Ralf Bauer: Tibetan yoga for back pain

Anyone who has found themselves asking how vultures attack, how yaks rub their shoulders or how frogs hop has come to the right place at Ralf Bauer’s lecture. The actor is a yoga instructor for the healing art of Lu Jong; the positions in this variant of yoga are named after animals found in the mountains of Tibet. Bauer gave a 30-minute introduction to Lu Jong at ISPO MUNICH, a program that was in high demand with visitors.

Lu Jong: Ralf Bauer with the tranquility of a Tibetan monk

In a move that surprised many, Bauer began his performance while sitting on a chair. Relaxing with personal anecdotes, Ralf Bauer explained simple beginner moves to the audience with the tranquility of a Tibetan monk. This was followed by a finger exercise called “how vultures attack”; he then invited participants to stand and showed them how to do two shoulder exercises (“how the yak rubs his shoulder” and “how the frog hops”).

No back pain thanks to Lu Jong, the Tibetan art of yoga

Before discovering yoga, Bauer suffered from back pain for years. The variant he practices, called Lu Jong, is a very traditional method that comes “directly from the Tibetan monasteries” as Bauer says. Wearing a Buddha shirt and a dark headband, the actor talked enthusiastically about his morning yoga rituals on stage at ISPO MUNICH. In Bauer’s opinion, while the effects of yoga may not be immediately apparent, it is much more than just calisthenics for housewives. Bauer even says, “The only reason Germany won the soccer World Cup was because the team has been using the power of yoga for years.”