By Bettina Boekle

Why should one want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world, and the Roof of Africa, at 5895 meters high?

And why should one go one step further and add a daily yoga practice on top of a journey that is already physically and mentally demanding?

When I climbed Kilimanjaro for the first time in October 2024 with Kilimanjaro Heroes Adventures, I hadn’t initially planned to do any yoga at all. But as we started our trek, my fellow German hikers, knowing that I was a certified yoga teacher, began to ask me for some daily post-hike stretches: Sore muscles needed to be released. This also allowed us to find moments of stillness in our busy trekking days, and to fill our lungs with deep breaths of mountain air – a wonderful way to better adjust to the increasing altitude we faced. Their feedback was that it made a difference to their adventure, providing moments of physical relaxation and mental strength building.

Each of us has his or her own ambitions, and it requires that spirit and mental determination to reach Uhuru Peak. But ‘Uhuru’ means more than just ambition and grit, it literally translates to ‘Freedom’ (in Swahili). I felt this sense of freedom more than ever the first time I summited, when the snowy air was blowing over my face.

Back home, reminiscing on the positive impact that this added mental strength and mindfulness had brought to the trek, all through the power of yoga – I knew what I wanted to do. I also was convinced that others might equally benefit from what yoga is to me: The alignment of breath and physical movement calming the mind to find stillness in moments of greatest challenge. So I persuaded Evarist, the mastermind behind Kilimanjaro Heroes, to offer the first Kilimanjaro Heroes Yoga climb in January 2025 with me as a yoga teacher.

When I told my family and friends during Christmas that I was going back to “the mountain” just three months later, I was assuming they would tell me that I was out of my mind. But adventurous spirit prevails, and most often will it push us beyond the boundaries we believe are there in our lives. However, it is our mind setting those boundaries for us. I have experienced that crossing them and following my intuition has often moved me in new directions in life that I wasn’t ready for prior. For example, to finally embrace a fundamental shift in my career.

If reading this and watching our amazing Video Link from our yoga climb premiere inspires you, please join our growing community of yogis climbing Kilimanjaro in JULY 19th – 25, 2025 We’d love to be the guide of your journey to (inner) mountain, mat and mind!