Yoga in Krakow

@Sivananda Yoga Krakow

18.00 - Beginner/Flow with Kasia (That's Kate in Polish. It's fate!)

The entrance was through a hallway with
wedding dresses. How depressing?!

Meanwhile, in Krakow now and just got home from a lovely beginners class of Sivananda Yoga.  I LIKE PEOPLE AGAIN! The past few days has been tough and "cynical Kate" (apologies for talking in the third person, one of my pet peeves, but it's in context I guess) has really come to the fore.  Having not had much sleep due to sharing a room because I'm the world's lightest sleeper, making poor food choices, not fitting in any exercise and eating basically crap has really affected my attitude and judgement. I'm just so good at being sarcastic and cynical, it's easy to slip back into it when my defences are down and I'm  feeling vulnerable and overweight.  So interesting to see how these three things, or lack thereof: sleep, food and exercise, really affect me. But, YOGA has saved me once again!

I now know why i love yoga. The change in me since the minute I left the yoga class was immediate and evident.  There was a spring in my step, my eyes were clearer, my posture better and my breathing back to normal.  The past week or so, since joining the tour, I've just had a bit of a shift in perspective of myself and lost focus on yoga and what I'm supposed to be doing.

The street I walked up and down a million times
until I finally found it.

There's actually a lovely girl from Singapore on the tour who brought a yoga mat with her!  She does asanas and meditation every single morning and is clearly really dedicated.  She's been doing it only 2 years, but already looks like a seasoned veteran. I am now starting to question my own dedication and decision to become a teacher.  Should I be doing an hour of yoga every morning? Some mornings I feel like going for a run to snap out of my carb coma.  Other mornings I just need sleep!  Should I really be a yoga teacher if I'm not committed like this girl?  She did a yoga trek in Nepal which sounded amazing. We've chatted about yoga a bit, but to be frank, I'm quite intimidated by her, despite the fact I've been doing yoga much longer.  Doubt is beginning to creep in. I guess this is what travelling is about. Finding yourself.  Questioning yourself.  I was actually embarrassed when I told her I was a newly qualified teacher because I had a feeling she would judge me straight away because of what I look like and the way I am (at least on this tour) ie. cynical and judgemental Kate.  

Cool orange mat and bolster!

On to more important things...YOGA! I LOVE YOGA! This class in Krakow was just great! There were heaps of students of mixed ability and it was really impressive to see how the teacher, Katia, managed it all.   There was me, the non-Polish speaking idiot from abroad, two pregnant ladies and a range of abilities in the room.  The ease in which she adapted poses for the "up the duff" ladies (that's Aussie slang for pregnant) and then slipped into the English version for me, then back into Polish for the "normal" people was astounding. Makes me feel rather insignificant as an Australian as the majority of us have no need to learn another language and we certainly aren't multilingual like these Europeans. 

I particularly enjoyed her version of Supta Padangustasana. We used the strap, but before that, she made us simply bend our knees up and hold them, all the while engaging the lower, outstretched leg. I have never been more conscious of this leg in my life!  It probably hlped that she was stnading mostly by me to interpret the englsih instructins, but I constantly, well almost sonctantly, had it engaged. AMazing. THen, we added the strap and were told to put it around our heel, something which is new to me. She did this to ensure that our legs were at 90 degrees for sometime, to get the correct alignemtn and again, relaly engage the lower, outstretched leg. Only THEN, were we allowed to pull lightly on the strap to stretch our legs. We then took our legs in and did Supta Padang to the outside, then the inside, crossing over, but never lettign the hip collapse. Again, a first for me. Twas brilliant!

View from class.

It reminded me of the real reason of my trip and this blog, to learn as much about yoga teaching as possible. THIS is why I'm doing this. For no other reason. 

The highlight of the class, from a teaching perspective therefore, was when she divided the students into 3 groups.  There were about 24 students in the class and she put us into 3 areas, then demonstrated the 3 poses she wanted us to do. We then held the poses for quite a significant amount of time until we were told to stop and move onto the next pose. Sort of like a yoga "circuit".  I am now officially a fan of this for 2 reasons.  The holding of poses for longer than normal, well, what's normal anyway, and really getting into them and sinking deep and finding your breath is just so effective.  One was down dog with heels against the wall, rope around the hips with blanket protecting body…then forward bend into Uttanasana. Sitting on chair and rotating either way, inhale arms up, exhale arms grab back of chair and twist towards it, then cross legged, bending forward with arms outstretched and head resting on a block. Now, these Poles are a tough bunch, so they don't use little foam blocks, they use the real thing. Wood. It ain't soft either. I just accepted that as part of the challenge really!

The next day I visited Auswitzch. What a humbling experience. 

The main square in Krakow. Amazing place. 

Yoga FAIL in Zakopane

Yay 4 Joga!

After a complete stuff up on my behalf in Zakopane, a lovely little mountain/ski resort in the hills between Poland and Slovakia, I managed to walk PAST the studio several times, but not actually find it. I blame my constant state of sleep deprivation and that my eyes are permanently cloudy and bloodshot from only eating meat and bread!  Eastern Europe is a tough place to make smart eating choices.  It has been made particularly difficult, because I decided to do a tour which is rather restrictive in terms of food choices on the road. In any case, I managed to eventually find the yoga studio in Zakopane, only to be a day out with my dates. The pitfalls of holidays...no idea what day it is. Oh, it was also 9 degrees, so the odds of me actually venturing out to do a yoga class were slim to none. I don't do 9 degrees. 

Here is a taste of what I've eaten and why all of my clothes are now too tight. Went into shop that had in big writing: "Omelet" and I just popped in for dinner because I thought, gosh I really could do with a nice sort of vegetarian omelette. I feel like I could be getting scurvy with the lack of vitamins I've received. I am also so so so sick of eating carbs and meat. Cue "omelet" delivered to me that looked like this: 

Polish "omelette".

Next, my tour buddies and I went to a sort of roadside takeaway place and they safely ordered hamburgers.  I ordered a "Salatka" to which the Polish lady promptly brought me a few pieces of lettuce or cabbage and said "Sorry, no Salatka" indicating that the rest of the salad is for the hamburgers. Righto, I thought, I'll just have some chicken.  Again, my whole no meat/wheat thing has completely gone out the window on this portion of the trip unfortunately.  So there were some roast chickens on the rotisserie thing and I thought that would be the safest and healthiest.  Next minute, she hands me a WHOLE chicken, cut in half and sitting on a plate. Guess, I'm eating a whole chicken for dinner then! Didn't get a picture of that one because of the embarrassment factor. My mates managed to help me out though. 

Oh, every few metres there are little stands that sell all these pastry things. I haven't tried one as yet. Oh and in the background, you can see a giant soft serve ice cream. They are also everywhere here. Again, haven't had one yet, but with all the travelling, I seem to be on an endless search for a good coffee and snacking on nuts, sweets and chocolate. Ah, chocolate...

I eventually did manage to find some markets that sold this beautiful fresh fruit...much better. 

So, Zakopane was unfortunately a lost cause in terms of yoga. There were 2 studios, but I seemed to miss both classes on both nights I was there. Idiot. 

Iyengar Yoga in Berlin

@Iyengar Yoga Institute 

18.00 - Level 1/2 Iyengar with Anna

Sun and Moon bike rack!

We did Savasana for HALF AN HOUR!!! It was really really really really difficult!

I did plan on going to a few more of the "Top 10" classes in Berlin, but in the end, my hotel ended up being right next to to this studio so it was a no brainer to go here. I did go for a walk that afternoon though and find a bunch of the studios. Sun and Moon, the #1 studio, even had it's very own bike rack! They are huge on bikes here in Berlin. Such a cool city. I have put the photos of some other yoga studios here too.  Oh and also I walked past a thing called a "GIVE BOX". From my interpretation, it seems like you just put random things in that you don't want and then random people take them. Talk about karma yoga!

The Give Box.

So, this class was okay. I took the advice of the lovely Marion from my previous class in Berlin and told the teacher upfront that I only spoke English. She nodded and replied (in English), "Okay, but do you understand some German?" I then replied, semi-confidently so as not to look like an idiot, "Oh, yes, things like left, right, inhale exhale etc." To which she just sort of nodded.  Little did I know that when she launched into class she would speak at a million miles an hour with no English. Eek!  I spent most of my time looking around at everyone else trying to figure out what we would do.  More on that in a minute.

The studio was actually through these big doors, down a lane
and up some stairs. It was all white inside.

The atmosphere of this class was nice, but also, well, I guess you could say just kind of flat.  Before class began, people filed into the room and nobody really spoke to each other or even do the polite nod hello. Also, the teacher was sitting on her mat with her eyes cast downwards. She just looked really really sad. She wasn't fiddling around, arranging stuff or chatting to people as they came in, she was literally just sitting there, doing nothing. It was odd. I think that almost set the mood with the class from the beginning. This was an excellent example of how the teacher, or any leader, like a tour guide for example, ahem, can really affect the group dynamic. Like the saying, "the team is only as good as its leader" So yeah.

We began with about 5 minutes of omming. I actually lost count how many times she did it, but it was definitely way more than the standard three.  On the upside, "om" is the same in every language so at least I understood one thing this class! We then did anther 5 minutes of breathing and then stood up and did one set of Sun Salutations, then a Prasarita Padottanasana and then we were straight to the wall.  Is that an Iyengar thing? Like not many Sun Salutes? I can't recall that in my other Iyengar classes. Anyway, this was where it got a bit tricky, because I'm just in my own world sort of thinking we'd be doing a bunch more standing stuff, but then suddenly, everyone had grabbed their mats, blankets, straps and blocks and moved to the wall. I then just followed the lady next to me and hoped for the best.  The sad teacher then, from what I could decipher said, "the people who can do headstand go to this side of the room and the people who can't go to this side of the room". Suddenly, I was back in Year 8 when we had to pick teams for sport. I am the world's slowest runner and have giant feet. My neighbours who I grew up with even told me I ran like a Velociraptor.  It was around the time Jurassic Park was released. So yes, all of my insecurities came flooding back. Surely this was not a very yogery thing to do?  Is it? Is that normal to split the class up into 2 groups, like the good ones over here and the not-so-good ones over there, with then both groups facing each other, sizing each other up and stuff?

So yeah, the not so good people did the Headstand variation hanging by he rope against the wall with legs in Baddha Konasana and arms touching the floor.  The rest of us just launched straight into Headstand for what seemed like about 20 minutes.  My neck and shoulders started to go numb anyway so I guess that's a good indication that I'm in a pose for too long! I kept thinking about "The Science of Yoga" book and how people are more prone to suffer from a stroke during yoga than ever really goes reported. Pretty sure I shouldn't be thinking about this mid-yoga class. Oh, THEN, everyone started packing their stuff up again, so I copied and off we were back into the middle of the class into a quick Bridge pose (Setu Banda). Oh and by quick, I mean, we did it about 5 times. This was THEN followed by Fish (Matsyasana) and then suddenly, up everyone got again with mats and stuff in tow and we were setting ourselves back up against the wall.  We also needed chairs for this one which was the highlight of the class, because the chairs were all leaning precariously against each other in one long row and of course, as soon as the first person grabbed one, the entire row collapsed making a HUGE crashing noise! It was the first actual exciting thing that had happened in class thus far and of course, I giggled and looked around, but no one else did. Awkward.  The sad teacher then demonstrated the Shoulder Stand (Salamba Sarvangasana) variation using the chair against the wall and we held that for like another 20 minutes, then slid down and off the chair into Supta Badda Konasana, one of my favourites poses for like another 15 minutes or so.

Then, up we were again and packed our stuff up. I was one of the last people to put my chairs away and of course, I made the entire row collapse...again. It was really strange, because as I was akwarkdly trying to restack/pack all the chairs, nobody and I mean NOBODY, not even the sad teacher, came to my aide. It was funny. I literally was still trying to pack up the chairs, which of course were at the front of the class as the sad teacher began to teach the next pose. People were getting into it and everything and there I am, trying to be as quiet as possible with all these steel chairs clinking and clacking about. It was quite funny.

So then we did Lord of the Fish/Seated twisty pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)...at least I did one side, after I'd figured out how to stack the chairs. In the end I just let them fall. Again, no one blinked an eye. Then, we just launched straight into  Savasana for half an hour!! I am NOT kidding! It was crazy. It was actually like 30 minutes of lying down without anything else happening. She didn't talk us into it, there was no music, just silence.  I'm not sure if it was intentional, or the sad teacher didn't feel like doing anything else.  All I can say is that we literally did like 6 poses in this 90 minute class. It was so strange! I enjoyed holding the poses for longer than normal, but some of them, well, I just got bored and my mind wandered.  It was a really good lesson to learn for me to figure out the perfect timing for a pose.  Not long enough, the students won't reap the benefits. Too long, the students will start thinking about what they are going to have for dinner tonight. So yes, it was definitely helpful to experience a slightly too long hold in this class. Unfortunately, as a result, it made me not really enjoy the Iyengar style that much. It felt competitive and stagnant.  This class anyway.  After each pose, we had to either get new equipment or move mats to/from the wall.  We just sort of awkwardly moved our mats around about 4 or 5 times in the class. I felt like I spent most of the time moving house and not actually doing yoga.   But, I did learn heaps from it. I didn't speak to the lady at the end either like I have done with most of the classes because she just still seemed so sad.  I wonder why?

Berlin Jivamukti Yoga. 

Berlin Ashtanga Yoga. 

Yoga in Berlin

@ Spirit Yoga

17.45 - Level 1 Yoga with Marion

Check out the wicked lights!

What an awesome studio! The colour scheme was pink and purple which was so cool. They even hadpurple props to match my mat which was nice of them.  Had a bit of trouble finding it because the sign,with the big arrow as you can see in the picture was actually instructing you to go around the corner. Again, I was so rushed in preparing for this trip that I didn't even brush up on basic phrases in ANY language. I just seem to be able to get by through acting, body language and just sometimes making up German sounding words and saying them confidently in the hope they mean something. The good thing about most people I've encountered here is that most just laugh at me and then thankfully, break into English.   So I sat on the front step under the sign for about 20 minutes, until a lady with a yoga mat walked past and around the corner. Phew, I was saved. I totally just followed her, keeping a safe, casual distance of course and found the lovely entrance with a pink sign! I've noticed that the majority of yoga studios have had green as a colour scheme, depicting earth/nature I guess. I liked the whole pink/purple thing. 

The receptionist spoke English which was good and I paid my money and waited. Again, all of the students were already waiting. German people are always early! It's a cultural thing apparently. So refreshing seeing as I'm also an early person. The room itself was just amazing, big windows, high ceilings and these amazing "moon" lights that were built sort of imbedded into the ceiling. It was just so cool. Berlin is such a trendy city.  I didn't speak to the teacher beforehand, for 2 reasons. I really wanted to experience another class in a different language without any help to see how I fared and also, when I was at Yoga Yoga in Paris, I remember the dude saying that he'd teach the class in English instead of French because most were foreigners. I distinctly remember the reactions of the French lady (remember the one who got angry at herself?) and she looked around, made eye contact with me and seemed very annoyed that I had caused the class to be taught in English. So, basically, I was too scared to tell the teacher that I only spoke English. Anywaaaaay, off she went and again, I struggled through it listening for the key words (links, recht, inhale, exhale etc) and seemed to manage. The only tricky part was when she was going around doing adjustments.  Every time she adjusted me,  she would say something so which I would just nod wisely and say "Ahh, danke". Pretty sure I got away with it. 

Lovely entrance, pink sign!

Sequence:

Overall the class was excellent. It was a Level 1 class which is about all I could handle today as my body had just about had enough of the perils of travelling. It really is taxing on the old body. Lugging bags, eating weird food, sitting for long periods on overcrowded trains. Plus, it meant she spoke pretty slowly. Plus, there was little chance I would get kicked out as per London experience. I can't really remember any specific sequences because I was concentrating so much on not looking like an idiot and was also just trying to enjoy doing a class again. It was nice though and it felt good to be back on the mat. Today was a good day. I also just ate veges and fruit, no wheat or meat and felt a million times better for it.  Where was I, oh yes, Marion was a nice lady and used a combination of demonstrating poses on the mat, verbal instructions and walking around adjusting and giving positive reinforcement like "wunderba", which I think means wonderful? One thing I really liked was that she also moved to the back of the room to demonstrate varying levels of Locust (Salahbasana) which really mixed things up a bit. Also, it could have been because there was a dirty big pole in the middle of the room and not everyone could see up the front. Either way, because I was at the very back, I ended up now being in the front row. Panic quickly set in. OMG, I wasn't going to have anyone to watch!   I actually really had to fake it and look like I knew what the hell she was saying!  This is where it got embarrassing.  Bluffing your way through a foreign language yoga class can only last for so long.  She got us into Locust pose, lying on our stomachs face down, with our arms and legs up off the mat and our lower backs engaged and told us to inhale/exhale. I was really into the pose, looking down at the floor concentrating on my breath when little did I know, everyone had come out of the pose!  Marion was already beginning to instruct the next thing. I then heard her voice directed at me saying something, then she repeated the same phrase, just a little louder when I realised she was talking to me!  I quickly looked up at her and then around at the class whilst still holding the pose and realised that EVERYONE was looking me, the idiot in the front row who was still in the pose! I went bright red and quickly came out of it in a totally "I was just caught up in the pose" kind of yoga way like I was meant to do it all along. Blurgh.  It was pretty funny though. 

At the end of the class I told her that I didn't speak German and she told me I should have told her at the beginning so she could have given me instructions in English! Maybe I will tell the teacher next time then. She then went and nicely explained (in English) the part that I missed out on about tilting your pelvis forward during Mountain Pose, or Maybe Downward Hund, which I thought was so nice and thoughtful of her!

The next day, I was supposed to go to a class at Sun Yoga, which is the number one place in Berlin according to this list that I'm using as a guide: Top 10 Yoga Studios in Berlin, but, quite frankly, I didn't really feel like it. I am trying to be kind to myself and I guess sometimes it's harder to choose NOT to do something.  Also, my Mum totally Skyped me as I was packing to leave so I wouldn't have made it on time anyway. Blah blah blah…is anyone still reading this? I am falling asleep just typing this. I just love writing so much that I seem to just get carried away with things and just dribble crap. 

Oh, almost forgot! When we walked out of class, there was a plate of fresh fruit all cut up and a jug of water. What a lovely touch!

Fruit! At the end of class. Brilliant!

Dogs:
I know this is a yoga-specific blog, but I just really wanted to talk about dogs and a karma kidn of thing.   I definitely believe in karma and I definitely think everything happens for a reason. As I was sitting ton the step under the yoga sign wondering if this was really the studio, a guy walked past with this beautiful dog. I was just sorta sitting there wistfully on the step contemplating life, feeling a bit sad, when this dog stopped and just stared at me. The guy yanked it a bit on the lead, but the dog wouldn't budge. I then used my never-fail doggy voice, first saying "Hello" and then remembering that none of the dogs here speak English, to which I quickly corrected myself by saying: "Guten Tag". It then immediately come closer and licked my nose. The guy apologised, in German, but I said, "Nein, gut" which in my head, meant "No, good!" For some reason, the dog just wanted to cheer me up maybe. I then patted it and was laughing and saying how beautiful it was.  Dogs definitely have a sixth sense. I don't know. Either way, I smiled straight away and felt grateful that I'm a dog person. They really do make me happy.  In fact, as I sit here typing this, I've just burst into tears over the joy they can bring. I'm just thinking about my old dog, Winston, a beautiful Miniature Schnauzer who we were lucky enough to have in our lives for 14 years and had to be bout down last year.  He was amazing. 

This is the sign above the step I was sitting on.

Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to take a picture but, I have now seen it as a sign. I am most definitely getting another dog when I get home and my intention was to get a rescue dog from the RSPCA.  But, there was something about this dog that I just loved. I knew it was some sort of Hungarian breed from memory, a Hungarian Vizsla to be exact.   It had a beautiful sleek, rusty brown coat, almost like a chestnut horse and big brown eyes that just looked into mine.  I'd always wanted a chestnut horse so this could be the next best thing!  I was smitten.  Oh, for those who don't know, when I was about 10 years old, my parents gave me "The World Encyclopaedia of Dogs" as a Christmas present.  I proceeded to then take notes about every dog breed, memorising everything from coat type, to shoulder height to medical ailments. I then got them to test me on it. Talk about NERD! As a result, I know pretty much every dog breed and my obsession with dogs continues 15 years later. 

Who am I kidding…25 years later :-s I am old. 

Coffee:

McCafe at McDonalds on Kurfürstendamm, Berlin. Nothing else was open on a Sunday. Shit coffee, amazing place! Looks like an 18th century building that was renovated. Check out my little corner where I typed this blog. 

Best Maccas ever!

Yoga in Leutkirch, Germany

20.00 - Tuesday night Yoga with Christine

The Alps, where Switzerland, Austria and Germany meet
are in the far distance. Amazing!

I came to this beautiful, quaint little town in the south of Germany to visit my cousin Doug, his girlfriend Eva and her family.  She is from Germany so they are over for 6 weeks. Anyhoo, this place was a beautiful typical country German town, or at least the kind I envisaged in my head with little red 

roofs, cobble-stone streets and lots of friendly people. Eva's Mum knows the yoga teacher so she actually organised for me to attend the Tuesday night class. Little did I know that the townsfolk, ahem, I mean the yoga students actually thought that I was some sort of well-known yoga teacher from Australia travelling the world with all the money I don't have! 

Front yard yoga lesson, with baby in Savasana!

As Eva and I climbed the stairs of this beautiful little building in the centre to town, we were greeted by the familiar smell of incense. Considering my last yoga class, or at least, an attempt at one was like, 5 days ago, it really felt like I was starting all over again, considering the regularity with which I'd been doing it. Oh, I forgot to say, I also gave Eva, her Mum and the boys a yoga lesson in their front yard. I need to keep my skills up for when I get home! Anyway, people who were passing on their afternoon strolls all slowed down to look in and see us doing yoga. By this time, again in my head, I'm sure it had spread all over town that there was an Australian yoga person their midst. Hilarious. Again, I'm sure if I call myself a celebrity yoga teacher, people will believe it right? 

What a gorgeous entrance!

Teacher:

So, the teacher, Christine, greeted us with a lovely smile.  Like every yoga teacher, she looked younger than she actually was. After the class she told me she'd been doing yoga since she was 16, for the past 30 years and had only been teaching for 2 years. She welcomed us into the studio and ushered us to the two front mats. Oh dear. I later discovered that she normally has her husband and son in the class on those two mats, but had told them not to come to tonight's class because I was coming. Yikes!  Anyway, the class was just lovely. She is a Sivananda trained teacher, which may have explained her awesome yellow pants!  Oh and also the Sun Salutations were slightly different, you know the ones where you link your thumbs and reach right back after the first exhale? Anyway, she did it mostly in German and then one flow in English.  She even had palm cards that she would refer to for the English words and then look at me for a sort of confirmation to which I would smile or just give the thumbs up.   She was then suitably chuffed.  I can't imagine how long she spent preparing for this lesson.  I actually felt bad!  Eva was giving me translations along the way, but eventually I picked up key words like left (links), right (recht), inhale (inalieren), exhale (ausatmen) and my personal favourite down dog (nach unten hund). Hund! That's the word for dog! Awesome.

Studio:

Yay for yellow walls!

The studio was lovely and overlooked the roofs of the town. It had a yellow wall, just like the one at Core Yoga in Brisbane! It was cool and the bolsters were these awesome little round, pillow things. Have never seen those ones before. The music was excellent. It was mostly Kirtan with some piano instrumental stuff.  It was almost like she had choreographed it to match whatever we were doing at the time. Again, definitely having music when I start to teach; Kirtan, jazz, whatever! Ooh ooh, she began the class by giving us this oil and telling us to rub it on our feet. Apparently it's more of a Bikram tradition, which I am unaware of, but it perhaps is also used in the colder months to warm your feet. Either way, it was nice, plus my heels were cracked so double whammy. The only problem was once we got into Down dog and various other poses that required a bit of traction with our feet, we were slipping all over the place. Funny though. 

Language:

I also had a massive light bulb moment during this class. I remember at Yoga Camp, discussing the necessity of knowing all of the Sanskrit names for poses. Some say it's to keep the language alive and honour the yogic roots and traditions, others say it's to sound like a yoga teacher and impress the students by using tricky Indian words. I say, it's because of what I'm doing right now! I didn't understand most of what Christine was saying and would be constantly looking around or listening for cues from Eva, but each time she named the pose in Sanskrit, I knew exactly what she was talking about. Brilliant! It instantly became the international language. Just awesome.  Christine too seemed happy and relieved that I understood her instructions once she said the Sanskrit version.

Sequence:

The class was quite different to others I've done. She began with Corpse pose (Savasana) and then move on to a series of 3 or 4 poses and then back into Savasana accompanied with 3 oms from her. I think we did about 5 or 6 during the class.  I've never experienced that before. It was almost kind of like a sort of cross-training yoga. Like you did a few things, then rested so the heart rate would go down, you could reconnect through the sound of om and the muscles would have time to consolidate things Then up you got and back into it. I liked it. 

My favourite part was actually the floor sequence which was:

• Cat/Cow (Bidalasana), up high to begin with and then getting lower 
• Locust (Salabhasana), with a few different hand variations behind the back
• Bow pose (Dhanurasana) I still think this is called Boat pose! Anyway, we did it a couple of times and in between, we would rest lying flat with our heads to the side. She then came around with a bolster and pressed it onto our lower backs. It felt so good!

Awesome storm.

Right at the end of class, we heard the sound of the church bells ringing as well as the thunder from an awesome storm that had just rolled in overhead. It was just perfect. She then offered us tea and we all sat around and chatted. At least, I smiled and nodded and pretended I knew what they were saying. I'm getting pretty good at it actually, that and putting up with people looking at me like I'm an alien!  Eva did some translating and I managed to have a bit of a chat to Christine. Lovely lady, really knows her stuff. Doesn't need to advertise on the INternet because she's the only teacher in town. Really inspired me to move to a country town somewhere in Australia and set up shop there. The class also had that real community feel. Like all of these people had different back stories and yoga was the one thing that brought them together and encourage them to connect first with themselves and their roots, then with each other through having a cuppa!  Just lovely. Christine also mentioned that she was starting up an all-male class  taught by a man to encourage the guys to get involved. Quite innovative for a small, country town I thought.  Highly relevant especially seeing, again, it was all women in today's class!

Overall, an awesome experience that I really appreciated. She really put in the effort to make me feel welcome, especially with the language barrier and further proves that yoga has no borders. It is really uniting!

Lemon mint tea at the end!

She is gorgeous and teeny, I am not. 

Karma Yoga

Berlin Gay Pride Parade, 22 June, 2013.

Yoga isn't just about tricky poses.

I'm sitting on a train from Stuttgart to Ulm in the south of Germany reflecting on my travel experiences thus far.  The people I've met along the way, both yogis and non-yogis, have by far been the most memorable parts of this trip, with the touristy bits being secondary. Like most travel I reckon. It's the memories of the people that really shape your experiences. I am sitting here right now, finally finishing this post exactly one week later at a Starbucks in Berlin watching the Gay Pride Parade go past. It's amazing. Such unexpected surprises like these are the joys of travelling! Huh, I do believe that was as double negative. It wouldn't be called a surprise if it was expected! Idiot. 

Much like I didn't expect the previous "getting kicked out of yoga" episode to occur, nor did I expect it to have such a profound effect on me.  My aim to do a yoga class each day is slowly waning.  Some days it's actually impossible to achieve this because I am catching up with friends and doing touristy things. This week in particular, I spent much of my time sitting on trains, trying to speak German, horse riding, eating too much, not drinking enough, walking through cross country ski trails, swimming in lakes and having regular Kneipp baths. It's a form of water therapy, invented by Sebastian Kneipp, which involves walking in freezing water that comes from the springs of the mountains, then on a series of rocks or wood and repeating. As my feet were in so much pain, it really worked a treat. Something can really be said for these ancient remedies, which is why I love yoga too!

Trying a Kneippbath, a popular form of hydrotherapy
in the south of Germany. 

 Having now thought about what happened, including not doing yoga for several days by choice and emotionally eating my way through my own bodyweight in carbs (those Germans really know their bread...and cheese...and Schnapps...and chocolate...) I am now REALLY thinking about whether this path is for me.  I've never been a skinny person, how am I supposed to be a role model for yoga students if I'm not?  That's another thing about travel, the soul searching involved.   Every time I travel I discover something more about myself, you know, like strengths, weaknesses, reactions under stress and where my excess body fat is normally deposited once I gain weight quickly, namely stomach and arms. You know, the usual stuff.  Getting kicked out of yoga class by the small gay man because I don't exactly look like a yogi is something which has now made me stronger I believe.  Oh and for the record, I love the gays! Most of my friends are in fact, GAY! Check out these pictures! How could you not love them?  It was just that yoga teacher from London was a particularly unkind PERSON, gay or otherwise. 

So, yoga is not just about the asanas (poses) is it?  Here are some examples of some karma yoga that I believe I've experienced thus far:

Brisbane to LAX:
On my flight from Brisbane to LA, I met George, this fabulous Flight Attendant who was also a Kendo and Shaolin Instructor and Writer! Kind of a kindred spirit I guess. Anyway, we ended up discussing yoga and martial arts and travel and life in the wee hours of the morning. He then lent me the book he was currently reading, Vitalogy for the rest of the flight! Anyway, I will write a separate bit about this book, because it has many parallels to the Bhagvad Gita so stay tuned. He was just one of those nice, cool people that I could relate to. 


Pulizter Fountain, NYC:
Met a lovely group of ladies who were waiting for their tour guide to take them on the Sex and the City Tour! My friend, Sammie and I had been a few days earlier so we ended up telling them how fabulous it was. Anyway, we were trying to take a selfie (self photo) of ourselves in front of the fountain, clearly struggling, when the ladies offered to take it. They took a few with both our cameras and then we returned the favour. It really is nice going on a yoga inspired trip and watching karma at its best. Is that karma? Doing something in return for someone else? Or is it purely doing something without the premise of any gain whatsoever?  I just think it's nice when people do nice things for you.  I think I will always offer to take people's photos from now on. I would normally just walk past and not get involved, but there is definitely a nice feeling you get from helping others.  There are plenty of people in this world who just turn a blind eye, wear blinkers, look the other way and any other idioms you can think of involving NOT acknowledging the world around us and being in the moment. That's yoga. 

Flight from NYC to Paris:
Out of all the people in all the land, I ended up sitting next to a hot, Ralph Lauren, male model. If that's not karma I don't know what is. I remember actually seeing him in the line for Customs. I found myself sorta staring at the beautiful man, who was even more beautiful close up. Do you know those types? Like some people look hotter from a distance, I have been told by a not so nice person that I was one of those people. How lovely. Other people are just really beautiful close up. he was one of those. I thought to myself, gosh, wouldn't that be nice to sit next to on my flight to Paris. Lo and behold, after we finally boarded our flight, along he came and sat right next to me. 


He ended up striking up a conversation with me actually, because I laughed at his sister, whom he was travelling with, who kept talking about how scary the French flight attendants were.  One of them had just had a massive argument with a passenger in crazy, angry French!  So, the beautiful guy asked me straight away where I was from, what I was doing etc and then he proceeded to tell me how he used to live in Australia and really wanted to talk about it and asked about where I live and where I've travelled etc.   I am not overly comfortable talking about those things, especially with beautiful strangers. Oh and also because the last time I spoke to a guy on a plane, it ended really badly!  So, he told me that he was going to Paris for 3 months because he usually does that each year. I replied with: "What, are you like a model or something?" He sort of paused and was all like, "Yeah". He was actually almost embarrassed about it. Internally I was all like, "OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG...holy SHIIIIIIT!!! THis guy is a friggin model!!! I thought he looked familiar...like from a Rolex magazine advertisement or maybe Breitling, no wait, Ralph Lauren, yes! Yes! Also catwalk stuff, he definitely has that catwalk look which is why he goes to Paris every year I guess.  He has perfect blue eyes, tanned skin, chiselled jaw, the body...stop looking, act normal, stop staring at the beautiful man.." Meanwhile, on the outside, I was all cool and aloof and was all like, "Yeah, you 
are a beautiful man..." Cue awkward silence and him turning red.  I then completely regressed into idiot Kate and basically just shut down, giving him one word answers, not wanting to be all like you're amazing and stuff, I'm sure he gets that all the time.  Anyway, turns out he was actually really nice and down to earth, despite so clearly being a model.  So if anything, it put my faith back in superficial people (especially after my experience in London!) 

Fast forward to me tripping over my words, despite them being few and far between and looking like a fool when I tried to continue to speak to him, knowing that he was a model and moreso because I was so close to his beautiful face.  You know those economy seats are getting smaller I swear! Lo and behold, I will forever be intimidated by men, beautiful or not.  It is why I think I'm eternally single. I blame my parents for sending me to all girls' schools and still being socially inept around those of the opposite sex. Anyhoo, the whole story would have panned out differently had I stuck it out. There happened to be a spare row in front of us and a 7 hour flight ahead, so as soon as I could, I jumped up, claimed my new seat away from the beautiful man and spent the remainder of the red eye trying to sleep whilst looking glamorous sans drool just in case he walked past to go to the toilet. You never know. I actually kinda wished I'd stayed. Alas, it was karma to sit next to someone so gorgeous, inside and out. So yeah, some sort of karma I guess. 

Tube to Heathrow, London:

Dog on the Tube on my way to Heathrow!

As I lugged my suitcase, backpack and handbag onto the tube, a nice man across from me offered to help. This was right after another nice man carried my whole suitcase for me down three flights of stairs! I swear to God this whole yoga business is bringing good karma my way. I don't remember any other trips I've done where peoplel have been so helpful.   Usually my travel stories are one disaster after the next!   Maybe it's that mindfulness thing, just being aware of the world around you. Maybe it's because I'm a bit more at ease with myself now that I've found a bit of direction in my life with this whole yoga thing. 

SO, the nice man on the tube ended up being an Aussie and a really fascinating guy. Originally from Bangladesh, but now living in Perth, Australia, he is the CEO of a Diamond Mining Company that he owns and operates out of Sierra Leone in West Africa.  He was on his way to fly to Brussels, Belgium where the head office is. Amazing. We got chatting and he started talking about karma. It was just so weird. He says he believes in karma and said that he makes so much money that he really wants to set up an orphanage back in Bangledesh and also in the country his diamond mine is in.  Amazing.   Just casually dropping in to the conversation that you own a diamond mine, no biggie.  He said he doesn't want to keep any of his money and what makes him happy would be to give it to others. He then insisted on carrying my bags, to which I replied, "Mate, you should know that Australian women don't need any help from a man!" To which he just laughed. He then walked me to the check in area at the Airpot and helped me with my check in, for no apparent reason.  He also dropped that he's friends with the Dalai Lama and should I ever want to meet with him, just give him a call. He then gave me his business card and said, email or call anytime. I then joked about him getting me a discount on some diamonds, to which he laughed and said, "A discount? I can give you one for free!"  I just stood there gobsmacked.  We then said our goodbyes and I reached out and shook his hand, just like my Dad taught me, nice and firm, and off he went. Amazing.


Train station somewhere in Germany:
I had absolutely no idea what train I had to catch and where I had to go, despite a detailed description from my cousin. I knew I had to catch 3 trains to get to the end of the line where my cousin was going to pick me up. It was about 8pm on a Saturday night. I was exhausted. I approached a lady who was also looking at the train timetable with the same confused look as me and asked her if she spoke English. Thankfully she did. She was so interesting, more on that in a minute. Another couple, who were locals, then came over to us and also helped us and together we all figured out where we needed to go. I think the last time I travelled, I really didn't have any confidence. I don't ever remember people being so helpful. Really puts your faith back in humanity.

Anyway, the lady who helped me was amazing. She is an Occupational Therapist who works with people who suffer from leprosy and other disabilities in the Congo, Africa. AMAZING! She was on her way home to visit family and proceeded to tell me all about her job. We got on the train and she told me to come and sit with her and we just chatted the whole way. She was an incredible woman. Telling me how a colleague had just been kidnapped at gunpoint and made his way back to the town where she lived safely like it was a normal day at work.  She was a truly beautiful woman and such a free spirit.  Not married with kids or anything so I could really relate to her. She was probably in her 50s and her name was Angelika (the 'g' is pronounced short, as in 'golf'). She really was an angel to me! Especially since we got to the first train station and she walked me to the ticket machine, figured out exactly where I wanted to go, helped me buy a ticket and even offered to ring my cousin on her phone. What a legend!  Just as quickly as we had met on that first train platform, we parted ways off to our travel lives again. 

These are the people I will remember. I am forever grateful to the good people in the world and the existence of yoga karma.

NOTE: It hasn't all been roses. I did get my boob groped on the Metro in Paris, got a blood nose on another train in Germany and pretty sure I saw a dead guy in the park in Berlin today on my morning run.  But that's not what this blog is about :-) Email to my A-List to come...

The day I got kicked out of yoga class.

@Alchemy Yoga 

10.00am - Dharma Mittra (didn't even begin!)

Now before you all jump to conclusions and think, "oh, I'm sooooo not surprised, it's about time this happened" I know exactly what you're all thinking. Mainly because I started a conversation with the title of this blog when I was chatting with some friends in London and most were like: "Was it because you were talking loudly?" or "Was it because the teacher said something and you just found the sexual innuendo in it and started giggling?" or "Did you suddenly jump up and break into interpretive dance accompanied by the overuse of very non-yoga jazz hands?"

NO PEOPLE! NONE of those things! I legitimately, certifiably, actually got kicked out of yoga. Or, at the very least, heavily persuaded to leave.

Wow, I don't really know where to start actually.  Today, Friday 14th June 2013, was the first time in my life I've EVER been kicked out of a yoga class.  A small man with big rimmed glasses; a giant ego and sense of entitlement and the most judgemental look EVER, kicked my friend and I out of his yoga class!

So, my friend Kathryn decided to join me which was great. I'd made my friend Sammie come to yoga with me in New York, so it was Kathryn's turn in London. I love friends. I love that friends do stuff they don't really want to do, just because they are your friend and want to hang with you. Friends are so important. They teach you to be selfless and accept you just the way you are.  They are a rarity.

Hot, intimidating, model chick at Reception.

Kathryn has done a bit of yoga and has been a dancer since she was 3, so she's certainly no unco (That's Australian for uncoordinated...we shorten everything, we're lazy).  In fact, her dancing is exceptional. We met each other doing Fame - The Musical and the choreographer loved her.  I, myself, was considered an "intermediate dancer".  Better than nothing.

Anyway, after much research, I was trying to make my way through the list of Top 10 Yoga Studios in London according to The Elephant Journal.  We finally found this amazing yoga studio called Alchemy Yoga, in some old horse stables. They aren't actually horse stables now, but they used to be. They are currently all converted to lovely markets and such. We paid our 16 pounds to the hot, intimidating, model-type chick at the Reception and she failed to tell us that the class was REALLY advanced. (This was a crucial point in the ensuing scenario).  Also, she couldn't add up my change properly.  It is pretty hard subtracting four from a twenty after all.  Ahem, so I read about the class, Dharma Mittra, during my research and knew it would be a bit stronger, with inversions and stuff, but wanted a challenge and also wanted to learn a bit more about the deeper meditation it offered.  I was sure my friend would be fine. Little did I know about the events that were about to unfold!

Kathryn and I set up our mats and looked around the class. It was certainly an intimidating space, particularly because of the big, black, sign that read: "Alchemy yoga students ONLY past this point". Yikes!  I should have listened to my gut then.  Again, it had big mirrors on either side of the room, which reflected each other and then made that reflection of a reflection of a reflection thing. I don't know about you, but that kinda freaks me out. Two mirrors facing each other, surely that's bad feng shui or something? What about balances? Where are you supposed to look in tree pose?  Thus far, the yoga classes I've been to here in London have all had mirrors.  Weird.  I didn't think yoga was supposed to do the mirror thing, other than Bikram of course. Anyway, there were lots of fit-looking yogi types all doing stretches, handstands and one even doing a hardcore ballet sort of move with her leg right up behind and past her head and she was all like looking at herself in the mirror and stuff...clearly, I did ballet for one year when I was, um, like 8 years old, so I'm definitely a pro and know the ballet lingo.  So yes, rather intimidating and not at all what I'd envisage a yoga studio feel.  It felt more like a dance class, with all the cool kids at the front and talking about the last class and stuff. 

So, the teacher bundled himself into the class, put down his bag and looked around.  He was short, very short.  He had dark hair and big rimmed glasses and was wearing white flowy pants and a white singlet top that showed off his sinuey arms. He put his hands on his hips, in a way that only the gays can and suddenly noticed Kathryn and I.  He then made a beeline for us, shuffling his teeny, tiny hips very hurriedly.  We were sitting on our mats and he sort of looked us over, pointed between the two of us and was like, "Um, so you haven't been here before." It was a statement, not a question. We sorta replied with, er, "No". He was then all like, "Well, this is a very advanced class, did the receptionist tell you that?" Again, we replied with: "No", whilst looking at each other with concern.  He then rolled his eyes, looked towards the door and got himself into a bit of a tizz. (That's like the gay version of getting flustered.) He then said, "Well, she really should have told you when you arrived. Hmm, well, this is quite a difficult class, have you done much yoga before?" Kathryn, bless her, responded with, "Well, I'm sort of a beginner and my friend is a teacher (gesturing to me very proudly)".  He then looked at me in that slow up and down look, full of judegement in a way that, again, only the gays can and sighed a little. Wow, I am officially counting that as the second time I've been called fat as a yoga teacher. NO I'M NOT SKINNY! BUT I CAN STILL DO YOGA! There's a mantra for ya! I could not believe this look he had just given me. NO, I don't look like a super no body fat yogini, but I am strong and I can do stuff and I can communicate, surely that's enough to warrant a good yoga teacher?

After he finished judging me, he paused briefly and then launched into a big spiel that went something like this: "So, for example, today's class, the first pose will be crow and then we'll be going straight into a forearm stand and then a bunch of inversions and some other really difficult poses and plus most of the people in this class are teachers so they really know their stuff..."  I sort of just stared back and him and nodded and was like, "Yep okay, no worries" and then looked over at Kathryn who was sitting there sheepishly and very kindly said to me "I can go and you stay and do the class", obviously thinking of a way around this predicament and hopefully away from the scary, small, gay man.  I was thinking about what our options were and I certainly wasn't going to do the class without Kathryn after trudging all the way up to Camden on the Tube.  He was then quick to make the decision for us, pretending like we weren't even there, he continued his tirade with, "...so, it really is a difficult class and if you aren't practising regularly, it really is quite hard" - cue long pause and one more judgemental look at the both of us, accompanied by a slow dramatic pause, then followed by: "...so you are welcome to watch." There it was. That was it. Quote, unquote: "you're welcome to watch" - translation - "don't do my class".   I have never rolled up a mat as fast as that before whilst trying to process in my head what was actually happening.  Was this dude actually kicking us out of the class?  Did he honestly think that we'd gladly sit by the freaky reflection upon reflection upon reflection mirrors and watch them all do yoga for an hour and a half?  I hastily apologised saying "Sorry, we'll just go then". I half rolled my mat, picking up the rest of the flimsy rubber as I reached over, grabbed my bolster and just high-tailed it out of there, leaving poor Kathryn to roll up her mat on her lonesome. We quickly met outside, put our shoes on, got our money back (thank goodness) and left. Also, apparently it hadn't even occurred to the receptionist to tell us it was an advanced class.  Idiot. 

We then went outside, still in shock, but now angry and looked like this:

Kathryn also did this:

                                                               So then I did this:

Then we both went and did this:

Then we were like this:

Bad for yogis:

Wow. I am actually still in shock as I type this. The events that unfolded in that yoga class, in addition to this subsequent blog, were the most non-yogi experiences I've had in the yoga world to date.  After all my years of taking a million different yoga classes, I have never EVER been kicked out! I've certainly left my fair share early of my own free will, because of varying reasons, but never EVER have I not even been able to start one!  This dude had such a sense of entitlement it was unbelievable. The way he went about communicating with us was appalling. That whole scene could have easily been played out differently if he showed a bit of compassion and patience. In the back of my mind I thought about the Yamas of Patanjali actually. Non-violence, non-stealing, abstinence etc.  I guess none of these really applied to this scenario. But the Yamas are supposed to be your actions towards others and yoga people are generally just really nice people. I've decided to create my own Yama called: non-meanness!   I know, not even a word, but good manners are very underrated, especially in today's world.  Please, thank you and goodbye. It's not much to ask. This dude just needed to be nice about it and I wouldn't be sitting here writing this horrible account of our day, albeit, a mere, 5 minutes of our day. The rest of my day was glorious and I ended up having a lovely breakfast and catch up with my friend.  Yogis are always, ahem, usually, really nice people! That's one thing I love about this world of yoga.   Part of making the decision to leave my high-paying job in the corporate world was the motivation to be surrounded by caring, non-judgemental, supportive people like yogis. This guy was none of those things. He was just kinda mean. Plus he smelt. 

Bad for business:

All in all, a terrible experience, not only for me, but for my poor friend Kathryn, who was essentially a new student to the studio and potentially a new student to yoga itself.   This dude has now lost 2 potential customers and may have jeopardised the beginning of a yoga journey for my friend.  No mention of an alternative class on another day that perhaps could have been easier.  No follow up to see if we were okay after we were bundled out of class.  No offer to give our money back, we did that of our own accord, much to the amusement of aforementioned ditsy receptionist. (Not bagging receptionists...I was one for several years, they are always the backbone of any organisation and the hub of social gossip! But like every job, there can be bad ones.) 

As everyone who knows Business 101, customers will rarely tell someone about good service, but almost always tell someone about bad service. They will tell their friends and their friends will tell their friends and so it goes on.  This is the manifestation of that.  I've largely aimed to be positive in this blog and rightly so. Every SINGLE class thus far has been amazing! The teachers lovely, the classes great, the businesses unique and interesting.  This one was just a bad experience. Perhaps he was having a bad day, I don't know, perhaps he's a bad communicator, perhaps he genuinely was concerned for our safety in such an advanced class, but none of that excuses the fact that he's a yoga teacher and he's in a business that provides a service. 

I won't ever go back there. What a shame.