Where it all began...
Hello / Hallo / Hei, I am Johanna.
First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read whatever I am about to say. As I share my story, I am so thankful to find individuals to connect with.
​
So here it goes: when I was growing up, my family and I moved around a lot. I was so lucky to have a family that supported me in whatever I wanted to do, so I started dancing. That path continued further and further until I was dancing in New York City at competitions, different famous stages including Broadway, all with an amazing team and until today, best friends.
Looking back, I can't believe how lucky I was. When I was on stage and the light hit my eyes and I was just moving to music, I could sense there is something more to life. I know that movement is an essential part of our nature. Connecting with music and the divine, it brings us closer to something so raw that can’t be touched. It is truly beautiful. To sum, a passion for dance and movement has always been there.
When I stopped hearing what my body had to say...
So after graduating high school, I decided that it was time to "grow up" and went on to study tourism (made sense due to my international background). I put the dancer part of me in a box and buried it deep somewhere. I continued to do yoga occasionally and went to the gym as I thought that's what people do. But it never really made sense to me. The only places where I would dance were dance clubs :D Anyways, I continued to work in office jobs, at first the shock for my body was big (sitting for 8 hours or more a day). I developed severe back pain. But that too, I ignored. Slowly, like a deep seed inside of me, my need to move my body in different ways grew, so yoga became my anchor. ​
​There came a point though where stress at work grew and grew, at this point my body was literally screaming. I could no longer get out of the stress loop, I simply couldn't find a way to regulate with the parasympathetic nervous system. In the very end, not even yoga helped anymore. I began having issues sleeping, I continually clenched my jaw, until finally, I broke down in uncontrollably crying and fatigue. So that was when the body said stop and I hit the wall of burn out.
The beginning of a healing journey...
My first yoga teacher training was truly the beginning: a wake up call and also humble reminder of the state my body was in. My posture had been horrible for years working a desk, my spine, tight hips, forward rounded body and backaches showed it. It was not only my body though, my mind was running wild. Slowly, step by step, I have continued on my healing journey by slowly connecting back to my body.
This journey has also lead me to somatics and free movement, which have been big game changers. I was not aware of all the stuck energy in my body, releases feel absolutely amazing. So that point that I have come to now is the need to share my knowledge. I believe that if I had listened to my body and had the right tools, I would not have been in the same situation. But sometimes the body is so smart, it makes decisions for you. This wisdom is in us all, we might just need a little nudge to look inside again <3