to me. He explained the concept of CrossFit and what makes it so special and different from a normal workout in a gym. Then it was time to get active. We started with some exercises to get warm (rowing was included, too, but I forgot to get a picture)…

… before it was time to learn some new techniques. Have you ever worked with kettlebells? I haven’t. So you can imagine how strange those things looked to me at first.

Xavier showed us how to swing them properly and we worked on this movement for a while.

It felt strange swinging this heavy ball but I noticed some muscles, I didn’t even know I had. It’s always good to try something new! 🙂

Push-ups were next. I am used to doing “lady-push-ups” where you are on your knees, not on your toes (and I even struggle with them! :-)). But in CrossFit, there is no such thing as lady-whatever.  However, if you can’t do them on the ground, there is a box you can use. It helped a lot!

A usual CrossFit class is one hour long and finishes with a stretching part. As this was an introduction and our trainer Xavier answered all of our questions not only patiently but also passionately, we came to the stretching part after two hours 🙂

The intro class at Crossfit Animarum in Stuttgart was definitely great! Xavier is a knowledgeable instructor and CrossFit is definitely an amazing workout. If you want to try it for yourself, the intro classes take place on Thursdays and Saturdays and are always free. And here comes something for all my female readers : On November 3, CrossFit Animarum in Stuttgart organizes a special Ladies’ night: starting at 7:30 pm, an intro class only for women takes place with a goodie bag for all the participants!

Thank you Vale for inviting me to CrossfFit Animarum in Stuttgart-Stammheim and thank you Xavier for the great intro class!

Have you tried CrossFit already? How did you like it? Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section 🙂

More information about:

CrossFit Animarum in Stuttgart-Stammheim

CrossFit in general

Transparency: CrossFit Animarum invited me to try their box for free. My opinion and the contend of this post were not influencd by that.

The post Introductory class at CrossFit Animarum in Stuttgart appeared first on Living in Stuttgart.

The idea of Functional Fitness is that you work only with your own body weight. So it’s the perfect program for outdoor classes. If you want to try Functional Fitness in Stuttgart, come to Tal der Rosen (Valley of the Roses) at Killesberg Park on a Sunday morning. It starts at 10 am (quite early, I know :-)) and lasts for one hour.

When you walk up to Tal der Rosen just look out for two beach flags – and lots of people in sports wear. You can’t miss it!

We started with some warming up exercises…

… before it got tougher. We were separated in two groups and worked on different parts of our body. I couldn’t walk without pain for three days afterwards! 🙂

It was a great workout and I had so much fun doing Functional Fitness in Stuttgart under the open sky! If you’re interested too, come to the special session on August 14! They try to set a new record and get together a few hundred people.

The free Functional Fitness class is provided by SportCodex and the City of Stuttgart. The idea behind it is to make more people do sports on a regular basis. What a great concept!

Have you ever tried Functional Fitness in Stuttgart? How did you like it? Or have you participated in any other classes offered by Sport im Park? Which are your favorite ones?

More information:

Sport im Park program (only in German)

Functional Fitness special event on August 14

Yoga at Sport im Park

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Even the walk from the station through the park is very nice by itself:

Can you guess why this place is called Valley of the Roses? 😉 And it’s just the season for them, they are blooming everywhere. So beautiful!

We found a space under a huge tree where there was enough shade to provide shelter for about 50 (!!) people. And then the course started. I liked the teacher very much. She had a relaxing voice and led through the different poses very smoothly.

Yoga under the open sky feels sooooo different to yoga at a studio. You smell the grass, feel a cool breeze on your skin sometimes and the ground is so soft.

I really enjoyed it.

That’s what you see while doing the downward dog. Better than the white sealing of a yoga studio, isn’t it?! 😉

Even though we were quite a big group, the lesson was very relaxing. Everybody had enough space for him- or herself.

After a bit more than one hour, the class was finished. Some people stayed on their mats afterwards but my friends and I decided to head over to the “Höhencafe“, a little restaurant which is overlooking the Tal der Rosen.

Up there, you have a very nice view; over the park and all the way to the Fernsehturm (tv tower).

Next to the view, the food is really nice, too! 🙂

I had Flädle (pancake) with goats cheese…

… and my friends ordered Apfelstrudel (apple strudel)…

… and Maultaschen (Swabian ravioli):

We sat there, enjoyed the yummy food and watched the sun turning the tv tower pink.

What a lovely evening!

Free Yoga classes and the other courses are provided by Stuttgarter Amt für Sport und Bewegung in cooperation with Sportkreis Stuttgart, SportCodex and some sport clubs. The classes will be held under good weather conditions until the end of September. The directions are given in German. If you don’t speak German, talk to the instructor at the beginning, so he or she can advise you, have a special eye on you and switch to English when needed.

More information about:

Sport im Park (only in German)

Höhencafe Killesberg (only in German)

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