Yoga at Ohio City Farm, Cleveland, by Vision Yoga – Class Review

July 25, 2016 / karabemis / Leave a comment

This past week, from July 18-21, a handful Americans convened on Cleveland for the Republican National Convention (RNC.) Events of the RNC for me included some great live music, witnessing protests and stepping in to participate here and there, and at the end of the week a much needed outdoors, community yoga class.

There was a lot of stress and disbelief for me as a newly repatriated American. Tossed into the heart of Cleveland for the RNC was a little overwhelming, the most being hatred, homophobia, racism, and guns. It was an atmosphere that required deep exhalations. Countless cops from all over the U.S. in the middle of tension on all sides. There was also a some good happening – people protesting and opposing the hate.

The whole thing had me shaking my head in confusion and disbelief which is why I was ever so grateful for a community class at Ohio City Farm . The class was the day after the convention ended (thankfully,) on Friday afternoon at lunchtime. At first I wasn’t sure if I’d attend since temperatures and humidity were high, but the class was in a far off corner of the farm, under a large, shady tree, in view of the Cleveland cityscape, with a gentle breeze made the heat bearable.

The class was taught by a teacher from nearby studio, Vision Yoga, which is just a block away from the farm. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to visit the studio, but saw the storefront after grabbing a much appreciated post-class burrito. Based on their website, they have a lot of classes going on and are even offering a great new student and locals deal of 4 weeks at $40.

Vision Yoga Studio 1861 W. 25th Street Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Getting There

The farm is easy to get to and is located just a short walk away from the historic West Side Market. Both are located just of of West 25th Street. The Ohio City Farm’s address is:

Stone Ct, Cleveland OH 44113

Follow this link for more detailed directions on how to get to the Ohio City area.

The Class

The farm class as mentioned before was taught at the far end of the farm, so be sure to give yourself about 10-15 minutes to find the spot and to fill out a waiver form if you haven’t been to Vision Yoga classes before. The class time is 12:15-1PM, just in time for a lunch break practice for those working nearby. It is a community class, or in other words, a donation class, so pay what you can and pay happily knowing that your money is going to a non-profit doing great things.

Community classes at the farm are every other Friday, so pay attention to Vision Yoga’s schedule to be sure that a class is taking place on the day you wish to attend. An organizer that I spoke to mentioned that she wasn’t sure if the classes would continue beyond August, but she and I hoped that classes would continue through September, as long as the weather cooperates.

The Refugee Response

The class that I attended was sponsored by The Refugee Response, an organization that works to help refugees settle into American life by offering English tutoring sessions; and something else that’s really cool – they employ refugees on the farm to work the land. Refugees from all over the world get to share their skills and gain a sense of purpose in their new community of Cleveland.

This is an awesome organization; if I were in Cleveland I would love to volunteer and get involved with them. If you’re local to the 216, then follow this link to find out how you can volunteer and help out. Maybe you can do your part by attending the next Community Class at Ohio City Farm.

Plastic Free France in Plastic Free July!

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016 / karabemis / 1 Comment

Plastic Free July is an initiative that challenges us to say no and refuse single-use plastics for the entire month of July (and hopefully the newly strengthened habit will carry over into August, September, and every other month.) You can read more about the campaign on the official website here.

Examples of plastics to say no to for the rest of the month are plastic forks/knives/spoons, red solo cups, plastic bags at the check out, and straws. Shop smart by choosing items packaged as lightly as possible, and go to a farmer’s market and buy your produce there, have them place your fruit and veg straight into your reusable bag instead of using those pointless produce bags at the grocery store. Bonus! – you support local farms and eat healthier, local foods!

It doesn’t take me long to collect straws on my morning walks,.

What’s the big deal about single-use plastic anyway? Well quite frankly, it sucks. Sorry to be blunt, but there’s no other way to put it. These items of “convenience” are produced with oil (polyethylene) and other chemicals at very high temperatures (500 F), packaged and shipped out to stores, where they’re freely given out or are charged at a very low price, carry your items where you are going and then likely get tossed in the garbage.

If you’re raising your eyebrows thinking, “But wait, I recycle!” well then I am grateful that you take that extra step, and everyone should be recycling by now, it’s 2016 after all, but I’d argue that the energy used in transporting, cleaning, and processing the recycled plastic is unnecessary. Consider if instead we all used real knives and forks (or any other real, multi-use item instead of a single-use plastic one) and then washed them after use to be used again, and again, and again. Recycling is energy intensive, and although yes, it is better than tossing plastic into the trash or on the street; I don’t think that it’s the answer to all of our problems.

I’ve gone off on a tangent. This is not a post about why we should refuse plastic, no that can be found here and here, and tips on how to cut back on plastics in your life are written here. No, this post is actually a celebration of an entire country banning plastic bags – an entire country! That country my friends, is France.

This is what happened: starting on July 1, 2016 all shops and super markets no longer carry thin, single-use plastic bags at their check out. Instead shoppers are encouraged to bring their own, or buy heavy-duty bags that cost more than the typical 10 cents. Bags that yes, are plastic, but that are meant for multiple uses. Plastic bags generally have a life span of carrying your groceries from the store check out line to your car and then from the car to your kitchen where they likely get tossed in the trash, recycle bin, or in a designated area where they’ll sit with all of the other useless plastic bags that have come home with the shopping and that have no other purpose. It is a beautiful thing that France realized the waste and inefficiency and made laws to get rid of them all together.

What’s more, is that starting on January 1, 2017 in France plastic produce bags found next to the fruit and vegetables will go from being plastic (the norm) to being paper or a compostable corn-starch plastic. A lot of waste is going to be saved in France not just in the shops and super markets but also in the weekly markets and night markets that are still alive and thriving in almost every small town and village.

France gave up plastic bags in 2016.

Vive la France!

Thank you, France! What an inspiration for all other cities and countries to aspire to. In my most optimistic dreams the U.S. will follow suit one day, and I will anxiously be awaiting that day.

*Note on Photography: All photos were taken on the ground near Bordeaux, France by my accommodating partner, Ben Lear.

Help-X vs. Wwoof

July 5, 2016July 5, 2016 / karabemis / 2 Comments

This has been the longest gap between posts for me since karabemisyoga was started back in 2014. I have been busy relocating (temporarily or permanently – )not quite sure) back into American life after living abroad for 4+ years. My trip in India and through Europe has sadly come to an end, but it has inspired posts such as this one, a comparison of two popular working holiday/work exchange networks. There will be more posts by me inspired by my travels, my practice, and my “new” life here in the U.S. Now for the article:

Why Help-X is Better Than Wwoofing

A previous post written was about Help-X, a network for hosts and helpers to find each other world-wide; hosts find helpers to do all sorts of work on their land and helpers find hosts in all corners of the globe to stay with and learn from while on their working holiday. As mentioned in that article, there are two other popular online networks out there: Wwoof and Workaway. You can have a look through all three and make your own decision, but having used both Help-X and Wwoof before (I’ve never used Workaway but met volunteers that have with success) my preference is Help-X. Here’s how Help-X and Wwoof compare.

Help-X vs Wwoof

Location, Location, Location

Help-X One word – international. When you join the Help-X network you get access to farms, hostels, home-stays, etc. in cities and rural sites all over the world. You can search for a host in the Americas (North, Central, and South;) Europe, Australia, Asia, and pretty much everywhere else. As long as a host exists in a country then you can find a place to work with Help-X.

Wwoof On the other hand, in order to search for hosts using Wwoof you must join each individual country at a cost that would add up if you were planning to wwoof your way around multiple countries. You can bundle small, neighboring countries together which helps save on cost, but still if you compare the three countries of one said bundle: Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Belize for $33 to getting access to hosts around the world with Help-X for only $22, then the choice is pretty simple.

Price Comparison

Help-X Membership comes in two types for helpers. You can join for free by creating a profile with your details. With a Free membership you will be able to browse partial profiles of hosts, leaving out the contact information which is how you start communication to organize a stay. However, hosts can contact you if you are a desirable helper. The second membership is Premier membership which gives you more power to view hosts’ full information, photos, reviews, maps, and more. It costs 20 euro ($22 USD) to upgrade to Premier membership. Membership lasts for two years and covers all continents. You can also join Help-X as a couple. Couple membership costs $29 USD for two people for two years.

Wwoof To be clear, I’ve only wwoofed once in Korea and have never joined the network in another country. The reason why I didn’t use it more is the cost. Wwoof membership in Korea is 50,000 won ($42 USD)/per person/per year. When my boyfriend joined and messaged a host he received acceptance; in the contact email he explained that it would be him and his girlfriend (yours truly, of course) coming to help for a week. A few days later he received two more emails, one from the host explaining that he had to cancel the arrangement on orders from Wwoof Korea and one directly from Wwoof Korea which canceled his membership and explained that he could not contact a host on behalf of two people without the second joining Wwoof Korea independently. Basically, they wanted me to pay 50,000 won and send a separate email although we were coming and volunteering together as a unit. It makes sense business wise for Wwoof, but it left a bad taste in my mouth about the organization which is clearly after money. In the end my boyfriend smoothed it over and we were able to volunteer without me creating my own profile. One point for the little guys!

Reviews

Help-X Reviews can be written for hosts by helpers and for helpers by hosts. This is useful for all involved because as a host it’s important to find reliable, friendly, hard-working helpers. Likewise as a helper it’s wise to choose carefully where and with whom you want to spend a few weeks with living and working together. When it comes time to choose where to volunteer, be sure to browse multiple profiles, take a look at supplemental websites or Facebook pages, and write thoughtful initial contact emails to each individual host you are interested in rather than copy and pasting a generic message to multiples.

Wwoof Again, I must state that I have not myself used Wwoof’s online network being put off by the price, but I have heard that their review section leaves you wanting more. I can’t say much here due to lack of real experience, but I will state that I overheard two veteran hosts complaining about the Wwoof system for an array of reasons, one of them being the lack of reviews.

Wwoofing is a similar network to Help-X and is something that my boyfriend and I were considering doing back in 2011 until we opted for Help-X, a decision that I very happy to have made. Others are equally happy with Workaway. Hosts that I have stayed with recently have had profiles on all three networks, so odds are that you won’t miss out whichever service you choose, but I would argue that you will miss out if you go with Wwoof if having a variety of hosts in countries all over the world is what you’re looking for.

By no means do I wish to bash the organization or write with hate. I have had only the one negative interaction in the past and can’t use that to judge other international Wwoof networks not associated with the Korean network. To clarify, this piece is to help travelers out there making a decision about which network to go with and I hope that it helps in that decision.

For more on the subject, have a look at this article by our very own Amy Steele, written about Voluntourism for Busan HAPS magazine’s June 2016 issue.

Know Your Audience

June 17, 2016June 17, 2016 / karabemis / Leave a comment

This applies to so many things, for example while telling a story it should be altered slightly differently if the listeners are your near and dear friends, or say, your new boyfriend’s parents. That’s obvious, isn’t it?

This little colloquialism is also very applicable to yoga teachers. It’s a good piece of advice for new teachers who just finished their intensive 200hr training and it’s a nice reminder to teachers who have been teaching for years, because it always rings true.

Know Your Students’ Levels

Generally, at least. You can’t walk around before your class starts and ask new students to define their ability level – that’s way too much pressure for a student and will cause ego damage, because nobody wants to say that they’re a beginner in a room full of intermediates or hand-standing-advanced students. Which is silly, because at one point we’re all beginners, but for some reason there’s an embarrassment that comes along with being new to something and therefore not as “good” as others (read more of my thoughts on this here.)

Another way to say it is – don’t teach a dynamic series of non-stop standing balancing to a beginners’ class, unless you’ve prepared them well for it in the first 40 minutes of class. Don’t even teach something like that to a mixed level class in which just one or two of the students are beginners.

Why? Well, my two primary reasons are alignment and ego. Fist, and most importantly – the alignment. It takes time and practice to get alignment of yoga poses well enough that you can move quickly from one to the other with proper alignment. Even a basic pose like Virabhadrasan II (Warrior II) could take a whole year to learn the full-body techniques of where to align the bones and how to tone the right muscles, what to do with the pelvic floor, ribs, chin, the list goes on. So, if you rush a class with students who are not familiar enough with the alignment to do poses without you meticulously telling them everything, then be careful. Overtime poor alignment can lead to joint damage, or if their joints are already weak then they could possibly even injure themselves during the flow, during your class.

The ego comes into play when you as the teacher, whom has practiced years and years, blows through the sequence with ease and to full capability, and the student in their mind feels down for not being able to look and do the same. Of course not all students will think like that, but some will, and they might not come back to your class if they leave feeling worse than when they arrived. People are sensitive and compare themselves to each other; this happens a lot in yoga classes. It’s good to remember this as a teacher.

Get a Feel for Which Level of Spirituality is Appropriate

We all know that yoga is about more than body movement, unlike other “workouts,” yoga involves breath synchronization with each individual movement and usually has some level of body and mind union. This might mean a theme of gratitude in a class, or it could go further to include a lesson from Shiva, Hanuman, or the Buddha.

To some students it may be too much to hear about the destructive, dancing Shiva. Or, say

for example if you line up a class venue at a church, it’s probably best not to teach lessons from Hinduism or Buddhism. For me it’s second nature to teach my classes in English and Sanskrit, saying each pose in Sanskrit so that my students learn the pose names, but I gauge who I’m teaching and sometimes stick to just English. Something to not only keep in mind for students of different belief backgrounds, but also for levels. If I teach a group of beginners I explain why I use Sanskrit and where it comes from, something I will try to do even more after reading this insightful article on cultural appropriation and yoga.

Themes of nature and the environment are other themes that I like to incorporate as it is a strongly felt passion that I have; to take care of the waters and land, and as part of that stewardship, to spread knowledge about how and why with others. Put into a word it can be called activism. I consider myself an environmentalist (which can have negative connotations depending on which political party you’re talking to, so changing the label to say that I’m a nature level is more appropriate depending on who’s reading this.) It’s a good idea to create classes with themes like these that are more appropriate for all. Also, as mentioned before, gratitude, mindfulness, and grounding are other great class themes.

When designing a class, keep in mind who your expected audience will be. Plan appropriate poses, themes, and language and be prepared to have to change it all last minute. Being a yoga teacher requires being flexible in more ways than one; know your audience, as best you can predict.

Yogaspace, Prague, Czechia – Studio Review

June 6, 2016June 6, 2016 / karabemis / Leave a comment

Yogaspace is very centrally located in Prague. It is near to the main plaza of New Town Square, and according to their website they offer English yoga classes four times per week. Two classes on Tuesday, one Thursday and one on Friday. Times and specifics can be found on the link above. I attended the Tuesday evening Vinyasa Yoga class with Ivana at 6:45pm.

The class was a good pace for the students who attended, and it was well attended. In fact, I nearly didn’t make it in the room it was so packed; it was only due to a “no-show” that I was able to take the last mat space available. In order to secure your spot in a class, be sure to send a message by email or text. Contact information can be found at the bottom of the schedule page linked above.

Their website makes it clear that reservations for drop ins must be made ahead of time, but I guess I was so focused on directions that I overlooked it. It’s completely my fault that I was so close to not getting it, so I’m really grateful for the guy who didn’t show so I could squeeze in (thanks, guy!)

About Yogaspace

The Studio – Is average size and fits around 20 students packed in tightly mat-to-mat. When you first walk in you see the changing rooms which are equipped with large lockers with keys for you to secure your belongings during the class. Connected to the entrance way is the studio. It’s long and narrow with windows making up the entirety of the back wall. There are mats for use and mat spray for after class.

The Class – The Vinyasa class was great, just as the class description said it was dynamic and sweaty (the description didn’t say it’d be sweaty, I’m adding that in myself.) Since the classes are listed with levels you’ll be able to find a class that’s right for you. Although my class was jam packed the teacher sill managed to get around and adjust most of us, which I was grateful for.

The Cost – A drop in class costs 220 CZK (about $9 USD) – again, remember to email or text ahead of time. If you’re in Prague for some time you can purchase an entire course of your choosing. Specific costs of each course is listed on the link and range from 1,680-1,820 CZK ($70.50-$76.50 USD.)

The Location/Getting There – As noted above, the studio is very central, great for a weary traveler to pop in and unwind after roaming through the big crowds of tourists and vendors in Old Town on those incredibly uncomfortable cobble stone streets! If you’re taking the metro the stop is Mustek (Museum,) exit out of the most eastern (or furthest to the right) exit that points towards New Town plaza. Then follow these directions:

A Note on Getting There !! This is what the outside of the building that the studio resides in looks like (with a lost tourist standing in front.) The main sign is for a salon, but if you enter the hangover of the building there is a large sign on the left that has the names of all of the businesses inside. You’ll see Yogaspace listed there. Enter the building, there’s a security guard, but the door was unlocked when I went. Inside the building is where it became like a maze. I was almost super late to the class because I ran up the wrong staircase (twice) and then took an elevator to the wrong area. Only after walking through a hallway to the left of the main elevator did my boyfriend and I find another tiny, hidden elevator at the back of the back of the building that took us to the 3rd floor where the studio is. It’s as confusing as I’m making it sound, so make sure you give yourself about 15 extra minutes just to find the studio once inside the building.

The large sign listing all of the businesses of the labyrinth of a building. This door is near the second, far away elevator that will take you to the 3rd floor of the yoga studio.

Yogaspace is a nice studio to relax and stretch out in after walking the streets of Prague all day. It’s not always easy to find English speaking studios, so to have one right in the center of the city is a luxury. Just remember these two key things: Book in advance and give yourself plenty of time to get there. Read my other post on tips on Prague here.

Help-X Work Exchange – Best Way to Travel

May 29, 2016May 29, 2016 / karabemis / 3 Comments

Back in 2011 my boyfriend and I were scratching our heads at a little coffee shop in South Korea as we prepared to leave our teaching jobs there to travel the world and gain experiences on the way. At the cozy little cafe, drinking hot chocolate late at night, I stumbled upon a website that satisfied what we were looking for: Help-X. Since that winter in 2011, we have left Korea (and returned and left again,) and have traveled the world, hitting multiple countries and Help-Xing whenever possible.

What Exactly is Help-X?

Help-x stands for Help Exchange and explained simply, is a network of both hosts and helpers who join the website (by paying a nominal fee and creating a profile) and then search for one or the other – host or helper, to begin contact via the network.

For example, my boyfriend and I are helpers, we listed our skills and explained who we are in our profile. Then we searched the network for a host that had what we were looking for: yoga, building, permaculture, heat (just kidding, but no, for real, I need heat in a cold place and hot water is a must,) and dogs are a bonus. To find a host we search by country, depending on where we’ll be and then we start sending out initial contacts. (You can checkout Help-X and have a look around at hosts, but details and contact information can’t be viewed or made without membership.)

13246435_1056031004472379_9176441389971978070_o

On the host’s end, they likewise create a profile with photos of their accommodation, land, family, etc. Related websites and Facebook profiles are included so that helpers can learn more. A long or short description of open availability and work expected is listed. Work that is common includes basic gardening, helping with construction, and sometimes even teaching English, or yoga!

Below is a photo of a host’s home in the French Pyrenees where one of my primary tasks was collecting donkey doo, shown in the first photo above. The other two pictures are from a recent Help-x at Re-Green in Greece where I happily upgraded to yoga teaching. *The photo to the right, below showcases a beautiful natural structure at Re-Green, made of a variety of natural building techniques, you might recognize the back wall full of wine bottles. Beautiful. Many hosts and helpers are like-minded in their respect and care for nature and the environment.

13268248_1056031407805672_8547036679334773220_o

So, What’s so Great About Work Exchanges?

Exchanges of Ideas & Skills – Whether you’ve never heard of permaculture or spent much time with your fingers in the soil, or you’ve done multiple PDCs (Permaculture Design Courses,) most hosts will take you on and teach you the skills that they require of you. Being that Help-X is part of the sharing economy, just like Couchsurfing or Freecycle, as a helper you are likewise expected to share any skills or ideas that you have, that could be cleaning or helping in the kitchen, construction, or painting. Sharing and learning go hand in hand and it’s a wonderful thing that we can share and learn with each other around the world.

Perfect for Budget Travelers – In general, the arrangement is that in exchange for four, five, or six hours of work per-day for five or six days per-week, your host will provide you with accommodation and meals. To break it down, this means that after paying travel expenses to get to your host you will essentially have zero costs while there. For example, in one of my most recent stays with a host, my boyfriend and I stayed for about two and a half weeks and in that time we spent a total of 25 euro ($28 USD.) That’s not much for two people in two weeks while traveling. Compare that to how much would have been spent on lodging and food while traveling, a huge savings. Yes, we had to earn our keep, but working in the sun for a few hours while gaining skills and making friends isn’t a bad trade-off.

10003627_920250938094160_1334607177136834551_o

Not exactly in the sun. My boyfriend and his Help-X friends in France.

Learn from Locals – It’s not always easy to get a real feel of a city or region unless you can chew the fat with a local while traveling. You can do just that while Help-Xing. A unique opportunity to ask a native of the area about the state of the region and country: economically, socially, environmentally, etc. It’s common that your host will share meals with you from time to time (or always, hopefully) and may even take you to their favorite local spots for food and drink, or to a cultural outing. In France our hosts took us to a local, ancient church; in Greece we ate at a ridiculously delicious Taverna. Travel memories to last a lifetime.

Local food, puppies, yoga, laughs, and sun – I’d say I’ve done a pretty good job of selling Help-X as a way to travel, work, and share. As posted in The Future – What’s Coming Up Page of KaraBemisYoga I am returning for a second Help-X stint at Re-Green in Greece. I loved it so much there that I can’t stay away.

Have you tried your hand at a work exchange or working holiday?

Must Knows Before Visiting Prague

May 23, 2016May 23, 2016 / karabemis / Leave a comment

My backpacking trip around Europe brought me to Prague, Czech Republic (or Czechia is it?) for a second visit. My first trip to Prague was back in 2006 to visit my dear friend Angela during her time studying there. It was a quick trip with two other girlfriends; we were guided around the city by Angela to all the must sees and local gems. Since that trip I have always considered Prague to be, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, so I wanted to show the picturesque city to my boyfriend.

View from the clock tower of Prague back in 2006.

On my recent trip to Prague I again hit all the must sees of Old Town and went on a free walking tour that was advertised at our hostel, Advantage Hostel, which is located walking distance to Old Town. Like other tours I’ve done in European cities, the tour is free but it’s expected to give a tip at the end. A great few hours of entertainment for budget backpackers. (Unfortunately, I can’t find the name of the tour company that we went with, but there are a multitude that meet up at Old Town and can be found on TripAdvisor.)

Tomas, our tour guide was Czech and had studied history and anthropology, so an ideal expert on the city. Not only did Tomas give our group of about 15 stories and legends of the city but he also gave a lot of great tips for tourists in general. Tips that I thought were noteworthy enough to write about here, especially since most of them should be know before even landing in Prague. Must Knows that can help you avoid paying too much or getting ripped off, so here they are:

Must Knows

Money Exchange – DON’T EXCHANGE MONEY ON THE STREET. Apparently there are people who offer “good rates” for your currency to get Czech Koruna, but don’t be fooled. The tender that they’ll give you isn’t real Koruna, but rather bills and coins from another Eastern European country, like currency from Bulgaria. Our tour guide recommended a place that gives good rates. It’s called Exchange and is located just on the outside of Old Town Square near to the Kafka Café, click here for a google maps link.

Validate Your Tram/Bus/Metro Ticket – It’s quite easy to use public transportation in Prague. Tickets can be bought at most convenience stores or places that sell cigarettes. Tickets range in price from 24 CZK ($1 USD) for a 30 minute ride and up to 310 CZK ($13 USD) for a 3 day pass. Upon entering your chosen form of transportation, you must stamp it in a little machine that puts the date and time on the ticket. If you fail to do so you might have the misfortune of meeting an inspector who checks for stamps and are known to single out tourists (since locals generally use annual transport cards.) The fee for forgetting to stamp your pass is 1,000 CZK ($41 USD,) a big unexpected expense to any traveler.

Beware of Taxis – They’re known to overcharge. I didn’t need to use one on my recent trip since I walked the entire time I was there, so I don’t know from experience, but again this is another tip from Tomas that I take seriously. I don’t recall exactly how much a taxi may rip you off, but any rip off is worth avoiding. Look for a yellow Taxi light on top of the car and follow other guidelines found here.
Nataranjasana in hiking boots in Prague.

Another good idea is to ask your hostel or hotel to call ahead and book you a reliable taxi.

Invest in Good Walking Shoes – Prague has retained its historical beauty meaning that the architecture is stunning and there are sites to visit aplenty (plus parks and beer gardens.) Through history those bumpy cobblestone streets have stayed put in the majority of both Old and New Town and they wreak havoc on pedestrians’ feet. No matter which European city (or any city anywhere) you visit it’s an absolute must to invest in a pair of good walking shoes, be them walking sandals, sneakers, or hiking boots. Cobblestone is no surface to mess around with flip flops or heels in!

You’ll be off to a good start keeping these tips in mind when you visit fairy-tale-like Prague. Also remember to drink all the pivo (beer) you can handle and eat some goulash with dumplings. My review of a centrally located Prague yoga studio coming up soon.

5 Elements, Krakow, Poland – Studio Review

May 12, 2016May 12, 2016 / karabemis / Leave a comment

After leaving my course in India my daily self practice sadly dropped significantly, from at least twice a day to only here and there. Backpacking around Europe – getting lost in countries where I can’t even say hello – makes for a chaotic schedule in which my yoga practice has been shuffled around to whenever time can be made. Fortunately, however, while staying at an Airbnb in Krakow, Poland I found an English speaking yoga studio and went for a much needed yin class.

The studio that I found – 5 Elements, is not downtown, but is accessible by public transport (directions linked below) and in my case was a 20 minute walk from my Airbnb.

5 Elements is my kind of yoga studio. Here are the reasons why practicing at 5 Elements was worth the wait.

English – When traveling it’s not always easy to find an English speaking studio or class. The finding part is sometimes the most difficult. When I choose a studio in a new, foreign city, I choose it based on it’s website and whether the site is in both the native language and also in English. Obviously I can navigate the site much better if it’s in English as opposed to translating the entire site with google. An English website also implies that the class may be taught in English or some degree of English, a bonus for sure. 5 Elements had both an English website (well designed) and an entirely English taught class.

Yogic Philosophy – After a thorough read through of the website which included class descriptions, Ayurveda, and a mentioning of yoga and the ego (my kind of philosophy,) I knew that it was a good fit for me, not simply a “workout” place.

Atmospheric- I like a studio to have soft lighting (bonus points for candle lit studios,) Sanskrit and Hindi gods on the wall, pillows on comfy seats, and incense a-burnin’. 5 Elements ticked all of those boxes. There was even an incense burner located outside the main entrance of the studio – literally outside on the doorstep. It was a welcome, homey feel on a cold and rainy Wednesday night.
- However! – The studio itself was pretty small and had very blue tinged lighting (LED I think) which isn’t great to practice a night time yin class in in my opinion, but it didn’t take away from a good practice, I’m just making note.

Props- If you’ve ever taken one of my studio classes at Kaizen, or maybe through reading other posts here, you probably noticed that I am a big supporter of props (pun intended.) During the yin class that I took at 5 Elements we used blocks, straps, and eye pillows – lovely! And necessary to find comfort in those long holds!

How to Visit 5 Elements

Directions: Like my Airbnb, 5 Elements is not actually in the center of Krakow, but is in a residential suburb. Luckily it was walk-able for me (doubly so since I wasn’t so sure on how to even use public transportation in Krakow) but you can follow this link to get directions.

Cost: Drop in classes are 35 Polish zloty, but for your first class there’s a special rate of 20 zloty (about $5.) 5 Elements offers an array of different packages that will suit any schedule. They can be found here, which also has the class schedule.

NOTE, Must Book Ahead: As mentioned, the studio practice space is small, which is great for an intimate class, but for this reason you must call ahead to book a spot. The phone numbers to call, both fore English, are listed in the link found directly above.

Fast Fashion 101

May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 / karabemis / 3 Comments

The most recent post over here at karabemisyoga.com was a short, introductory, factual write up about the often overlooked dark truth of how our clothing is produced in our modern, globalized world. A remembrance of a day in April when over a thousand people lost their lives stitching together pieces of fabric to be shipped all over the developed world and sold with no mention of the countless people whose hands assembled the clothing, other than a tag that is rarely checked labeled “Made in Bangladesh.”

The anti-industry name associated with this type of fashion is “Fast Fashion,” and it’s become the norm these days. I say anti-industry for lack of a better descriptor, and what I mean by this is that once you learn the ins-and-outs (that often go un-publicized) of the Fast Fashion industry – the labor conditions, pollution, waste, product quality, etc. – you’ll quickly turn against it and search for alternatives.

To understand the term Fast Fashion a little better, think of Fast Fashion the same way you probably think of fast food – yes, eating at McDonalds is quick and easy, tastes “good,” and gives an instant satisfaction, but after you go home your belly might hurt and after you read up on what those “chicken” nuggets are really made of, you probably won’t go back for a while. Similar to walking into the golden arches, you may at first have a feeling of satisfaction, the pastel-floral-pink racerback is cute enough and at that price how could you resist? But when you get home and try it on again the fit turns out to be just a little bit off and the feel of the polyester on your skin isn’t that nice, so you might wear it out once or twice, but it quickly makes it’s way to the bottom of the drawer, so undervalued that you don’t even bother to fold it, it’s just wadded up lost to the world forever.

Or lets say that you love this top and wear it multiple times in one season, that’s great – to give a product a full life instead of losing it in your wardrobe or dumping it in the trash, but the cheap material (polyester/acrylic/etc.) doesn’t last through many wash cycles. Soon enough the seams start to come out, but it’s not worth any upkeep or care, no one would ever bother to have a low quality item dry cleaned for example (and the skill of mending has no value when you can just go out and buy a replacement for a few bucks.) Instead the falling-apart top gets taken to the thrift store where it won’t even get put on the over-crowded racks because it has no value, it winds up in the trash in the end after only a few months.

Look into the pink top’s production and you’ll find environmental pollution and lax labor laws in developing nations where the industry has been outsourced for the past few decades. Rivers run rainbow colors in China, synthetic material is often oil based, using up non-renewable resources, and all of the international shipping from seed to fabric to T-shirt damage the environment. Of course the reason why production has been shifted to other countries is cheap labor, low taxes, and nearly nonexistent environmental protection laws.

A shirt made in Bangladesh is made for a fraction of the costs it could be made in the U.S. or other developed nations, but that cheap price tag has hidden costs, i.e. Rana Plaza. These extremely low wages paid abroad are often not even at a living wage standard; meaning workers might make their country’s minimum wage, but still they struggle to get by day to day.

As if remembering the human toll and struggle that goes into the production of our cheap clothing wasn’t enough to sway you to shop differently and more ethically when possible, then consider as well the price that the environment pays (which was only skimmed here.) And ask yourself if that $5 pink-pastel top is really worth it.

There are alternatives to Fast Fashion, some you can read about on this site and some that maybe you can share with me. May you happily shift into well informed, ethical, well made shopping and away from Fast Fashion.

Rana Plaza Remembered

April 27, 2016April 27, 2016 / karabemis / 2 Comments

Rana Plaza, located just outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh was an eight story building that collapsed due to poor construction and lack of maintenance on April 24, 2013. Thousands of workers were housed within the walls of Rana Plaza and were forced to go to work although there was knowledge of a large crack in a column of the structure that eventually led to the collapse. One thousand-three hundred-thirty four people lost their lives in Rana Plaza and more than two thousand people were injured.

One thousand-three hundred- thirty four (1,134) people lost their lives in Rana Plaza and more than two thousand (2,000) people were injured.

The thousands of laborers worked for very low wages for big-name western companies such as Joe Fresh (Canada,) Carrefour (France,) Primark (UK,) J.C. Penney (U.S.,) and Zara (Spain.) As of this 2014 Forbes article some companies had paid financial compensation to the families of the deceased, and some had not. Other large companies like Walmart and the Children’s Place (both U.S.) had paid compensation even though they did not house workers in the building at the time of the collapse, but had at some point in the past. On top of financial compensation, those found responsible for the collapse were charged with murder back in 2015.

Even though such large North American and European clothing manufacturers are overdressed associated with the collapse at Rana Plaza (and countless other collapses and tragedies,) consumers often fall deaf to such news. Personally, I first learned of Rana Plaza a few months after the tragedy via an NPR interview by Terry Gross with author Elizabeth Cline speaking about her highly recommended book on the Fast Fashion industry, “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion.”

My shopping habits have changed drastically since hearing that interview and reading the book (I haven’t shopped at or even entered a large clothing chain since summer 2014.) You can read about my lifestyle changes in previous blog posts which outline hosting clothing swaps, a great alternative to supporting Fast Fashion.

Swap in full Swing

I don’t write this post to be self-righteous or to encourage readers to shift their shopping habits as drastically as I have, but rather to inform consumers, because we are all consumers, of a tragedy that they may not be aware of. The collapse at Rana Plaza happened just three years ago,but I’d bet that many shoppers have never heard of it. You can dig and dig and dig and find many other similar stories of ill-treated, cheaply hired labor in developing countries. Laborers whose stories are not shared enough and who may even sacrifice their lives in poor working conditions for a cheap price tag in a department store. Bangladeshi workers work for a fraction of the cost of other laborers elsewhere and are often forced to work 12 hour days in unsafe conditions. The lives of laborers are the hidden costs of cheap clothing that we blindly consume.

It’s never fun to be the bearer of bad news, and I often feel that I’m a “Debbie Downer” because I share tragic news with friends and readers, but if we never know the truth then we’ll never change our ways, and if we, the consumers never change our spending habits then we’ll never shift the way of production. Whether you decide to go to a second hand shop this weekend instead of a mall or department store, or share this link or story with a friend, every little bit helps and adds up eventually. But we have a lot of sharing and changing to do to defeat the Fast Fashion industry.

karabemisyoga

Yoga, Travel, Sustainability

Author: karabemis