It healed my back and knee, shaped conscious life choices, and brought rhythm, strength, and clarity—on and off the mat. He decided to lay down in his bed one day and couldn't find any reason to get up again. He lived through World War II, then lost himself in the Communist party before starting to live democratically. Perhaps it was the third political paradigm he was living through that brought
him down, maybe it was something else? A yoga book in post-communist Poland was a rare sight. My aunt bought it hoping it would help with his recovery. Grandpa didn't want it. I looked through the book with fascination whenever I visited my grandparents. Finally I liberated it from his bedside table. I was in my early primary school years and started exercising religiously every night, not knowing then that I had embarked on a new path in my life. Not knowing that one day I would make a living out of it, one that my grandpa couldn't continue. I still remember the joy of following the strange instructions slowly folding me into the asanas. Some of the positions felt familiar. They brought joy. I did them again and again. My first time with pranayama left me scared and dizzy. I felt that I was experiencing a new reality with only the book as my guide. Since then yoga has helped me navigate lots of important life transitions. It gave me the courage to stop medicating, embrace the power of fasting, eat a balanced diet and finally start a vegetarian lifestyle. It lead me to the practice of meditation and opened the world of feeling. It healed my back after four months of carrying a heavy backpack through India. It healed my knee ligaments after a serious accident. It carried me through my two natural births and offered a way to go through my life being closer than ever before to my beloved ones. Now that my family is thriving I feel the time has come to look at the wider world. It is time for me to find the courage to teach 🙂