Yoga is the knowledge of your body, mind, soul, and travel is the knowledge of the country, culture, people. Cognition combines yoga and travel. A yoga teacher and yoga tour organizer shared her thoughts on what yoga teaches, how to find your yoga teacher and how yoga tours differ from regular classes in the studio.
– Tell us about yourself.
– hello! My name is Dinara, but everyone calls me Di. I live in an interesting city of Kazakhstan — Atyrau. It is interesting because it is practically a shift settlement of oil and gas companies, there are many visitors, Kazakhstanis, Russians, foreigners, there is a special international atmosphere with a local flavor.
I am engaged in teaching yoga and organizing yoga tours. I remember the moment when I realized that I wanted to do yoga. It was an introductory lesson from a very charismatic teacher from Eastern Europe in Almaty. Apparently his charisma played an important role. I had just moved from our town to greater Almaty, and received an attractive job offer. It’s scary to think, I worked in the financial system for 13 years before realizing that I want to do exactly what I’m doing now.
— What does yoga mean to you?
– For me, yoga is a tool, a way of life, an attitude to reality, anything but just physical activity or the opposite, a spiritual path.
— Where did you study yoga?
— I took a course of lectures on the anatomy of asanas, on the basics of yoga from Sergey Agapkin in Almaty, and a full course of yoga instructors in India, Rishikesh at the Himalayan Yoga School.
— What kind of yoga do you practice?
— My personal practice is Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, and I teach vinyasa flow yoga and hatha yoga.
– Tell us about your yoga tours.
— It’s always a friendly trip, no one is bound by very strict regulations, there is a certain plan, but as practice has shown, people who go on a yoga tour with me are always easy on the up. We can do yoga in the morning, and then break into the mountains or to the beach) We don’t really immerse ourselves in the tourist environment of the country, but these are always very colorful and interesting places. And almost always it’s girls’ companies, and most importantly not expensive)
— How many countries have you toured with yoga tours?
– So far, this is only one country – beloved India. I gain experience, find an understanding of what format is interesting to me and responds to the groups that travel with me. In August, the geography is already expanding, and it will be a yoga camping tour to Georgia.
— Which country is remembered the most?
— If we talk about yoga tours, the only country in my experience so far is India. But I have experience of independent travel in Europe, Russia and Central Asia. In Europe, this is Portugal, here I dream of creating a yoga residence. By the way, I am currently doing a trial version in Goa, I plan to spend the entire 2018-2019 season there, it will be a guest house of the type: room + breakfast + yoga.
— What is the advantage of yoga tours over regular classes in the studio?
— At home, we go to yoga as a fitness class, came – worked out – left and forgot until the next class. And a yoga tour is a rest from everyday work, at the same time, not a hackneyed tour route, not a “vegetable” vacation on the seashore, and not running around monuments and shops. It’s a combination of attractions, entertainment, a healthy lifestyle, yoga, a little philosophy and meditation, and good company. As a rule, those who are aware, ready for discoveries and absolutely conflict-free go on such a tour)
— What do you think connects yoga and travel?
– Cognition! Yoga is the knowledge of your body, mind, soul, and travel is the knowledge of the country, culture, people.
– Did you have to communicate with gurus, monks?
– Yes, there is no problem with this in India) But honestly, I pass everything through the filter very much, because it has long been a commerce.
— What does yoga teach you?
– To love life, for a very long time I did not understand what the meaning of my life was. Someone told me a joke:
A girl comes to talk to the confessor — a spiritual child in a long skirt, a modest blouse and a scarf. Lowering his eyes to the ground, he turns to the priest: – “Father! Tell me your conceptual assessment about the latest monograph by Archpriest John Meyendorff, dedicated to the Varlaamite-Palamite polemic, and written during the era of his care of the Russian diaspora in Paris.” Father: “get married, get married urgently!”
It was about me)))
— How do I find my yoga teacher?
– Start with the “body”. Go to different teachers, listen to the body, you will immediately understand whose voice and pitch will not annoy you, who correctly treats the bodies of students. And then try to communicate with him, and if the actions are not at odds with the words. It’s him.
— What does traveling give you?
– The feeling of novelty, I get bored very quickly in one place, apparently there is something in the blood from the nomads of my ancestors.
– Your advice and wishes for those who want to practice yoga.
– The truth is in you, no one feels your body like you do, no one understands you like you do. There is nothing absolute in any methodology and school. Only you can live with your practice and only you have the right to decide what you need and is for the good.
Instagram: @yogini.di
Olga Avrakh was talking
Photo of the Dinar
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