"Yoga is life. It's a modality, a way to unite the different aspects of mind and body and spirit, with the rest of my life. Whether it's driving or eating, having a meeting or shopping, some aspect of the yoga should always be present - it's integrated in the way I communicate with people, in the way I live life."
After several years of owning and running Purna Yoga Helsinki, the studio she founded in 2010, Tove's focus today lies heavier on sharing the yoga more in depth by offering Immersions, workshops and retreats and on teaching the Purna Yoga College 200-Hour Teacher Training both at Purna Yoga Helsinki and abroad. The aim is to help people find tools to better their lives and relationships both with themselves and others, through asana, meditation and lifestyle choices and through finding a deeper connection to themselves.
We heal through our bodies, nutrition, and nature.
My journey into yoga began on the island of Skyros, Greece in 1988.
At the time I was experiencing prolonged symptoms of very severe eczema, which started disappearing during the 14 day long retreat.
It transformed because it got my digestion going, it really made my skin start healing. It was such a profound physical change, that there was no return.
Through the years of my own healing journey, I have experienced the transformative power of the body, proper nutrition, and nature. It is important to have a diet that supports our personal bodies so that the body can function in the best way possible and heal whatever is not in balance. Nature has a wonderful power to support balance and often we can find balance through the healing power of plants. Just walking in the forest and breathing in the air, in some sense has the same calming effect as essential oils. It goes into your brain, effects the nervous system and sends the impulses out.
Teaching that is informed by years of practicing and teaching Yoga.
In 1988, I was the first person to begin practicing and teaching Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in Finland. Over the years, my methods of practicing and teaching have changed through both intense study and the work I have done with different teachers along the way.
It was in 2008 that I was first introduced to Purna Yoga. Encompassing not only the physical component of yoga, asana and prakashayama, Purna Yoga includes Heartfull™ Meditation, applied philosophy and nutrition and lifestyle, because yoga is not a physical exercise, it is a way of life.
After years of living with chronic asthma, that included taking daily cortisone, through Purna Yoga and the impact of lifestyle choices and meditation, the asthma has completely disappeared.
In 2010 I completed the 500-Hour and in 2012 the 2,000-Hour Teacher Training program at the Purna Yoga College in Bellevue, Washington, USA under Aadil Palkhivala and Savitri. Today I am one of about 50 teachers in the world holding the 2.000 hour certificate.
Purna has been completely life transforming... only now do I really feel like I'm teaching yoga.
Since the summer of 2010 I have also completed several therapeutic teacher trainings with Aadil both as a participant and as his assistant. In addition, I completed a training in how to teach teachers in October 2012.
Tove in Amsterdam during 2016 workshops with Aadil and fellow teachers.
The Power of Love.
I believe that in our essence that is what we are. If we tap into pure love, we can create and attract the type of people that can co-create with us what we are deep down all dreaming to live. With or through love you can overcome anything, it is the only truly uniting power that we have.
Meditation creates the opportunity to connect with something bigger than what we perceive as ourselves. Meditation is such an important part of life - it facilitates living from the heart, rather than the mind or the body. Heartfull™ Meditation is a dynamic meditation and powerful tool to change life around and to help us become more connected to who we truly are and to become the best version of ourselves.
Asana is there to support meditation.
My main focus is really to help people see that asana is just a small part of what yoga is all about. Yoga really is a means of finding a connection to ones heart, the true self, the spirit or soul; whatever it is that you want to call it. As Aadil says: 'Asana is totally unimportant, but necessary.' The body should serve the heart as should the mind.
Asana, the physical practice of yoga, creates an important effect. it helps the body stay healthy, supple, and feel alive. It makes the energy flow and facilitates learning about oneself on many levels. The asana is there to support your body and nervous system so that it can be strong enough for the increased levels of light, that is the effect of a consistent meditation practice. It will make you feel happier, more peaceful and appreciative of life and all that it is giving you.
"In Yoga, I continuously find inspiration through my teachers Aadil and Savitri, through studying with them and through the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, through the improvement of health, wellbeing and relationships, not only my own, but also as experienced by students and peers in the yoga community."