Why breathing, mental training, bodywork, energy work and meditation are so much more to us than mere methods.
Sometimes, a multitude of individual experiences give rise to something whose true significance we only recognise years later.
That’s how it was for Mauro and me, too.
When I look back today at our joint life’s work, MGSGT, I don’t simply see five pillars that we eventually brought together into a single concept.
I see our lives.
I see encounters with people who have shaped us. Challenges that have helped us grow. Decisions that required courage. And insights that we didn’t gain from books, but through life itself.
Above all, however, I see a journey on which we have had to learn, time and again, to understand ourselves better.
A person is more than the sum of their individual abilities
We live in an age where we are offered a solution for almost every problem.
There are exercise programmes for physical ailments. There are relaxation techniques for stress. There is mental training for our thoughts. There is meditation for inner restlessness.
Each of these approaches can be valuable.
Yet, over the course of our decades of working with people, one thing has become increasingly clear to us:
We cannot empower people in the long term if we focus solely on individual areas of their lives.
For what happens to our bodies when our thoughts constantly revolve around worries?
What happens to our breathing when fear or tension dominate our daily lives?
How do our experiences, beliefs and feelings influence the decisions we make?
And why do we sometimes find it so difficult to put into practice what we have long known would be good for us?
These questions have been with Mauro and me for many years.
Not only in our work with other people.
But also in our own lives.
Knowledge alone does not change lives
We can know a great deal about health and still lead an unhealthy life.
We can understand how important inner peace is, and yet remain constantly under stress.
We can talk about self-confidence whilst at the same time doubting our own abilities.
There is sometimes a surprisingly wide gap between what we know and how we actually live our lives.
Perhaps this is precisely one of the most important insights we have gained along the way.
Personal development does not begin by accumulating more and more knowledge.
It begins when we become ready to integrate our insights into our own lives.
When we do not merely understand, but experience.
Not just talk about it, but act on it.
And where we learn to take responsibility for our thoughts, our decisions and our well-being.
But how do we manage that?
Five pillars – a shared journey
Step by step, our experiences and many years of work have given rise to what now forms the foundation of MGSGT.
Five pillars that address different aspects of our humanity and complement one another.
BREATH – POWER
Our breath accompanies us from the very first to the very last moment of our lives.
Most of the time, we pay it hardly any attention.
Yet it is far more than just a physical process that keeps us alive.
By consciously managing our breath, we can learn to influence our inner state.
For us, therefore, the breath is linked to a particular concept: power.
Not power over other people.
But the ability to consciously influence ourselves.
MENTAL – GREATNESS
Our thoughts accompany us through every day.
They can encourage us, but they can also hold us back. They can reveal possibilities or convince us that something is impossible.
The way we think about ourselves, other people and life influences our perceptions and our actions.
For us, mental greatness does not mean being better than others.
It begins when we recognise our own ways of thinking, question them and learn to deal with them more consciously.
BODY – STRENGTH
Our body carries us through life.
It enables us to move, to connect with others and to have countless experiences.
And yet we often treat it as if it simply has to function.
It is only when it shows us its limits that we sometimes start to listen more closely.
For us, physical strength therefore means far more than just muscle power or flexibility.
It also encompasses body awareness, mindfulness and the ability to recognise one’s own capabilities and limitations.
In our bodywork and yoga practice, these experiences come together to foster a more mindful approach to ourselves.
ENERGY – HEALTH
How often do we say that we’re lacking in energy?
We feel exhausted, tense inside, or as though we can no longer cope with the demands of our daily lives.
But what do we actually mean when we talk about our life energy?
For us, a holistic understanding of health also includes a conscious awareness of our physical and inner state.
In energy work, we focus on this awareness and on the traditional understanding of prana as life energy.
We regard energy work as a complementary part of our holistic support, not as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.
For us, health is a precious asset that deserves attention, personal responsibility and a conscious approach to one’s own life.
MEDITATION – DEPTH
In a world that is becoming ever faster, noisier and more demanding, we sometimes lose touch with what is happening within ourselves.
We react, go through the motions, make plans and fulfil expectations.
But when do we really take the time to connect with ourselves?
For us, meditation does not mean escaping from life.
Rather, it opens up a space for us where we can become stiller, become more aware of our thoughts and feelings, and get to know ourselves on a deeper level.
For not everything that enriches our lives can be found in the outside world.
Some things we only discover when we are ready to look within.
What makes it special is the interplay
You may now be wondering why we have chosen to combine these five pillars in particular.
Why not just breathing exercises?
Why not just yoga or meditation?
Because, throughout our lives, we have repeatedly experienced just how closely these areas are linked.
Our breathing influences our inner state.
Our thoughts influence our behaviour.
Our body reacts to stress whilst at the same time offering us opportunities to take action.
Our well-being depends on numerous physical, mental and external influences.
And the ability to pause and be mindful of ourselves can help us deal with all of this more consciously.
None of these pillars stands alone.
Each has its own significance.
Yet it is only through their interplay that the holistic approach emerges which Mauro and I have developed over many years and which we now pass on through MGSGT.
A journey that doesn’t end with us
When I think about what we really want to achieve with MGSGT, it isn’t for people to learn as many methods as possible.
We’re after something else.
We want to help people rediscover their own abilities.
To recognise their inner greatness.
To develop their strength.
To take a more conscious approach to their health.
And to find the courage not to base their lives solely on external expectations.
Because none of us can live another person’s life for them.
We can accompany them, share experiences, highlight possibilities and offer support.
But ultimately, we must take the steps that change our lives ourselves.
And perhaps that is precisely where the true significance of our five pillars lies.
They are not intended to create further demands that a person must fulfil.
They are intended to open up opportunities to get to know oneself better and to shape one’s own life more consciously.
The stories behind our five pillars
Each of our five pillars has its own story.
Each is linked to experiences, insights and convictions that have shaped Mauro and me.
That is why, in my next few blog posts, I would like to explain in more detail what lies behind them.
Not as a theoretical treatise.
Nor as a guide on how everyone should live their lives.
But as an insight into our shared journey and into what we have learnt over many years about life, about people and about ourselves.
I’d like to begin with something that is given to us all from the very first moment of our lives, yet which we often take for granted.
Our breath.
Because sometimes change doesn’t begin with a big decision.
But rather with us truly becoming aware, for the first time, of something we’ve always done.
Gianna
