By Tirana Yoga team
Tirana Yoga is an initiative that started about ten years ago by a group of people who were interested in sharing their Yoga practice with others. We combine various types and levels of Yoga including Kundalini, Astanga and Hatha yoga, for Beginner, Intermediate/Advance level. Tirana Yoga is the only centre in Tirana and Albania that teaches Kundalini yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, by teachers certified in the Federation of Kundalini Yoga in France. While the teachers of Hatha and Astanga Yoga are certified by the Sampoorna Yoga School in Goa, India and they are recognised by the Yoga Alliance in the UK and the U.S.
We share our experience with quite a vast group of people from different ages, backgrounds and nationalities. Most of them share interests in wellbeing and nature related activities in general. Mainly, people who spend a good part of their time working, choose to balance it out through yoga as an integrated wellness practice helping them cope well with daily challenges.
As the classes are mainly held in English, there is a chance for foreigners working, living or visiting Albania to participate too, and some of them are amongst the regulars in our studio. Although we happily notice that more and more Albanians are joining and showing interest and commitment to yoga these last few years. A good proof of that are some of the teachers of this studio, who started teaching after some years of regular personal practice.
A couple of years ago, the exposure to yoga philosophy and practice was quite limited for Albanians, and for those who had some knowledge on it mainly due to travelling abroad, finding a place to practice was not as easy. It’s amazing to notice that lately this has changed towards a quick expansion of the community and high awareness and interest. Being in the first few steps of breaking the myths and exploring this ancient, still prevailing wisdom is a good place to be for Albanians in general. The social media and the passion of the yoga community in sharing the experience, is making it accessible almost to everybody who has got the curiosity to explore it.
Approaching yoga with an open mind is a key element to benefiting from a whole range of positive impacts it can bring in your life.
Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory. It reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.
Being a fully integrated body mind experience, after some regular practice it teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body. Also from a physical sportive point of view Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body, they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.
Beyond the physical aspect of it, Yoga is a whole system of philosophy and spiritual practice. The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.
