by Andrei Besedin
Hooray, hooray, Kiev once again has been lucky to have retreats with Fabio Andrico! We’ve had two events. A four-day public course on harmonious breathing gathered 95 participants, mostly newcomer hatha yogis from friendly studios who seeked to deepen their practice (and seemed to be extremely satisfied with the findings!). The second three-day course on the Seventh of the Seven Lojons and was only for the Community members and had about 50 participants. Practitioners gathered from all over Ukraine – from the westernmost Uzhgorod on the border with Slovakia to the eastern Donetsk (which sadly is still in the area of armed conflict, but it is still possible to cross the delineation line and come here and back). Moreover, we had also practitioners from neighboring countries of Poland and Russia.
So for a week we were paying attention to breathing while sitting, standing, lying down, on the pillows, or just prone on the mat. We were even paying attention to breathing while laughing (because you know Fabio’s style and sense of humor!). There also were very difficult moments in the course – the schedule didn’t have much time between lunch and the second thun – and of course on such retreats when friends from afar gather in one place lunch is an important moment to share news and enjoy food together. So, remembering to eat little and breathing deep was a challenge!
But seriously, even hardcore Yanta Yogis said, “Wow, this has really helped” (well, especially those who attended both courses – those who only thought “BreAthe is for newbies, I want only Seventh of the Seven Lojongs” looked puzzled sometimes). Now these courses are over, but we keep breathing in… and out… just a bit more smooth, expanded and relaxed, trying to make good use of it in our daily lives.
