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.