I want to express some gratitude, so I thought, initially to post this in English, now I think that i’ll alternate between Romanian and English between these parts..
Arrival
here i was, landing in GOA.. where, we were announced that NO PHOTO is allowed to be taken at the airport, so i already started to ask myself why? Is it this airport maybe so small? is it that jungleish? or dirty? or diseases? security issues? anyway..
dressed all in black mountain clothes – with the idea to be protected against the cold (Romania & Germany) as also against the hot/sun in Goa – i already started to have the feeling that i need to breathe more with my skin.. got my heavy backpack.. the phone was not registering to any service – another reason to be happy (when you charge your prepaid phone with a lot of $ so that you can use it in roaming and there nobody wants to accept you 🙂 ). I sit myself on the taxi line, then trying to find an ATM, cashing out at some tourist agency (with a 10% fee for minimum 10000), then finally going to the taxi…
it started to look like a rich environment, comparing the Green with Jamaica and already feeling that it would be a great experience.. then after maybe 1h I arrived into some place a bit more deserted that expected.. somehow i was expecting it to be closed to the beaches, to the ocean..
i don’t know what was in my head that moment, but when I looked at this map.. i thought.. hey.. this green/forest whatever could be foot-passed for the beaches
getting of the car..
I was remembering my 1st arrival to India [2013].. shortly someone run to me, asked my name and took the luggage to the room… the house, was just over the street of the school, BIG, trying to impress with a green like american grass before the porch, then a large day room – except of big closet the room was empty (while on the right side of the house, the same space was filled with a kitchen), then ahead after one door there was the bedroom with 2 beds and ants/mosquito nets over them and one bathroom..
dropped the luggage and went straight to the school, the staff from kitchen area were very friendly and smiling faces, they asked me to sit, have a drink, asked about my travel and communicated a short schedule of the next day and the services they provide inside.. what the travelers would say.. a WELCOMING and smiling ATTITUDE 🙂
the 1st day
the previous experiences in India, my plans to have some remote working from there as also that my phone was not registering to any network turn the remaining time of that day to the journey of getting a phone prepaid sim card..
with a small, sketched on paper, map to Chaudi Market 🙂 I planned a 5-6km trip, on foot, to experience the surrounding, maybe make some shopping.. but i didn’t realize how tired I was.. and I had to walk a lot until some shops started to arise..
starting to experience the Sun set on the way to.. Great.. or not so great :))) because in the end it was a long tiring trip, with no results (i had to had passport copy and a lot of things for get a sim card).. so the only things i bought was water..
the road back was filled by darkness and thoughts, hurrying to catch at least the dinner as a comfort way to end the day… and so it was.. 1st day summary: we are deep enough in the nature, if you want to reach something better ride a scooter (or bike)..
the 1st impressions
The school looks great is like yoga camp Oaza, the staff are very friendly, everything looks clean, the food included in the course is great as also there would easily prepare you something else from an option list in change of a specific money donation – like if you are craving for sweets or for something else to drink they can please you to some degree, still in a healthy way (e.g. kombucha).
The Training
initially when I thought Prenatal Yoga, you’ll view some postures and some techniques that need to be avoided.. you’ll focus on the space and how not to touch it.. but as an outsider.. that’s how you’ll consider it.. basically.. and this was the space of my preconceptions..
From the 1st day we started, we were asked to find ourselves a story, about your pregnancy, where we are, etc. then that during all prenatal yoga classes we’ll be practicing with a pillow sticked to our abdominal alea, that we would start to feel & understand our future students by limiting ourselves to what we believe is the available expression. Hearing that, our first class was very strange, we want so far pretending that on the end-class feedback everyone felt that was sick/ill – that was our primary lesson – these beautiful women are full with energy, they kick life with two hearts in the same body and without any reason.. we are tagging them instated of understanding.
Like this, day by day, we grew on understanding and learning things that we didn’t know nor had any idea they were there. Karo had a beautiful structure of the course so that each part of the program was a step further and higher.
the group
We had the honor to have with us also a pregnant colleague, Adriana, which was almost each time teaching us that pregnant women are way more stronger, fit for exercises and willing to get involved that we estimated. Then by the end of the course we understood why Karo was so into (street-)picking even local women to train with us or hear their feedback, as also why everyone wanted to pair with Adriana if there was any activity demanding a partner 🙂
some other colleagues were experienced with pregnant women or kids, either by teaching prenatal Pilates, dancing, arts or sciences. I don’t want to explicitly associate them with their background, just that here I wanted to thank them for their presence and sharing: Niha, Sandra, Celine, Letitia, Paula, Vicky, Nanika & my brother.. thank you!
the material
Prenatal
we had 6 teachers during the prenatal phase of the course, where Karo was leading the majority of the hours teaching us about the 1-3 trimesters, special conditions and the labor as also leading some classes (some very thematic as openings, warm-ups, standing & walll, mat sequences, etc). Beryl took care of the anatomy and Bhaskar of philosophy. For our experience we also had normal and prenatal yoga classes lead by Claire, other prenatal by Erika and Kad (an local indian prenatal yoga teacher).
The remaining time was filled by classes where we were teaching something that we learned that day (or the previous one) in a small group or full class.
Postnatal
following a familiar structure but a bit faster we went over what’s the need, place of postnatal yoga.. having experience from almost all the previous teachers.. learning also more about props, restorative, adjustments, nutrition (with Susan) and partner yoga..
the feedback
just to leave some numbers, we had 7 teachers, each with their specific focus, who lead about 37 sessions + 17 other assisting (were we had some teaching practicum). The information and the knowledge that was shared exceeded all my expectations, in such a way that this part of the journey became one of the richest experiences (training & location included). I will return to this place, to this school, to these people with open heart as I also recommend it, starting from my closest friends and family 🙂
