On Tour with Jens Bache
Jens Bache is not your ordinary Ashtanga yoga practitioner or teacher. He came to yoga as a highly celebrated Engineer, in the middle of a very normal career trajectory, yet he was looking for more…
Life had to have more meaning. He felt isolated and stressed. Then in 1997, on a work-study trip in Berkeley California, Jens Bache experienced yoga for the first time.
“A daily yoga practice at home gave me the peace of mind I was looking for.”
When he returned to Copenhagen he participated in his first workshop in 1999, and quite unexpectedly, he became the main instigator in creating an Ashtanga Yoga grassroots community in Copenhagen. As Jens said, he had a unique set of ‘process oriented skills’ from his Business degree in Project Management, which were badly needed in the yoga community. And so, this kind of self reliance in Jens grew into the first Mysore-style school that he nurtured along with Susanna Finocchi for 18 years.
At this point Jens began traveling far and wide to study with Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois, attending workshops in Sweden, Italy, Finland, India, Portugal, Norway, New York City, and Switzerland.
In 2003, Jens traveled to Mysore to learn from Guruji at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute and continued returning annually since this first visit. He enjoyed expanding his knowledge about Indian philosophy, culture, and all things yoga. And, quickly, yet not surprisingly, Jens was soon relied upon by the Jois family themselves to run their European Tour stops!
So, luckily for you, in this episode, you’ll find out exactly what it might be like to host a tour stop with Sharath Jois and his family!
Jens has been the primary catalyst in bringing Sharath Jois to Copenhagen 6 times now, the first tour being in 2006 with the whole family, including Guruji (Sri K. Pattabhi Jois) and Saraswathi.
Ashtanga Yoga Copenhagen was Sharath’s first tour invitation in 2009, after the passing of Pattabhi Jois, which for Jens was an immense honour and act of trust that he didn’t take lightly.
He has risen to the occasion again and again and hopes to have the honour once again this summer, in conjunction with his partner Lisa Lalér, co-owner of the Yoga Shala Stockholm, to host Sharathji on tour.
Jens translated Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ book ”Yoga Mala” into Danish and is one of the masterminds behind the documentaries ”Guruji in Copenhagen” and ”Sharath in Copenhagen.”
Jens obtained a Masters degree in Indology – the study of Indian history, literature, philosophy and culture – from the Copenhagen University, and now acts as a “Cultural Broker” mediating between companies in Denmark and India to facilitate a greater understanding between organizations, through cultural translation.
Something, he says, that he learned in real time negotiating the space between Sharathji and the West.
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT JENS
WEBSITE I INSTAGRAM I FaceBOOK I Talk with Eddie Stern - FEB.11, 2022
Sharath’s Workshops in Copenhagen I YOUTUBE I Instagram for AYC
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The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
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Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.” Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Simply Click Here.
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