KATJA Schoenfelder as born in Saxony, Germany and has lived in Beechworth for more than five years.
What do you do workwise?
My love for the English language led me to live and work in the U.S., England and then Australia where I arrived 21 years ago. I have taught German, PE and some outdoor education in Melbourne schools, East Gippsland and eventually in Beechworth and Wangaratta after my family and I moved to this beautiful area.
My other passion is yoga in all its wonderful varieties and forms. I started practicing different styles of yoga when I arrived in Australia and eventually decided I wanted to become a yoga teacher for children and teens, then later adults, too. Since I opened the doors of my little business “Young Spirit Yoga”, I have had the honour to meet many people of all ages and abilities on the mat. Yoga is a bit like language learning to me - you start off small and it’s a little boring and tedious, but then you learn more, and it starts to make sense and you feel more comfortable in it, you push yourself harder and realise there is so much to learn, and it feels great to get better at it. Apart from the physical, mental, and spiritual growth, I also have found a wonderful community and friends through my work.
What do you love about your work?
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Speaking another language is a wonderful skill and has opened many doors into people’s hearts for me and I am honoured to be able to pass this onto young people. I wish more young people would choose to learn a second language in Australia. It’s hard but so rewarding.
What do you do in the community?
I feel it is important to look after our community’s mental health especially our young people after COVID. Meaningful social connection and engagement for young people through yoga, dance, art and sustainable food production is strived for working with Danielle Bell in various programs in the Dragonfly Project (www.thedragonflyproject.com.au). We invite young people to learn how their choices and actions can have a positive impact on their own body and mind but also on the health of the planet, which should be number one priority of every government in the world.
If the person you would most like to meet came to Indigo Shire (past or present), or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why?
I would like to invite my stepmother Elke to Indigo Shire. I would take her on a bike ride on the rail trail to Yackandandah, have a Gum Tree pie, take her to the Barking Owl Distillery in Wooragee to have a gin or two and maybe do some strawberry picking at Beechworth Berries as well. We would visit Beechworth Contemporary Art Space in town as well as oneofftwo Studios in Mayday Hills. I would also show her the stuffed thylacine and other curiosities in the Burke Museum and drive to Woolshed Falls but most of all we would go walking through the beautiful natural bush around the area. We would see the sunset at Mount Pilot hoping to see a wombat and kangaroo along the way.
What book are you reading?
I just finished reading “How We Love” by Australian author Clementine Ford. It’s a memoir about love, and the courage it takes to be true and to open your heart to yourself and others.
