Interview with Dana van Breukelen

Dana van Breukelen

Dana van Breukelen.jpg

Dana grew up in a yoga ashram and was drawn to Indian music, language, and mantras from a young age. This encouraged her to travel to India for many years and to study Anthropology, Hindi, and Hinduism. 

In 2016, she completed the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training in the Himalayas in India. She appreciates the holistic inclusion of Asana, Pranayama, and Mantra within this hatha yoga tradition. The yogic path of devotion, chanting and mantra recitation has been with her throughout her travels. She guides people into relaxation with her gentle guitar play and healing voice. 

What do you love about The Conscious Club? What brought you here?

What I love about the Conscious Club is that the space is harmonious, clean and filled with green plants; it instantly makes you feel relaxed as you walk through the door. The use of beautiful natural materials and products is also something I really appreciate and am very enthusiastic about. 

I was introduced to the Conscious Club through a friend and loved this place at first sight.

“The space is harmonious, clean and filled with green plants; it instantly makes you feel relaxed as you walk through the door”

What do you like the most about your class? What makes your class special?

Mantras and the sound of silence. The vibration of the music I share is in honor of silence and are based on ancient mantras. It helps to relax, to slow down, and to turn within during the concerts and yoga classes. The Hatha yoga classes I teach are meditative and every class includes asana, pranayama and mantra, allowing us to re-access inner stillness and bliss on all levels. 

What makes you happy as a teacher? What are you proud of?

What fills my heart with joy is to see when people can fully relax, when I see people feel at ease and comfortable during the concerts or yoga classes.

Another thing that makes me very happy is chanting together. Chanting Ohm in a group together for example. I love the moment when all voices merge into one, and I am reminded every time of the true meaning of yoga (yoga  = union). In this union, all differences vanish and we are all one. 

“When we find peace within, we find peace in the world”

What do you want to teach your students?

My wish for the students that come to my classes is that the music may help them connect with the peace that is always inside each and every one of us. I feel it is very important to take time for relaxation, to go within and to quiet the mind. Music can be a great help to let go of doing and performing, and can allow us to just be. 

The Hatha yoga classes I teach are based on Sivananda yoga, this is a traditional Hatha yoga sequence, where the focus is on meditation. The Asanas are a tool to guide students inwards and prepare for meditation.

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Music has the power to calm our nervous system, to open the heart and is a doorway to silence. I truly believe that music in service to silence, meditation, and yoga can contribute to the vibration of peace in the world. When we find peace within, we find peace in the world.

Dana van Breukelen gives the Sacred Cacao Ceremony and Hatha Yoga & Live Music at The Conscious Club. Check out our daily schedule for all our classes!