Ashtanga Yoga Crete Hania Sign

Given that this is the first official post of my very long anticipated travel blog, it’s only fitting that it hits most of the Monica must knows (yoga in a foreign country). My last full day in Greece consistedof a glorious beach outting, shopping, a long nap, and yoga. I ended the night with a 7pm Ashtanga Yoga class at Yoga Crete in the middle of Hania. Driving in Greece is relatively simple. If you don’t read Greek a GPS/Sat Nav is basically a necessity because deciphering the sinage takes practice. I got to the studio super early because I didn’t want to get lost, and the studio is on a tiny one way street in a neighborhood.

I had chatted with Nektarios who owns the studio prior because the Greeks are surprisingly serious when it comes to yoga. The class that I took Monday evening was with Vaso, she was absolutely lovely. After this class I very much understood why the Greeks are serious about yoga, especially Ashtanga yoga. I teach Vinyasa and have practiced Hatha, Iyengar, and Kundalini. But this was my first Mysore Ashtanga experience. This is not a yoga class where the next poses are called out by the instructor. They make sure to have a very discrete presence, basically you do your own thing and the teacher is there to assist, adjust, and guide you further. It was a really fun experience. Granted I should have read up about what I was getting myself into before I went but Vaso was an absolute doll when she realized I have yoga’d before but no idea about the Ashtanga sequence which is very specific. I think I ended at a 2 and a half hour class which was great. My Greek speaking is limited to Tzatziki, Yassas, and Agapi so I much appreciated that Vasos English was on point and we were totally able to communicate through our mutual understanding of yoga. Definitely one of my favorite experiences in Crete, I can’t wait to come back and practice here!