Adelheid Ohlig and Luna Yoga: Rooted in Aviva Steiner's Work

By Marta Han, co-founder of The Fertility Class, yoga teacher and certified Aviva Method instructor, who has taught the method for 10 years. 

Last updated October 2026

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In short: Adelheid Ohlig developed Luna Yoga in the early 1980s. Its core is the set of menstrual-cycle exercises Aviva Steiner created in the 1960s and 1970s, which Ohlig combined with yoga, breathwork and movement. We spoke with her about how the practice began and what it shares with the Aviva Method we teach.

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We recently had the honor of sitting down with Adelheid Ohlig, the founder of Luna Yoga. Her work has reached women in many countries, and it shares roots with the method at the heart of The Fertility Class. Our conversation covered how her practice began, how it has grown and what it can offer women today.

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Adelheid’s path began somewhere many women will recognize: looking for answers to a health problem when conventional options had run out. After being diagnosed with a gynecological condition, she discovered Aviva Steiner’s movement method, with its focus on hormonal balance and reproductive health.

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The experience changed the direction of her life. Building on Steiner’s cycle exercises, she created Luna Yoga, a practice that brings together movement, breathwork and awareness of the menstrual cycle. Today she describes Steiner’s exercises as the trunk from which Luna Yoga grew.

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At the center of Luna Yoga is a conviction Adelheid has held for decades: that women can learn to understand their own bodies and actively support their health. The practice invites women to move with awareness of their cycle and to pay close attention to how their bodies respond.

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In our conversation, she spoke about intentional movement and how it deepens awareness of the body’s cycles, and about aligning breath with movement to support reproductive health. Much of what she described resonates with how we teach, and it reminded us how much these related traditions can learn from one another.

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Both practices trace back to Aviva Steiner, and both treat the pelvis and the menstrual cycle as the focus of movement rather than an afterthought. They differ in scope. Luna Yoga is a broad practice that combines Steiner’s cycle exercises with yoga postures, breathwork and dance. The Aviva Method is narrower and more precise: a fixed set of short, rhythmic exercises focused on pelvic circulation and the cycle. That is the method The Fertility Class teaches. Read more in What Is the Aviva Method?

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We are grateful to Adelheid for sharing her time and experience with us. To learn more about her work, visit luna-yoga.com, and for the wider story of how these practices developed, read The History of Fertility Exercises.

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A women’s movement practice developed by Adelheid Ohlig in the early 1980s. It combines yoga postures, breathwork and dance-like movement with exercises aimed at the menstrual cycle and reproductive health.

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Ohlig learned from Aviva Steiner and describes Steiner’s cycle exercises as the trunk of Luna Yoga’s teaching. The Aviva Method is the narrower practice: a fixed set of short, rhythmic exercises focused on pelvic circulation and the menstrual cycle.

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The Fertility Class teaches the Aviva Method exercises , in short guided online classes. Read Fertility Yoga vs. Fertility Exercises: What’s the Difference? for a side-by-side comparison.

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• Luna Yoga: History, Adelheid Ohlig’s account of how the practice began
• Aviva Steiner: The Woman Behind the Aviva Method
• Kovács, Hegyi and Szőke, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2023: Aviva Method exercise and uterine artery blood flow