We’re happy to share something we’ve been working on: an On-Demand Library, free for all friends of The Yoga Nest, available through the Conscious Flow app.
On-Demand Classes brings our studio to your mat, wherever you are. Whether you’re travelling, short on time, or simply want to practise at home, you can now roll out your mat and join us whenever it suits you.
What you’ll find in the On-Demand Library
Guided meditation and Yoga Nidra to rest and reset
Slow Yin and Restorative sessions to unwind and release
Full led Ashtanga and Vinyasa practices to build strength and flow
New collections are added regularly, so you can choose what your body and mind need today.
How to get started
Download the Conscious Flow app and follow the steps on our Yoga Nest app page.
An Ashtanga Yoga Book for Building a Daily Practice That Lasts
Asbjørn and I have spent a long time putting the Primary Series into words. The book walks through the sequence pose by pose and looks at why it is built the way it is, so you can keep coming back to the mat and make the practice your own. It is book 2 in our A path within series, and the Kindle edition is available to pre-order now.
Every pre-order helps the book reach more practitioners, so thank you if you order early.
Sunday 8 November, 13:30 to 15:00 | The Yoga Nest, Kirkegata 32, Stavanger
Imagine knowing exactly where to press when your shoulders feel tight after a long day, or how to settle your mind before sleep with nothing more than your own hands. Imagine bringing that same awareness to your mat, so tension melts away before your practice even begins.
Marma points are the vital energy points described in Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga. They sit where muscles, bones, joints and energy channels meet. Acupressure shares a similar wisdom: gentle, focused pressure on specific points can release tension, calm your nervous system and help energy flow more freely. Together they give you a simple and powerful way to care for yourself. This marma and acupressure workshop in Stavanger follows on beautifully from Saturday’s pranayama workshop, so you can enjoy the weekend as a whole or choose the day that suits you.
What you’ll explore
Marma foundations: Discover what marma points are, where the tradition comes from, and how these points connect your body, breath and mind.
Key points for practitioners: Locate points on your hands, feet, shoulders, neck and head that support everyday ease and a deeper practice.
Self-acupressure techniques: Learn how much pressure to use, how long to hold, and how to pair touch with your breath for the strongest effect.
Marma and your practice: Explore how these points relate to the areas you work with on the mat, from your hips to your spine to your shoulders, and how a few minutes of self-care can prepare your body to move.
What to expect
A hands-on, experiential afternoon where you practise on yourself.
Short sequences for morning energy, evening calm and recovery after practice.
Gentle breathing to deepen the effect of each touch.
A natural continuation of Saturday’s pranayama, while this session stands perfectly well on its own.
Who it’s for
This workshop welcomes everyone, whether you practise Ashtanga daily, teach yoga, or simply want practical ways to feel better in your body. No previous experience with Ayurveda or bodywork is expected. Wear comfortable clothes and bring your curiosity.
Your invitation
Your hands already hold the healing. This afternoon you discover where to place them. Come and leave with a self-care toolkit you can reach for anytime, anywhere, for the rest of your life.
Time: Sunday 8 November, 13:30 to 15:00
Place: The Yoga Nest, Kirkegata 32, Stavanger
Price: 600 NOK, or 400 NOK with a monthly or annual subscription
Saturday 14 November, 13:30 to 15:00 | The Yoga Nest, Kirkegata 32, Stavanger
Imagine your feet leaving the mat as you press into your hands, your body lifting and swinging softly through your arms to land seated, without a sound. Imagine jumping back into Chaturanga with the same ease, vinyasa after vinyasa, your breath leading the way.
The jump back and jump through are the threads that stitch the Ashtanga practice together. They appear dozens of times in every Primary Series, so each small improvement multiplies across your whole practice. When they start to flow, your practice feels lighter, more rhythmic and more joyful. And the secret is less about raw strength and more about technique, timing and a few key insights. This jump back and jump through workshop in Stavanger leads naturally into Sunday’s arm balance workshop, where the same lift and lightness carry you into flying postures.
What you’ll explore
The mechanics of lift: Discover how hand placement, shoulder engagement and a forward shift of weight create the space your legs move through.
Bandhas and core compression: Feel how Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha and active core work make you lighter in your hands, so you lift from your centre rather than pushing with your arms.
Lolasana and other key drills: Practise focused drills that build the specific strength and body awareness these transitions call for, step by step.
Jumping through and back: Put the pieces together, exploring crossed-leg and straight-leg variations, and find the version that suits your body today.
What to expect
Clear progressions that break each transition into manageable stages.
Blocks and props to help you feel the lift long before you fly.
Personal pointers on the one or two changes that make the biggest difference for you.
A set of drills you can take home and weave into your daily practice, so progress keeps coming after the workshop ends.
Who it’s for
Whether you’re just beginning to explore jumping or already float some of the way, you’re welcome here. This afternoon is designed for all levels, and every drill comes with options, so you can work at your own pace toward your own goals.
Your invitation
Lightness is a skill, and you can learn it. Come and play, laugh at the wobbles and discover how close you already are to floating through your practice.
Time: Saturday 14 November, 13:30 to 15:00
Place: The Yoga Nest, Kirkegata 32, Stavanger
Price: 600 NOK, or 400 NOK with a monthly or annual subscription
Why does the same instruction work for one person and leave the next one lost?
A free 5-day challenge for yoga teachers, personal trainers, online coaches and wellness professionals. Every morning you get one NLP tool in a 3-minute read, and one small mission to try in your next class, training session or coaching call. By Friday your cues are clearer, your clients follow more easily, and you feel more at ease leading.
You have trained in anatomy, programming, sequencing or nutrition. Yet much of what decides whether people change happens somewhere else:
You say “find your grounding” or “brace your core” and half the room looks around, unsure what to do.
One client lights up while another quietly shuts down, and you cannot tell why.
Online clients start strong, then go quiet in week two.
On a tired day it is hard to bring the presence you want people to feel.
People say “I can’t” or “I always fall off”, and you want to help them past it without pushing.
None of this is about your skill. It is about how people take in information, how they decide whether they feel safe, and how language shapes experience. That is what NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) studies, and it is surprisingly practical on the mat, the gym floor and the coaching call.
What you get, day by day
Each email takes 3 minutes to read. Each mission fits into work you already do. Your clients won’t notice the technique, only the result.
Day 1. The map is not the territory. Why every person experiences your session differently, and the one question that changes how you see a “difficult” client.
Day 2. Cues for eyes, ears and bodies. The see, hear and feel words that make one instruction reach everyone. Includes the free VAK Cueing Cheat Sheet.
Day 3. Rapport before instruction. How the nervous system decides “safe or not” in under a second, and the simple matching skill that builds trust, in person or on a video call.
Day 4. One clean cue. Turn vague instructions into ones people can act on, with the Meta Model: from “engage your core” or “be more consistent” to something a body and a week can actually hold.
Day 5. Anchor your state. A 2-minute technique to access calm, confident presence before any class or client, even on the days you do not feel it.
This challenge is for you if
You are a yoga or Pilates teacher, personal trainer, online or health coach, breathwork or meditation guide, or you work with clients’ bodies and wellbeing
You want people to feel seen, follow through, and keep coming back
You are curious about the psychology behind teaching and coaching, and want tools you can use tomorrow, not theory
Your guide: Asbjorn Bjaanes
I am trained in NLP and have practised it for 15 years, and I teach yoga as a Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500 teacher at The Yoga Nest. I am an ICF PCC accredited coach, trained in executive coaching, hypnotherapy and brain-based coaching, and I use these same tools with leaders in tech and business. I built this challenge because the teachers and coaches I trained kept asking the same question: why do some instructions land and others do not? The answer turned out to be learnable.
Join The Language That Moves People, free
Sign up now and Day 1 arrives tomorrow at 07:00. One short email each morning for five days.
Free. No spam. Unsubscribe with one click.
Questions
How much time does it take? About 3 minutes to read each email. The mission happens inside a class, session or conversation you already have.
Do I need to know anything about NLP? No. Everything is explained in plain language, with examples from real classes and coaching sessions.
I’m a PT or online coach, not a yoga teacher. Is it for me? Yes. The tools work wherever you guide people: a gym floor, a Pilates studio, a clinic, a Zoom call or a WhatsApp check-in.
Is NLP manipulation? These are communication and awareness skills, taught with ethics at the centre. The aim is that the people you work with feel more understood and more free to choose, never less.
What happens after day 5? You will hear about the 12-week online course NLP for Yoga, Fitness and Wellness Professionals and when the next cohort starts. No obligation, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Every sun salutation starts with contact. Your hands meet the mat, your feet meet the mat, and from there, everything else follows. This is where your Ashtanga practice actually lives.
Built from natural rubber with a PU surface, this mat holds you steady through vinyasa after vinyasa. As your practice heats up, the surface responds, giving you a grip that gets more secure, not less. Chaturanga after chaturanga, jump-back after jump-back, your palms stay exactly where you placed them.
At 5mm, the cushioning supports your knees through long holds and your wrists through every transition, while the mat itself stays close to the ground. You feel connected to your foundation, not floating above it.
What this means for your practice:
A grip that improves with sweat, so your intensity can rise with it
5mm of cushioning for your joints, without losing your sense of the floor
A surface built to move with you through six days a week, for years
Two ways to practice
Your home shala calls for one thing, the shala down the road for another. The 5mm mat is your daily foundation, built for the space where your practice unfolds most mornings. The travel version goes wherever your practice goes: workshops, retreats, the studio you’re visiting this weekend, rolled up and ready whenever you are. if time is a challenge send us a message and we can arrange or hold off a mat for you.
Imagine stepping off the boat onto Thoddoo, a quiet local island in the Maldives, and letting the week take you in. Each day is thoughtfully shaped, so you can put everything else down and simply be part of it. And this year, you get to spend Christmas by the ocean, on your mat, among people who share your love of practice.
A DAY HERE COULD LOOK LIKE
Sunrise Your day begins as the sun rises over the ocean. You settle into meditation and pranayama, then step into your Ashtanga practice, either in the shala or with your feet in the sand on the beach. Some mornings are Mysore style, where you move at your own breath and rhythm with individual guidance. Other mornings are a led class, where you flow together as a group, carried by the count.
Morning swim Still glowing from your practice, you slip into the water and snorkel alongside sea turtles in the lagoon.
Breakfast Back at the guesthouse, a nourishing breakfast is waiting for you.
Workshop With body and mind awake, you join a workshop to explore your practice more deeply, with time to ask questions and discover something new.
Lunch and island time After lunch, the afternoon is yours. Rest, read, swim, or take your bike around the island and soak up local life.
Sunset As the light turns golden, you paddle out for a gentle SUP yoga session on the water. You finish the day lying on your board in yoga nidra, rocked by the ocean as the sun goes down.
Evening Dinner, conversation, and a deep, well-earned sleep.
YOUR PRACTICE, YOUR WAY
With two teachers on the retreat, you’ll have options every morning. If you have an established Ashtanga practice, Mysore mornings give you space to deepen your own sequence with hands-on support. If you’re new to Ashtanga or simply new to yoga, you’ll be guided step by step with modifications that meet you where you are. Whatever your experience, you get the attention that helps your practice grow.
IN EXPERIENCED HANDS
You’re guided by Claire and Asbjorn, who both hold E-RYT 500, the highest teaching credential from Yoga Alliance. Both are lead trainers who run The Yoga Nest’s 200 and 300 hour Teacher Training programs, so you learn from people who teach teachers.
Asbjorn is also a PCC certified professional coach. You’ll find support in connecting what happens on your mat with how you live and move through your days.
With a small group and two teachers, every morning gives you the personal attention that helps your practice grow.
FOR YOGA TEACHERS AND TRAINEES
This week counts on your path as a teacher.
If you already teach: You earn 50 hours of Continuing Education, accredited by Yoga Alliance. If you’re in our teacher training, or thinking of joining: The retreat hours count toward our 200 or 300 hour Teacher Training. Our programs are hybrid and flexible, so the week fits right into your journey.
Before you arrive, a short self-study module prepares you for the week. At the end of the retreat, your hours are signed off, so you leave with a deeper practice and real progress toward your goals.
A SMALL, INTIMATE GROUP
The retreat has room for just nine participants and two teachers. You get personal attention on your mat, space to ask questions and the chance to really connect with everyone around you. It feels less like a group and more like a circle of friends.
YOUR HOME FOR THE WEEK
You’ll stay at Kingsway Thoddoo, a welcoming guesthouse where you can rest well between practices. Choose the room that suits you:
Shared room: Travel with your partner and share a double bed, or come with a friend and choose twin beds.
Private room: A spacious room all to yourself.
NOURISHING MEALS, EVERY DAY
Three meals a day are included, so you can let go of planning and simply enjoy. After your morning practice, breakfast is waiting, and lunch and dinner follow the gentle rhythm of island life. You’ll enjoy a varied menu, with vegan and vegetarian options for anyone who prefers them.
AN ISLAND TO EXPLORE
Thoddoo has a rare kind of calm. Life moves slowly here, and you get to be part of it, cycling past fruit farms, greeting locals and watching the island go about its day. Rent a bike, the easiest and most enjoyable way to get around, and let your curiosity lead you.
Between practices, the island is yours to explore:
Turtle discovery, snorkeling alongside sea turtles in clear turquoise water
Sandbank tour to a stretch of white sand surrounded by nothing but ocean
Sunset cruise, watching the sky turn gold as you glide across the water
Snorkeling and diving on reefs full of life
Whale shark safari, a chance to swim alongside the gentle giants of the ocean
Stand up paddleboarding and other watersports on calm lagoon water
Dinner on the beach in a private setting under the stars
Dining on a sea raft, floating above the ocean
A yoga photoshoot, spending a few hours with a photographer to capture your practice against the island backdrop
Drone flying, where the view of the reef and lagoon from above is pure magic
And so much more. Do as much or as little as you like. Some days you might fill with adventure, and others you might simply rest with the sound of the waves.
GETTING THERE
Your retreat starts the moment you land in Malé. From the airport, a speedboat takes you across the open ocean to Thoddoo in about 70 minutes. Feel the sea breeze and watch the islands drift past as you leave everyday life behind. Your transfer to and from the island is included.
If you’d like an extra memorable arrival, you can also travel by seaplane and see the atolls from above. Seaplanes fly to Thoddoo two days a week, so this option works best if you plan your flights around them. Contact us and we’ll gladly help you find the best timing.
GOOD TO KNOW
Thoddoo is a local island, which is part of what makes it so special. You’ll be welcomed into a living Maldivian community. The Maldives is a Muslim country, so out of respect for local customs, the island is alcohol free, and light clothes that cover shoulders and knees are appreciated in the village. On the island’s two tourist beaches, you’re free to enjoy your swimwear and the sun.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Seven nights at Kingsway Thoddoo, in a shared or private room
Speedboat transfer from Malé airport to the island and back
Three nourishing meals a day, with vegan and vegetarian options available on request
A full yoga program every day, guided by two E-RYT 500 teachers
Workshops to deepen your practice
50 hours of Yoga Alliance Continuing Education for teachers, and hours toward our 200 and 300 hour Teacher Training
Not included: International flights to Malé, seaplane transfer, and optional island activities such as diving, the whale shark safari, private dining, bike rental and photoshoots.
YOUR INVESTMENT
Shared room: $2,250 USD per person Private room: $2,500 USD
Early bird gift, worth $555 USD Book early and these extras are yours, on top of everything already included:
Is this retreat right for me? Yes. All levels are welcome, from your very first sun salutation to years on the mat. Every practice offers options, and with two teachers you get the guidance that suits you.
When is the retreat? December 19th to 26th 2026, a full week on Thoddoo Island.
How do I get there? Fly to Malé International Airport. From there, your speedboat transfer to Thoddoo is included.
I am a yoga teacher or trainee. Does this week count? Yes. As a teacher, you earn 50 hours of Continuing Education, accredited by Yoga Alliance. If you’re in our 200 or 300 hour Teacher Training, or thinking of joining, the retreat hours count toward your training. A short self-study module before the retreat prepares you, and your hours are signed off at the end of the week.
How do I book? Send us a message and we’ll reserve your place. We’d love to share this week with you.
