Yoga in Moldova

I'm a New York-San Francisco-Kansas gal. I love all of these three cities equally... and they all have something in common: Yoga. Well, ok. Maybe Kansas City isn't as keen on yoga as NY or SF, but it definitely has it's fair share of people who love yoga, and yoga establishments.

So, let me back track just a little. After I got back from studying abroad in France and travelling all summer in August 2009, I had a desire to try Bikram Yoga (hot yoga). I can't remember where this idea came from but once someone told me about it I instantly got to researching. I found a place that was a 20 minute drive from my house but they offered the 90 minute class at 5:30 and 6am which was perfect for me due to my love of the morning and my school/work schedule. I could be done and showered by 8 and still not be late for class in Lawrence or nannying in Leawood (sorry, that's KC talk). It was wonderful. And I don't think I have ever been that happy in my entire life. I was always happy, always laughing, always full of energy, and I pretty much felt like I was on top of the world and nothing could get in my way. But then I moved to Florida. And, lucky for me, there was a Bikram studio just a few minutes from my house. But they didn't have those super early hours that I liked and nannying always got in the way of the times that they offered. Thus, the end of my Bikram experience.

Now here I am in Moldova. I'm going through a really rough point and let's just say my head isn't clear and my thoughts aren't where they should be. I'm not my usually happy and free-spirited self... but don't worry... I'm doing my best to work through it at the moment. On one particularly rough day I remembered how I was last fall when I was so happy and I thought about yoga. So, after a post on facebook, I found out there is only one option for me to do yoga in Chisinau and unfortunately it's only once a week. (I know I can do it by myself, but I like having an actual instructor to help me through). So this morning, after a particularly late but interesting night watching a Bob Marley cover band with a bunch of expats, I woke up to go to the 9am class. I called a taxi since I had no idea as to where I was supposed to be going (and I still don't know the public transportation system well enough here). When we arrived at the address that was on the website it looked like I was in a neighborhood, but I called the instructor and he said it was correct. Slowly but surely people started filtering in and before I knew it, the big room was full. Yoga in America means over-priced breathable clothing... and it's more of a fashion trend than it is in Moldova, where everyone was coming in fully dressed, then changing... into nylon tights, cotton or synthetic (not breathable synthetic) shirts, and socks (personally I've never been to a yoga class where socks are worn... but maybe it's just me). Then they even took off the socks 1/2 way through the lesson, which I thought was pretty funny.

But the best part about this story is the length of the program. Not one hour. Not 90 minutes. Three (yes 3!!) hours long. And I think the class was more for people that want to be yoga teachers... yet they know nothing about yoga so it's kind of confusing. It was more like a semester thing... I think. And it wasn't so great until the very end where he had us lay on our backs and then he told us to relax certain parts of our body... and at that point my mind FINALLY cleared and I relaxed... and I think I fell asleep and kinda said something but not really said something so it was more like a sound from my mouth... which let me tell you is embarrassing.

And I think I'll be downloading yoga videos from now on. Any podcast recommendations? Or youtube?