Yoga for connection in Koh Samui
Practice with people who feel like community.
Connection gathers classes that feel like community: small regular groups, partner and acro practice, kirtan and chanting circles, community classes, sharing circles and formats where people stay for tea afterward. The practice can be any style; what matters is the people.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Connection does for you
You get to belong somewhere. Seeing the same faces week after week, practicing in sync and chatting afterward turns a class into a small circle of familiar people. Many people find it easier to keep practicing when someone notices they are missing. In a big city, that is not a small thing.
It suits you if
- you are new in Berlin and want to meet people
- you keep practicing when someone expects you
- you enjoy practicing with a partner or in a circle
- you like the idea of tea after class
Read the full guide to ConnectionWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Groups tend to be smaller and the tone warmer. Expect a name round or introductions, partner work in some classes, chanting or sharing circles in others, and time before or after class to talk. Some are donation-based or run by Vereine and collectives. Facilitators know regulars by name and often host extras such as potlucks, workshops or seasonal gatherings.
Your first time
- Arrive early and introduce yourself to the facilitator.
- Stay a few minutes after class; that is often where the connection happens.
- Come back the next week, since showing up regularly is most of it.
Good to know
- Partner and acro work involve touch; you can ask to work alone or with someone you know.
- Sharing circles are optional, and listening is a full way to take part.
- Some community classes are held in German, so check the class language.
Where it comes from
The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, to yoke or join, and is often glossed as union, though classical texts use it in several senses. Practicing together is old: satsang, gathering in good company around a spiritual figure or text, and sangha, the Buddhist community of practitioners, both put the group close to the center of the path.
In the West, community grew around ashrams and meditation centers from the 1960s, and later around studios. Partner-based practices added physical connection: contact improvisation, a dance form developed by Steve Paxton in 1972, and acro yoga from around the turn of the millennium. Kirtan circles and donation-based community classes kept the social side alive alongside commercial studios.
Berlin has a strong tradition of Vereine (registered associations) and of collectives without their own venue, which run classes, circles and gatherings in rented lofts and Hinterhof spaces. Many people find their regular group this way, often through word of mouth and Telegram groups rather than a timetable.
Words you will hear
- Sangha
- A community of people who practice together.
- Satsang
- A gathering in good company, often with talk, chanting or silence.
- Kirtan
- Call-and-response chanting in a group.
- Verein
- A registered association; many low-cost classes in Berlin are run by one.
- Partner yoga
- Poses done in pairs, using each other for support and counterweight.