Travels to Germany 2025
By Theresa Shay
I was honored and privileged to be able to assist Yogini Kaliji at the TriYoga International programs in Germany, June to July 2025. This year marked the 25th anniversary of TriYoga® in Europe.
The tour began in Bavaria in the south at the TriYoga Center Bad Tölz and finished at Yoga Vidya, the largest yoga retreat center in Europe. Between the two retreats I returned to my German “hometown” of Cloppenburg for a few days.
I met up with some sweet members of TriYoga of Central PA at the retreat in Bad Meinberg
The annual Summer Retreat in Bad Meinberg, where Yoga Vidya is located, is an international affair. Yogini Kaliji (and OM) welcomed flow-ers from Austria, Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Japan, Russia (formerly), Switzerland, Ukraine (formerly), and USA. (Did I miss any countries?)
I visited Ina-Maria, my big sister from our time as exchange students in high school. She lived with me in Austin, Texas, for a semester, and I lived with her for six months the following year. Her home is a block away from the Gymnasium I attended my junior year of high school.
Yogini Kaliji embraced us all and showered us with yogaflow®, Prana Vidya, philosophy, music, mantra, mudra, and community.
At the Bad Tölz retreat, local teacher Sylvia was my guide as we cold plunged into the Isar River.
Embracing and connecting with my Scoli-Sisters was a huge gift of both retreats. Rahel, a TYCP member, and I got to meet in-person for the first time. Doretta, right, was instrumental two years ago in helping me step into the role of sharing knowledge about how to flow with scoliosis.
Devayana makes my heart sing. I loved reconnecting after our powerful meeting last year.
Yoga is my passion, as well as the passion of the others who attend these retreats. Our shared love of the Flow makes all the connections rich.
The group in Bad Tölz squinted into the sun to capture this shot. The retreat was held at a newly built program center, Alte Seifensiederei, an incredible facility and hOMe for TriYoga.
I assisted these programs along with Rishi, Matanga, and Santoshi, three of my dearest TriYoga friends.
Assisting makes my heart sing. I learn new verbs and body parts when I help the students who prefer to communicate in German. Many of the students respond in perfect English when I lead with German. Some let me practice my German on them for a few days before starting up a conversation with me in English, where I am always impressed at their language skills.
My Isar Cold Plunge buddies included friends from Austria and Australia, as well as two German friends.
I introduced TriYoga Therapeutics for Scoliosis at an evening presentation Discovering Scoliosis and offered breath instruction to a small group the next day.
This group shot in Bad Meinberg was taken before the temperatures reached 100 degrees for two days at the end of the week. AC is not as common in Germany as in the USA. Kaliji led us calmly through Hot Yoga, with light, quiet, simple flows that felt good in the heat.
Germany is a special place for me. The pedestrian zones, the architecture, the public transportation, the landscape, the nature, the way the windows open, the fresh bread…these make me smile. Most of all, the people I connect with when I am there touch my heart.
Thank you, Kaliiji and TriYoga International, for a wonderful connection with the international TriYoga community.
Next year’s retreat in Bad Meinberg will be held June 19-25, 2026. Save the dates!
Theresa Shay is the founding director of TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, where she teaches weekly yoga and meditation online and trains others to teach TriYoga®. Each week, she shares wisdom cultivated from decades of TriYoga study and practice.
Learn more about her here. Theresa can be reached at Theresa@PennsylvaniaYoga.com. Find her on Instagram @theresa_of_triyoga for more inspiration and light.