Cambodia and yoga, helping yourself and others
Alter at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh By Sonja Bjelland
Cambodia is an emotionally exhausting place to visit but I’ll save describing those experiences for later because I found a special yoga studio.
A yoga-based aid organization helping girls rescued from sex trafficking.
Tucked in near well-fortified houses, NataRaj Yoga is a short rickshaw ride from the waterfront area where many visitors stay. The yoga studio also serves as home to Karma Yoga, which describes itself as the first yoga non-govermental organization in Cambodia.
A team of international yoga teachers offers public classes, mainly to ex-pats. But they also teach the Khmer girls to lead yoga classes for children who live at an orphanage.
The screened-in roof offers little protection from the Bikram-esque heat but the classes are in the morning and evening so it’s a tad cooler. They have everything from introductory to advanced classes as well as yoga intensives and retreats and plenty of blocks, straps and bolsters.
My schedule allowed me to pop into the introduction class with Alison. The introduction class included simple bends and traditional moves but knowing the students levels, she
Street market in Phnom Penh By Sonja Bjelland
added a mix of more advanced options. Some hotel rooms I’ve been in haven’t even had enough floor space to roll out my yoga mat so I enjoyed multiple downward dogs and even a foray into eagle pose stretching my upper and lower back. The quiet music made me forget about the bustling streets below.
One of the girls training to be a yoga instructor helped with adjustments delicately letting me know to move my leg more forward in crescent pose and deepening my child’s pose.
So far, one of the women has passed teacher training in Australia and six girls are studying with the group.
Alison said meditation proves the most difficult for the girls. Closing their eyes sends them to a world they don’t want to see.
