Hasenheide park has been throbbing with dance music all summer, but it’s not just the illegal raves: the yogis are also moving to the beat at the techno yoga classes from Hi Yoga. Founded in 2018, the Kreuzberg-based yoga studio has moved outdoors to take you on a hour-long journey of music and motion. The studio offers eight weekly classes in the Neukölln park, led by a team that includes founder Sophie Senoner as well as music producer Sebastiaan Brinkman, who we joined for a Saturday evening class. Dividing his life between teaching asanas and making electronic beats, Sebastiaan blends an easy-going, energetic yoga flow with his own music mixes that are perfectly matched to the pace of the class.

You get to see Hasenheide from a whole different perspective as you bend, dive and balance amongst the tweeting birds and passing cyclists. The class finishes up with an extra-long Shavasana in the early-evening light as Sebastiaan reads out soothing stories. Besides Hasenheide, Hi Yoga also runs outdoor techno classes at Lessinghöhe in Neukölln and at Volkspark Rehberge in Wedding, and you can also join Sebastiaan at Hasenheide for the cosmic vinyasa classes he gives with Vollmond Yoga. The early-bird session at 8h30 on Tuesdays is perfect for working off that morning stiffness so you can start the day with some of your best (yoga) moves.

Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Yasemin Vollmond & Hi Yoga

Hi Yoga techno classes can be booked online as well as via USC and Classpass. For Sebastiaan’s schedule check out Instagram. Don’t forget your mat or towel and check the website for weather updates.

@hi_yoga_berlin
@sebastiaanlefuce

Ever been to Erkner? Or how about Hohenschönhausen? These are just two areas in and around Berlin that cycling enthusiast Tine takes you to with her cycling blog and Instagram channel Unterwegs in Berlin. If you are always biking around Kreuzberg, Neukölln or Prenzlauer Berg, now you can familiarize yourself with some less-explored districts with the routes that Tine posts every Friday. Inspired by her own cycling adventures, Tine started the project in 2014 and has since come up with bike tours for every district and mood. Looking to cool down on a hot day? Check out Urlaub zu Hause(Holiday at Home), a collection of five nature-filled tours which include stops at bathing and picnic spots. If it’s culture you’re craving, check out the Architektur und Lost Places cycling tour which takes you through Schöneweide and Adlershof. Or how about Tine’s favorite tour, a 17km winding route through Friedrichsfelde, Karlshorst and across the Spree to Schöneweide? You can browse the routes by district, length or interest, and with blogs released weekly there’s always something new to try. Tine has lived in Berlin her entire life but keeps to her motto that there’s always fresh ground to cover. So what’s stopping you? Pick a route, grab your wheels and get going!

Text: Lottie Mac / Photos: Christine (Tine) Volpert & Riciardus

Unterwegs in Berlin is available on Instagram and Komoot, where you can view the routes in full.

@unterwegsinberlin

Brandenburgers are quite proud of their corner of the world, and you can see why when you arrive in Grumsin, a 670 hectare beech forest in the middle of the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve near Angermünde, Brandenburg. While perhaps not on the same level as the Grand Canyon or the Serengeti, the site maintains UNESCO world heritage status and is only around two hours from Berlin by car or train. In spring and early summer the reserve is especially lovely, as the lush greenery refreshes and calms you at the same time. The forest path is surprisingly varied: you encounter little hills, small ponds and clearings with impressive old trees surrounded by younger greenery which winds its way across the route. This vegetation means you need to be sure footed – sadly the path is not wheelchair accessible.

You can start your route in the village of Altkünkendorf, where there is an information point, though the trails – of which there are four – are well signposted. The longest of the official tours takes about eight hours with the shorter “Grünes Buchenblatt” (“green beech leaf”) route taking around two and a half hours. If you want to combine a shorter hour-long walk with other highlights in the area, start near Altkünkendorf and head towards Louisenhof, heading out of the village into the forest and then back out again. Once you have had enough exercise, you can get a well-deserved ice cream at Hemme Milch.

Text & Photos: Nina Trippel

Grumsin is located in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve; map