My relationship with exercise has never been a steady one. It usually goes like this: I get excited with starting some new kind of physical activity and then I'm getting even more excited with starting some newer one.... !!
In one of these 'extensive' searchings for something totally new, some alternative form of exercise which will naturally make me look fit and thin like never before.........yes, I'm still talking about physical exercise, not miracles...., I discovered yoga.
Seriously now, I think at the beginning it didn't have to do so much with exercise but more with trying to find a way for inner balance and peacefulness- probably this relates to approaching 40 but let me not get into that discussion now...!!
Actually it all started last summer in Paros.... My birthday was approaching and I said to myself...why am I not doing something only for me this year?! Enough with the social celebrations....been there, done that...anything new? So I called my friend Pierra- at that time I had only heard of the lady! I arranged a yoga session and a massage with her, I switched off my phone and I .....enjoyed every moment!
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| Pierra in action !! |
One week after she called me to inform me of a yoga sailing trip from Paros to Naxos!! Oh wow!! I joined! What a feeling, doing yoga on the sailing boat, doing yoga at the beach....what a new experience that was!! More and more I started feeling like I could do this more: it suits me, it seems like I can follow, from an exercise point of view there are times that I might literally end up sweating like a pig and, more important, the uplifting feeling I'm getting afterwards can be unique! Let alone, it turns out not to be a costly hobby despite what people would think...
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| Just arrived in Naxos...getting ready for yoga at the beach!! |
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On the way back to Paros and in an effort to grasp the moment with my camera
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I started reading and searching more about yoga. I soon found out that Paros is one of the famous international yoga destinations. Even more, there is quite a big number of locals who are following yoga lessons too. I, of course, had heard about Taos, the meditation and well-being center, in Paros. Still, I had no idea about the so many other professional people, Greeks and foreigners, who are teaching yoga in the island, and have now become permanent inhabitants. Actually, some of them have created their own retreats offering a different kind of holiday, close to nature, focusing on understanding our true inner needs and just enjoying the simple life.
The truth is that although Paros is mostly well known as a party island, especially for youngsters, it has it's other side too. It has its silent spots, which, combined with the wind can formulate quite a zen atmosphere. I myself feel quite lucky I managed to discover this. I got to know even more people who share the same thinking:
My friend Sotiria, who is passionate about yoga and teaches at Oympus gym, in Parikia
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| Sotiria in a rather difficult posture...although she swears it is easy! |
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| Another interesting position....by Sotiria |
Sasy who has created a really quiet and spiritual space at Okreblue, Santa Maria.
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| Sasy doing yoga at her own space! |
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| The yoga space at Okreblue...simple and peaceful! |
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| Getting into the zen atmosphere at Okreblue |
And there are so many more....!!
As autumn has arrived, doing yoga in Paros can turn into a quite spiritual exercise. The island is not that crowded anymore, the big August winds have finished and as a friend says....'September is the best month ever! The first showers arrive and as they go, they take along the last remaining tourists'.
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| September calmness: at the little port in Naousa, Paros |
Come to think of it, yoga and I....? I might actually want to sustain this relationship. Even Nikos keeps telling me...'If it makes you look and feel that calm as I see you, every time you're having a session, I'm willing to pay all the classes!!!' Men.........
Namaste!
(The word 'Namaste' is derived from Sanskrit, it literally means "bow to you" and it is used as a friendly greeting, commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, in front of the chest)
Locallita
Xxx
