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· Dario Cologna · Tanja Bachmann · Kjus · Stephan Siegrist ·

· Mary Katrantzou · Swiss waterfalls · Lugano · Julian Zigerli ·

NO. 3 MARCH/APRIL 2013 CHF 7.50

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Survey winners:

“The year 2013 is about new beginnings. A year to change,” wrote

Huffingtonpost columnist Amy Chan last December. Her prediction has

come true here at Swiss News. After a wonderful and inspiring 15 issues,

it is time for the editorial team, Emily and I, to say our good-byes to you,

our friends and readers with our last full issue. We have thoroughly

enjoyed scouting the length and breadth of Switzerland to bring you

exciting stories of people and places and wish to express our heartfelt

gratitude to you for your thoughts and opinions along the way. As Emily

and I are embarking on new adventures, so is Swiss News in its 31st year

of publication. Starting from May, the magazine will undergo a

transformation led by Erika Frey-Hasegawa.

Emily and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our columnists –

Brien Donnellon (‘finance column’), Tsitaliya Mircheva (‘changing room’), Hiltl (‘healthy indulgence’), Orell Füssli (‘books’) and Girlfriend Guide (‘healthy

living’) – as well as our regular contributors (Marion Widmer, Christos & Christos, Sue Style and Mary Krienke amongst others) for their outstanding work and

dedication. It has been a pleasure to work with you and we really appreciate all your time and effort. Last but not least, we would also like to extend a big

thank you to our interviewees, Switzerland’s tourism boards and our partners, without whom none of this would have been possible.

We are aiming to leave in style with our last issue – our fashion issue – and have prepared a variety of in-depth articles and interviews for you, from a Q&A

with Swiss of the Year Dario Cologna (page 20) to profiles of fashion designers Julian Zigerli (14) and Mary Katrantzou (40). We learn from sports premium

brand Kjus about quality without compromise and find an adventurer and climber with a similar conviction in Stephan Siegrist (page 22). In our celebrity

interview (page 18), we discover that nomen est omen, as we meet Tanja Bachmann from TinkaBelle who grew up in Vogelsang (translates roughly as

‘birdsong’). Our travel section (pages 28-37) takes us from horse riding in the Freiberg mountains to a cultural getaway in Lugano and a guide to six of

Switzerland’s finest waterfalls.

We hope you will enjoy our combined March/April issue and say good-bye to you.

Carina Scheuringer

Editor-in-Chief

PUBLISHER Remo Kuhn • MANAGING DIRECTOR Jonas Hugentobler • EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carina Scheuringer • ASSISTANT EDITOR Emily Mawson • LAYOUT María Ahuáctzin Lepel • MARKETING & ADVERTISINGMANAGER Erika Frey-Hasegawa, Tel: +41 44 306 47 00 • CONTRIBUTORS Angelica Cipullo, Brien Donnellon, Tsitaliya Mircheva, Deja Rose • PRINTING MATERIALS print@swissnews.ch • SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESWISS NEWS, Zürcherstrasse 39, 8952 Schlieren, Tel: +41 44 306 47 00, Fax: +41 44 306 47 11, abo@swiss news.ch, www.swissnews.ch • SUBSCRIPTION RATE One year, CHF 66 inside Switzerland; CHF 96 abroad;Single copy CHF 7.50 • DISTRIBUTION & SALES Available at major kiosks, Orell Füssli, Off The Shelf, and in business class on SWISS International Air Lines flights • PRINTED BY Stämpfli Publikationen AG,Wölflistrasse 1, Postfach 8326, 3001 Berne • SWISS NEWS 31st year of publication • COPYRIGHT Under the Inter national Copyright Convention, All rights reserved ISSN 1420-1151 • PUBLISHED BY SWISSBUSINESSPRESS SA, Zürcherstrasse 39, 8952 Schlieren, www.swissbusinesspress.ch

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CONTENTS

News 07 The latest news from Switzerland

10 questions with... 09 Maurice Turettini – President of the Geneva Motor Show

Entrepreneur in focus 10 Kjus – Sporting with innovation

Made in Switzerland 14 Julian Zigerli – The feel-good factor

Finance column 17 Time to tackle tax

Celebrity interview 18 Tanja Bachmann – Kissed by the Irish muse

Celebrity special 20 Dario Cologna – Man on a mission

Profile 22 Stephan Siegrist – Vertical ventures

Off the beaten track 28 Horse riding – In the saddle in the Freiberg mountains

Insider 32 48 hours in... Lugano

Destination Switzerland 34 Waterfalls in Switzerland – Nature’s force

Fashion 38 Mary Katrantzou – Print magic

Fashion column 41 Changing room – Buying a new season

Healthy living 42 Yoga – The truth about yoga

Books 45 English books at Orell Füssli

Directory 46 Goods and services in Switzerland

Classifieds 50 Noticeboard

Images from top:

Stephan Siegrist, © Visualimpact.ch/Thomas Ulrich

Dario Cologna, © KJUS.com/Stephan Schlumpf

Waterfalls in Switzerland, © swiss-image.ch/Christof Sonderegger

Mary Katrantzou, © Alex Sainsbury

Front cover: Dario Cologna, © KJUS.com/Stephan Schlumpf

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Sporting with innovationKjus

By Carina Scheuringer

b u s i n e s s | e n t r e p r e n e u r i n f o c u s

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Humble beginningsWhen Lasse had to take a break from professional skiing

due to bronchial problems in 2000, it was a blessing in

disguise for the fledgling enterprise. Together, the business

partners went door to door in various ski resorts, promoting

their brand. “Our strategy was not to get as many local

buyers as possible. We just wanted one buyer – the number

one in each village,” explains Didi. But securing what Didi

calls “the Platzhirsch” in places like St Moritz, Zermatt and

St Anton was anything but a small undertaking.

“I remember the early days well,” laughs Didi’s oldest son Nico.

He had just arrived in Costa Rica after a season working in

Skiservice Corvatsch in St Moritz, when he got a call. “My

father told me that there had been an opening in sales at Kjus

and that I should come home,” recalls the 33-year-old. Having

inherited his father’s love for sports and entrepreneurial

instincts, he was quick to say yes and cancel his holiday

before it had even started. It proved a wise decision.

Nico was born for the job. “When I was little, I always looked

up to my father and his business – and I thought ‘it’s a good

thing that my best subject at school is sports,’” he chuckles,

before relating one of the first assignments his father ever

gave him. “During a school holiday in primary school, my

father told me I had to go out and earn money. MIGROS was

delivering Ping-Pong sets to a local farm – so I spent three

weeks putting on price stickers, surrounded by cows and

hay.” The glue might have worn Nico’s fingerprints away, but

it confirmed his suspicion that his future was in the sport

industry.

With his father not believing in

family favours, Nico started from

the very bottom at Kjus, going

from door to door with the first

collection. “I think it is crucial

that people are in certain roles

because they deserve to be,”

explains Didi, whose leadership

is based on teamwork and is

anything but patriarchal. With

the market at the time “driven by price,” it took a good two

years until Nico saw the fruits of his hard labour. “When

people began to appreciate the added value of our

products, it made my life a lot easier!” he confirms. His

success saw him climb the company ladder gradually –

from national to international sales, and finally – based on

his creative talents – to Head of Design in 2009.

Premium sportswear brand Kjus is ahead of its time and

ahead of itself. Clothing, at the new Hünenberg

headquarters, is not simply a matter of looks. It is about

performance, comfort and style without compromise. Kjus

is a labour of love, born in the mind of an exceptional

entrepreneur upon the wintry slopes of the Swiss Alps.

Two of a kindSport and fashion have been threaded throughout much of

the life of Didi Serena, the company’s founding father and

President. “Growing up on skis” in the Engadine, he lived

and breathed sports from the word go. He turned his

passion into a career in 1979 when he founded his first

company and brought Norwegian brand Odlo to

Switzerland. After twenty years with Odlo, an encounter with

professional skier Lasse Kjus in Norway marked the

beginning of a new era.

“Lasse was at the top of his game when I met him. At the

World Championships in Vail in 1999, he medalled in all

disciplines, a feat unmatched in the history of Alpine skiing,”

Didi remembers. “I simply said: ‘What if we developed a

skiwear collection that was entirely without compromise?’”

For a man who spent nearly 200 days a year on skis, this

was an enticing proposition. The Norwegian sure knew a

thing or two about clothing that did not work. Together, the

duo set up ‘Kjus’ in 2000 to revolutionise the market.

“Kjus stands for authenticity and credibility. Lasse is a

highly respected and successful skier, who is very much

liked internationally and is renowned to always aspire to

being the best,” says Didi by way of explaining the

company name. “It just seemed perfect.” With the

foundations established, the partners directed their

attention to their first collection and, true to their

commitment “to create the best skiwear possible,” began

scouting the market for the best materials available.

They discovered that NASA was using lining materials in

their spacesuits for astronauts that could balance out

changing ambient temperatures. Agreeing that this was the

perfect way to increase the comfort levels for active skiers,

they incorporated the material into their skiwear. “This had

implications on the price of course,” recalls Didi. “Normal

lining cost about USD 2.50 – this type cost USD 50.

Producers were sceptical initially and we had to make

considerable investments to get the first prototypes

developed.” A seasoned businessman, Didi was not

deterred. He was well aware that success doesn’t happen

overnight but requires perseverance and patience.

“Everything we do is

authentic. We stand for

active sportswear

without compromise.”

Didi Serena

All photos on this spread © Carina Scheuringer

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LK International AGRothusstrasse 246331 Hünenberg+41 41 748 08 08www.kjus.comhttp://world.kjus.com

Kjus opened their flagship storein Hünenberg in December.Kjus is pronounced ‘tschüüs’.

b u s i n e s s | e n t r e p r e n e u r i n f o c u s

All photos on this spread © KJUS.com

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the extremities – but they have to be developed first!”

Putting heads togetherOnce a prototype is developed, it is not only put to the

test by the Kjus team, but also by a number of high-

profile brand ambassadors, including Didier Cuche,

Bode Miller and Lara Gut. Having worked closely

with ski racing legends Cuche and Miller in the

past twelve months, Nico can’t stress enough the

benefits of a close collaboration with some of the

world’s most successful athletes. “Having the

honour to work with such great people and

learning from their experience and feedback is

like winning the lottery,” he smiles. “They ski

with passion and take the material to the limit.

They are uncompromising testers.”

“All these great people came to us,” says Didi

proudly when asked how these

partnerships came about. “I

remember receiving an email to

info@kjus.com from Bode Miller’s

agent. We thought we could never

afford him! I think these great

sportspeople really appreciate that we

are authentic – that we are not some

schicky micky brand with models that

don’t even know how to carry skies

properly. Everything we do is real.”

Real Kjus truly is – and thirteen years

down the line, the word is spreading

quickly. Today, the slopes of St Anton, St

Moritz and Zermatt bear witness to the

very real force in fashion that Kjus has

become. Add to this the golf and active

lifestyle collections the brand has recently

launched and it becomes obvious why

founding father Didi is yet to have a break. “I

should apply for it some day!” he laughs…

but there is no rest for the wicked! At this

rate, retirement might be his next option…

“And we will have to see about retirement,”

his sons chuckle in unison.

labour. “When people began to appreciate the added value

of our products, it made my life a lot easier!” he confirms.

His success saw him climb the company ladder gradually –

from national to international sales, and finally – based on

his creative talents – to Head of Design in 2009.

Down to a scienceFor a brand aspiring to produce the best skiwear possible,

innovation was the key ingredient for success. From the

onset, Kjus clothing sought to distinguish itself by optimum

lightweight performance, comfort and individual style and

was packed with functional details such as storm hoods

and money pockets. Kjus was the first sportswear brand to

develop stretch skiwear and to make use of ultrasound

adhesion and glued seams to guarantee complete

waterproofing. “Our motto has always been to never stand

still,” says Didi, “We are never satisfied with the status quo

and remain extremely critical.”

Didi’s second son Sven, who joined the business in 2006

“after trying out everything else,” knows too well what this

means. “Even today, when we give Lasse a new product to

test, he tests it down to the last detail and comes back with

many little ideas of how we could improve it.” Just as his

brother, the 31-year-old had to earn his place in the company.

Building on his strengths “to plan and structure,” Sven

started his career at Kjus as a factory quality controller and

was sent to China on his first assignment. “I was there for

three weeks, checking the quality of the products before

they went into the factory and after they came out. I learnt a

lot dealing directly with the people working on the

machines,” he remembers. The experience greatly helped

his understanding of production processes and the cultural

differences; two skills he drew on as he assumed more

senior responsibilities in the company – and two skills that

make him the number one candidate for Kjus’s upcoming

project in Asia.

On behalf of Kjus, Sven will be moving to Hong Kong in

April. “There hasn’t been much innovation in textile

production in recent years. I am relocating to help establish

a Research and Development Centre right at the heart of

the industry,” he explains. “We want to be able to drive

innovation ourselves and produce our own prototypes.”

Supported by a smaller Research and Development Centre

in Hünenberg and by “some of the very best textile

developers” (such as Toray in Japan and Schoeller in

Switzerland), this should result in exciting products. “There

are so many ideas,” adds Nico, “like ‘self-healing’ fabrics or

clothes that can direct warmth from the core of the body to

p e o p l e | p r o f i l e

9 Vertical venturesStephan Siegrist

By Carina Scheuringer

“For me, the friendships you strike are

just as important as reaching the

mountain top. The summit is super nice,

but it doesn’t change your life in the

way friendships do. And this is one of

the things that make climbing so

special for me.” Stephan Siegrist© C

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On a sleepy Monday morning, the scene is moody and

mysterious. Thick fog shrouds the Loucherhorn and spills

into the valley below. Here, whipped on by the breeze, it

dances across Lake Brienz, before silently creeping back

up towards Habkern. As I watch nature’s performance

through large panoramic windows, Stephan Siegrist hits the

on-switch button of his coffee machine. The content smile

on his face says it all – why a man who seeks out the world’s

last frontiers is still always happy to come back home. “We

are very lucky here in Switzerland,” he muses. “It’s

beautiful.” And beautiful Ringgenberg is, framed by the

windows of his self-build family home. Every single vantage

point is maximised to its full potential.

“My dad ran a carpentry business and was always convinced

that I – the only son in three children – would definitely follow

in his footsteps,” Siegrist says thoughtfully. The oversized

canvases on his walls reveal that life had other plans in store

for him. Siegrist would give his heart to the mountains rather

than woodwork.

After initially training as a carpenter, the Bernese had to

break the news to his dad “in small pieces, one at a time.” It

was a difficult task – made even harder by the fact that really

he “had no idea whether or not it would be possible to live

from what was essentially a passion.” But aged 26, Siegrist

took the plunge and became a professional climber and

expedition leader.

14 years down the line, the adventurer’s photographs speak

volumes about his remarkable feats. Above the leather couch

in his living room, one frame shows a spider-esque figure

clinging on to a sheer vertical rock face. In the hallway,

another canvas pictures Mount Holtanna surrounded by the

vast expanse of the Antarctic plain. The landscape looks

surreal – a silent world, hostile yet beautiful. It is a place not

many will ever have the privilege to see, never mind exploring

it in the fashion of a pioneer like Siegrist.

Fascination mountain“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night,

in the dusty recesses of their minds, awake in the day to find

that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are

dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open

eyes to make it reality,” once remarked British Army Officer

T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia.

40-year-old Siegrist is a prime example of the latter. He lives to

make his dreams reality. “I see a picture of an aesthetically-

pleasing mountain or a difficult face in an area that is unknown,

and I want to climb it. These are my dreams,” he confirms,

before adding soberly: “It would pay more if I was into

mainstream stuff – the 8,000 metre peaks that sell – but that is

not the kind of adventure I am looking for. For me, expeditions

are about the whole experience – the journey and the people

I share it with – and most importantly, of course, the end goal.”

And in Siegrist’s case, the ‘end goal’ is never an easy thing

to reach. The mountaineer dreams so big, in fact, that

sometimes it may take years to realise his vision and

“convince sponsors that his dream is a worthwhile project.”

“Holtanna is a good example,” he smiles, “I first saw a

photograph of it in 1994 and was immediately fascinated.

For years, I couldn’t let it go; I kept on thinking about this

mountain, but it just seemed an impossible undertaking.”

And the ‘impossible’ started with the question of how to

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For years, I couldn’t let it go; I kept on thinking about this

mountain, but it just seemed an impossible undertaking.”

And the ‘impossible’ started with the question of how to

even get there. “During my research, I discovered that there

was a Russian base on Queen Maudland that could be

reached by cargo plane. From there, a smaller plane was

serving a research station nearer the mountain,” Siegrist

remembers. “I contacted the base to see whether it was

possible to get a seat. And they quoted me an incredibly

steep EUR 22,000 per person.” It was a price tag that put

his dream out of reach until some 14 years later, Siegrist and

his partners eventually secured the necessary sponsorship

to finance their undertaking. “Where there is a will, there is a

way,” he chuckles. It is a motto that has served him well.

Dream ticketsIn November, the Bernese set off towards Antarctica,

accompanied by fellow mountaineers Thomas and Alexander

Huber and German cameraman Max Reichel. “When I finally

set foot on Queen Maudland, it was one of the best moments

of my career. The Antarctic landscape is the most beautiful

thing I have ever seen.” A beaming smile lights up Siegrist’s

face. And looking at him, you could be excused for forgetting

that getting there – in the grand scheme of things – was

probably the ‘easiest’ part of this momentous expedition.

The team had yet to battle ambient temperatures of up to

-52°C in their feat to become the first humans to scale the

750 metre tall vertical west face of the Holtanna – and their

second feat to climb the most difficult of all the Antarctic

mountains, the Ulvetanna. It was a big task – and none of

them knew for sure whether it was within their reach.

“We focused on the goal – this is what gives you the motivation

to trek for hours and put yourself through incredible hardship.

The main thing is to remain flexible and to adapt to any given

situation, because when you are venturing into unknown

territories, you are never quite sure what you are going to find.

This makes things twice as hard, but also twice as exciting,”

reveals Siegrist. “You can contact locals ahead of the journey

and learn from them but, in the end, you have to find a way to

live in the environment you are in and be resourceful. In Queen

Maudland, for example, we put one sleeping bag inside

another to double up the insulation – and we used the eye

sleeping masks we had been given on the plane to keep our

eye lashes from freezing together during the night.”

However, in the end, all these things are but mere details.

“When you reach the summit, all the difficulties pale away

into insignificance. The reward is immense,” confirms

Siegrist. And he sure is speaking from experience. In the

past two decades, the pioneer has completed first ascents

on all seven continents. In addition to that, he has scaled

the great north walls of the Alps and undertaken expeditions

to far-away corners of Patagonia, North India and Nepal

amongst others. He has become one of the most

outstanding Swiss mountaineers of his time.

Lofty aspirationsBut what is it that makes people like Siegrist want to push the

last frontiers and scale the most challenging peaks? Maybe it

is just like when British mountaineer George Herbert Leigh

Mallory was asked why he had wanted to climb Everest, he

answered: “because it is there.” Or maybe this remarkable

spirit of adventure is simply engrained in some of us.

Siegrist takes a moment to ponder the question. “Certainly

growing up in Meikirch shaped who I am today,” he

concludes, “I am very lucky to have grown up where I did.© V

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The village had maybe 100 inhabitants, not more, and we

were truly surrounded by nature. As kids, a group of us

would always go out on our little adventures and I guess that

greatly influenced me.”

Aged 14, friends of the family took young Siegrist up his first

mountain – on skis. “I didn’t like ski touring very much,” he

laughs, “I just didn’t think the effort was really worth what

you got out in the end.” The same family would later

introduce him to a pastime that was much better suited to

him: climbing. The youngster was immediately fascinated

by the physical challenges the sport presented to him.

A stint at the local youth climbing club and later at a

mountain guide school helped Siegrist advance his skills

quickly and introduced him to likeminded mountaineering

enthusiasts. Together, they started putting theory into

practice. Little did Siegrist know that some of the bonds he

forged then would be bonds for life. “For me, the friendships

you strike are just as important as reaching the mountain

top. The summit is super nice, but it doesn’t change your life

in the way friendships do. And this is one of the things that

make climbing so special for me,” he explains.

Friends in high placesSiegrist typically climbs with the same group of people – like

Ralph Weber who he first met in his mountain guide course

twenty years ago. “These friendships stay forever,” he smiles.

“Look at Ueli Steck for instance – we have been through so

many good times together and both live off the same thing. I

make sure to not step in his tracks – in my opinion, it wouldn’t

be fair, if I just trained to outdo his time on the Eiger north face

– that would simply be competition and I am not interested in

that at all. For me, it is about the friendship.”

However, living life at the edge of an abyss means that

sometimes the greatest friends can be gone from one

moment to the next. “It is really tough to deal with losing a

friend,” Siegrist says referring to the deaths of his mentors

Xavier Bongard and Ueli Gegenschatz. “My two-year-old

son is named after Xavier. He was one of the best Swiss

alpinists of his time and he was the one who brought

basejumping to Switzerland. I learnt so much from him and

was really shaken up when he died.”

Following Bongard’s death in 1994 during a basejump in the

Lauterbrunnen valley, Siegrist promised himself to never

basejump. He held on to this promise until 15 years later, when

a chat with one of Bongard’s close friends re-ignited his

interest in the sport. “The technology had advanced

remarkably since Xavier’s days – it was much safer and I was

really intrigued because it was so different from climbing.

Climbing is slow and your focus is on being as close to the

face as you can be; basejumping is fast and you need to leap

as far away from the wall as you can.” Finally breaking his “self-

imposed ban” in June 2009, Siegrist scaled and jumped the

Eiger Mushroom. After that, he was hooked.

He found a new basejumping mentor in Ueli Gegenschatz,

a man known to take safety very seriously and renowned to

be meticulous about the preparation of his every jump.

“When Ueli died in a freak accident jumping from the Zurich

Sunrise Towers for a sponsorship event in 2009, it really hit

me hard,” says Siegrist, “We spoke on the phone just before

he jumped and he mentioned that the wind was really bad.

He took a long time up there, waiting and waiting. But

eventually, he jumped.”

Staying safe

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Stephan Siegrist’s main achievements since 2006 - Patagonia 2012: first ascent of Cerro Standhardt; first winter ascent

of the three best-known peaks of the Torres - India 2011: first ascent of Cerro Kishtwar

- Patagonia 2010: first winter ascent of Torre Egger - Kirgizstan, 2009: Asan, Pik Slesova

- Switzerland 2009: Eiger north face, route ‘Magic Mushroom’; firstfree ascent combined with a basejump

- Antarctica 2008: Queen Maudland: Holtanna, Ulvetanna - Switzerland 2008: new route Eiger north face ‘La Paciencia’

- Patagonia 2008: ascent of all four Torres peaks- Himalaya/India 2007: first ascent of the Arwa Tower north wall

- India 2006: first ascent of the northwest ridge of the Thalay Sagar - Spain 2006: first ascent of Muchachito Bombo Inferno on El Chorro

Books: new coffee table booked entitled‘Beyond the Element’ available from March

Presentations: Where earth meets sky,Antarctica, Himalaya, Eiger; Faszination Berg

For information, please see: www.stephan-siegrist.ch

p e o p l e | p r o f i l e

Sunrise Towers for a sponsorship event in 2009, it really hit

me hard,” says Siegrist, “We spoke on the phone just before

he jumped and he mentioned that the wind was really bad.

He took a long time up there, waiting and waiting. But

eventually, he jumped.”

Staying safeSiegrist abstained from basejumping for years and to this

very day, vows to never seek sponsorship for his jumps. “I

would never want to feel under pressure to jump. Heroes

die,” he says soberly, before adding, “I am glad I didn’t get

into basejumping when I was 20, it would have been so

dangerous!”

Siegrist is convinced that experience has reduced the risk

involved in his line of work. “When I was young, I didn’t think

a lot – a few times, I realised only after the event that I had

been in a very dangerous situation and was lucky to still be

alive,” he says. “But somehow your brain seems to store

these memories – I find they come back to me in similar

situations. Only now, I know to make a better decision – it

helps when you know yourself well and you have gone

through the same experience before.”

Dream onWith a new expedition on the horizon, Siegrist is busy

preparing both mentally and physically for a new adventure. “I

always try and eat healthily and I split my working day

between training and office duties.” His focus at the moment –

after seeing “the super nice” west ridge of the Makalu (the fifth

highest mountain in the world) is on endurance training –

including cross-country skating, ice climbing, dry tooling and

a little bit of bouldering for added strength.

On 8 April, Siegrist will be setting off with a team of Germans

to attempt an alpine style ascent (without fixed ropes) of the

8,463-metre summit. As his eyes sparkle with excitement

when he tells me the details, I smile – the spirit of adventure

sure is alive and well in this corner of Ringgenberg. I hope he

will return safe and sound with many more stories to tell. I am

looking forward to his presentation about the trip already!

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l i f e s t y l e | h e a l t h y l i v i n g b y g i r l f r i e n d g u i d e

The truth about Yoga

Shelby McDermott YogaWinterthurerstrasse 47

8006 Zurichwww.shelbymcdermott.ch

Is yoga alsopopular with men?Shelby McDermott: I think that men are starting to realise

that yoga feels good and can be beneficial for the body,

mind and spirit. Yoga also complements sports such as

running, biking, swimming and skiing.  Men tend to have

tighter muscles than most women so they should take care

not to push themselves too hard in a yoga class, but instead

invite the body into the posture. Yoga practice is not about

achieving, but instead about ‘being’ where you are in each

moment. By approaching a yoga class with this mentality,

men and women are more likely to practise safely. 

How often you need to do it to reap the benefits?Shelby McDermott: For beginners, practising as much as

possible is best. I suggest attending group classes two to

three times per week if you can. This way the body has a

chance to memorise and become accustomed to the

movements and rhythms of a yoga practice. When

practising this often, a student will see changes in their

body and mind within three to six weeks.  Experienced

students should practise yoga asanas and pranayama daily

by  integrating a home practice into their lifestyle, as well

as attending group classes once or twice a week. 

Why do you think there has been a surge in thepopularity of yoga recently?Shelby McDermott: Yoga has been gaining in popularity

over the last 40 years in the west and is currently booming

in Switzerland’s big cities.  I think humans in general are

becoming more conscious about their health and quality of

life, and yoga supports this, whether through the physical

asana practice or the subtle aspects of the mind.

Happiness and health are born from the inside out and, as

this philosophy becomes more widespread, people are

realising that yoga is here and ready to assist them in their

daily lives to be wholesome,joyous and peaceful beings. 

Yoga, a Hindu philosophy that originated 5,000 years ago in

India, has recently enjoyed a surge in popularity. (Around 30

million people now regularly practise yoga worldwide,

according to a report on www.bbc.co.uk). However, from

Iyengar (concentrating on postural alignment) to Ashtanga

(alignment of movement and breath), just trying to

understand the different variations of yoga can be

overwhelming for a beginner, let alone practising them. It

helps to see the discipline in much simpler terms – as unity.

The word ‘yoga’ means ‘union’ in Sanskrit. It is on this

principle that the practice of yoga is based, with the aim of

fostering a holistic approach to body, mind and spirit. It

incorporates yoga postures (asanas) and controlled

breathing (pranayamas) to liberate the mind and give us the

‘tools’ to cope better with everyday life. To find out more,

Girlfriend Guide meet Shelby McDermott, a yoga teacher

based in Zurich.

What – or who – helped you decide to spend your lifededicated to yoga?Shelby McDermott: My life has been the greatest inspiration

to my dedication to yoga. I have made a wide variety of life

experiences that ultimately brought me closer to

myself.  Along the way, yoga supported me through the

journey with a compassionate, warm hand. I felt more

sincere and authentic when I practised and I wanted more

of that in my life. So I practised more and more.

How can yoga help people overcome problems such asstress or back pain? Shelby McDermott: People need to make the choice to be

healthy and ‘whole’. Once that choice is made, you come to

the difficult bit, because you need the discipline to practise

yoga regularly. It is only possible to overcome stress and

bodily pains that were gained through an unbalanced lifestyle

once you are willing to be proactive about your health and well-

being. Including four to ten cycles of sun salutations into your

daily routine will do wonders for your life. Also sitting quietly

and focusing on your breathing for five to ten minutes can

release tension from the mind and body.

Girlfriend Guide Co-founders Angelica Cipullo

and Deja Rose launchedGirlfriend Guide to help women

explore local events,establishments and lifestyle

offerings.www.myGirlfriendGuide.com

“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be

endured and endure what cannot be cured.”

B.K.S. Iyengar, founder of Iyengar yoga

shelby © Viola Zimmermann

15

a r t & c u l t u r e | b o o k s

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ENGLISH BOOKS and more – pay us a visitOrell Füssli The Bookshop, Bahnhofstrasse 70, 8001 Zürichenglish.books.ch

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