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.