As architects and urban designers we are “life directors” of spaces where people can live and make live different kind of scenarios. We have a responsibility in our designs to influence healthy, community friendly and life-style friendly environments. While it sounds very dreamy, on the other side of the mirror, architects often work in questionable conditions. We need a new slowness of designing. One that allows us to take our breath. If we can’t breathe while designing, how are we supposed to create healthy environments? In the period from 1920 and 1923, Gertrud Grunow taught students how to stabilise the body, mind and soul through sound, colour and movement.

In the complex circumstances that we live in currently, I believe the wish and passion to learn, to create and to become a better person are one of the most precious things we could give ourselves and to young people. While reading “Teaching yoga with intention”, I discovered valuable content on the shades of teaching yoga. It made me think about my personal principles and values that I have prioritised in the past years while working and teaching urban design in an international context. Reflecting on the true meaning of being a mentor, a teacher and the rewarding experience of giving and receiving knowledge is a gold dust process.