Photo Galleries / Yoga Plus, Crete, 2003

Philippe's Trip to Yoga Plus in Crete

Philippe teaches ashtanga yoga at YiY, and he went to Crete in Greece in August 2003 for a two week retreat with Radha and Pierre. Here are some photos of the trip, and his commentary below.

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Pierre_adjusting.jpg	Ruins_and_landscape.jpg	The_Yoga_Room.jpg	The_author_as_a_tourist.jpg	a_typical_lunch.jpg
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I have been hearing about Yoga Plus for several years. It is a famous yoga center located in a very remote location at the southernmost end of Europe, on the Greek island of Crete. There is a buzz about Yoga Plus in the ashtanga circles of Europe, so I was greatly looking forward to spending two weeks there in the summer of 2003 with my wife Elizabeth and our 1 year old twins.

Getting there was relatively simple. We flew from Athens to Irakleion, Crete's capital. In the summer at the height of the tourist season, Irakleion airport feels like JFK, with regular flights from such places as St. Petersburg and Manchester UK. At the airport we had to negotiate vigorously with the taxi driver to take all our (baby) gear to Agios Pavlos, two hours drive away. Agios Pavlos is named after Saint Paul, who is said to have landed there on his way to Europe. Yoga Plus is situated at the edge of the bay at Agios Pavlos, with a taverna just 50 yards away and a wonderful beach another 50 yards further down the hill.

It did not take us long to settle into the leisurely routine of the Yoga Plus day. The workshops take place all summer long, with a new session starting every two weeks. Each session has ashtanga yoga as its core, but there are many other courses during the day. In our case, we had Tai Chi, Cretan history, shiatsu and Texan line dancing. The day started with an intense Mysore-style class (see more about Mysore-style) at 6:30 with the staff, who get their stay subsidised in return for working there. The staff were in general more dedicated to the yoga than the guests! I guess only a dedicated student would agree to clean rooms and wash dishes in return for yoga. At 9:30 there was a beginning yoga class, for the guests unfamiliar with Mysore-style ashtanga or yoga in general. We had a wonderful brunch before noon, followed by a two hour shiatsu session and Cretan history. The history course included weekend trips to important sites, and we managed to go to Phaistos, one of the most important centres of Minoan civilization (1500 B.C.), with a huge palace.

In the afternoon we went to the beach and swam in the Sea of Libya, which was just the right temperature. One drawback to visiting in August was the wind, which was often blowing very strongly. But the Bay was well sheltered and on still days the underwater sights (i.e. brightly colored fish and cliff faces) was spectacular. In the evening there was Tai Chi followed by a wonderful dinner and line dancing. Lunch was vegetarian, and dinner always vegan on the grounds that it is easier to digest and thus lightens the mornimg yoga practice. The meal was always buffet style, with such dishes as carrot, leek and feta salad, balsamic beetroot, courgette, aubergine and tomato crumble, prepared by professional chefs. A couple from Birmingham UK led the line dancing. Retired performers, they spend their time travelling around the world teaching line dancing, and the course was very popular with our crowd.

Pierre is half-Swedish half-Morrocan, and taught the morning Mysore class, often assisted by Radha. He taught in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, which means giving postures to students one by one according to their ability. For example, the student next to me, Paul, had done yoga only twice before. He started by doing the sun salutations on the first day, and by the end of the stay he was proficient in the standing postures and loving it. Most of the students were from the UK, and more than half knew the Primary Series. There was a great energy in the small practice room, which as in the old Mysore place fit only 15 students mat to mat. People would line up outside the room, and when a space would get freed up by a student going to do the finishing postures in another room, someone fresh would come in. Pierre was very aware of where everyone was in their practice, and was very skilled in gradually pushing students to their edge day by day. Just when I thought I had done my most challenging practice yet, it would get a little bit harder the next day.

I don't think that going to the edge of your practice is necessarily a good thing to do everyday, as it can be psychologically gruelling. However. in a two week period it teaches you a lot about the yoga, the postures, and the attitude you have towards the postures. Ironically, one of Pierre's favorite sayings was " less is more", in that it's not a good idea to be attached to doing something and trying too hard. This helped a lot in changing my relationship with the "difficult" postures in the series, and instead of approaching them as a test or a hurdle, to approach them with the attitude that if it does not work today I can always try again tomorrow. I think the difference between going to the edge and trying too hard is in the approach you take: in the first instance you are unconcerned about the result of your effort, as it is only the intention that matters.

In any case, Yoga Plus was a wonderful experience on many levels and we cannot wait to go back.

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