In yoga any result is good!

Małgorzata Baranowska

I am the founder and an instructor in this school.

I am a sociologist, a sport manager and an instructor of the physical recreation as regards hatha yoga. I have completed post-graduate studies devoted to Yoga and Relaxation at the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw, the Faculty of Rehabilitation.

I have also completed a course of Modern Birthing School under the auspices of Fundacja Rozwoju Pielęgniarstwa Polskiego (Polish Nursing Development Fund), which uses yoga techniques while working with pregnant women. I have been practising hatha yoga since 2003 and I really appreciate the approach of Leszek Kawa, Iwona Ramotowska and professor Janusz Szopa. I regularly attend yoga workshops and relaxation sessions (i.a Feldenkrais’s Method) with different teachers from Poland and from abroad. My interest in yoga has become an interest in movement and its influence on the increase of body awareness and in aquiring the habits of the right posture of both adults and children.

That is why I have completed courses devoted to corrective gymnastics for children (gaining the title of an instructor) and a course of 1st and 2nd degree of Metody Ruchu Rozwijajacego (Developmental Movement Approach) by Weronika Sherborne. I have a teaching certificate to work with children.

I respect every trainee and their limitations connected with health issues, age and general fitness.

I am a member of Stowarzyszenia Jogi Akademickiej (Association of Academic Yoga).

Maria Pawlewicz-Budzinska

A passionate yoga teacher and an architect.  My first yoga experience was when I was pregnant.Then I tried to exercise on my own using available materials. I started practising yoga regularly a bit later. I have been practising yoga regularly since 2010. I am currently graduating from post-graduate studies in Yoga and Relaxation at AWF.

I regularly take part in courses and workshops connected with yoga, learning from great teachers representing different systems. I can’t imagine family holidays or days off without yoga. Holidays with yoga give you a full recovery and energy for a long time.

My motto is – ‘Yoga doesn’t finish when we step off the mat – it is when it really starts’.

I am a member of Stowarzyszenia Jogi Akademickiej (Association of Academic Yoga).

Magdalena Rybak

I am not a natural born sportsman. I didn’t train when I was a child, and I really regret that. The first form of movement that I liked was dancing. I came across yoga in 2003 when I had serious problems with my spinal column and since then yoga has been rescuing my health. Yoga has also revealed the world of movement to me and now I face new challenges willingly. Being already an adult I have learnt to swim, quite recently I have learnt how to ski and I have completed a self defense course.

My idee fixe has become promoting physical effort starting at an early age in order to avoid problems which I have experienced.

I am a certified English teacher and although I don’t work as a teacher, I am interested in psychology, pedagogy and methodology of working with children. I am passionate about learning different forms of movement therapy and their influence on body and mind development (W. Sherborn, P.Dennison, sensory integration, animation scarf, speech therapy, forgotten movement games, drumming and dancing). I choose certain elements and use them in classes with children. It is all about having good fun but their basic goal is getting to know abilities and limitations of your body, learning the body awareness, shaping correct posture and healthy movement habits as well as developing interpersonal relations.

Zbyszek Baranowski

A certified journalist, working as a communication specialist and a sportsman by vocation. It was 2003 when I first learnt about yoga and since then I have been regularly practising it. My first steps were under the supervision of Leszek Kawa and Iwona Ramotowska. I also owe a lot to professor Janusz Szopa and his scientific approach to yoga. Why? Because I like to know how a particular pose influences my body. I am a certified instructor of physical recreation specializing in psychophysical exercises based on hatha yoga. I have taken part in a course of techniques in psychosomatic yoga by Polskie Stowarzyszenie Swiadomosci Ciala w Rehabilitacji. I have also taken part in Yoga Nidra workshops and mindfulness.

For many years I also practised martial arts such as judo, viet vo dao and aikido. I am a certified Aikido instructor and have a black belt in Aikido.

Yoga and Aikido are a perfect combination. Both disciplines give you peace of mind and a fit body. It is this flexibility from the mat used in everyday goals and challenges that allows you to approach every task with imagination and creativity.

They practice in our school

I was really lucky to have started my yoga adventure with you here at this school. Since autmn 2014  I have been taking part in yoga classes three times  a week. I really like these classes because they are diverse (there are three different instructors), the atmosphere is nice and there is something for everyone depending on one’s fitness, needs and expectations. As a physiotherapist I could see what an important role yoga plays in backache prevention, maintaining the right posture and the movement range in all joints and what’s more in influencing our well-being, good energy and so called vitality. Working with our body through breath, we calm down and fight stress. We can recommend such classes to everyone who cares about her/his health, wants to rest in an active way and stay positive. Yoga classes improve our fitness, our well-being and give lots of satisfaction. They are sort of base for activities like skiing, running, horse-riding, dancing or others which give us much more happiness. We should be positive about keeping fit, health and joy, because our health is in our hands.

Unfortunately, I am moving house and that means finding a new school but I already miss our classes. Margaret, Dorothy and Zbyszek – I want to thank you very much for your classes, I wish you a lot of success! And I also wish other people practicing yoga further personal development both while working with their bodies as well as their minds and of course consistency in achieving their perfection.

Regards to everyone in Halasana Yoga School

Miroslawa

Why Halasana?

1. After 4 lessons (classes, sessions) I changed the position of my car seat, I stopped doubting in its comfortable, ergonomic shape.

2. My shoulder blades, which reminded of plucked wings of some flightless bird, don’t protrude anymore and I don’t have any hump anymore. The head is in the right place and I don’t remind of a constantly pecking bird anymore.

3. Muscles, I didn’t think I still had muscles, but I do and they carry me and I don’t trip over paving stones not looking down.

4. Summer. At the end of the day my feet do not ‘pour’ from my shoes, they aren’t swollen or purple.

5. My son, who hadn’t seen my for half a year, said I looked good.

Margaret, Dorothy, Zbyszek – thank you!

Jagna

My first yoga practice was in 2000 in one of the best-known yoga schools in Warsaw. It was time when I wanted to make my body more flexible since the gym and football only made my body strong and dynamic but not flexible. Then a friend of mine suggested yoga. In 2000 I realized that asanas were a perfect solution and a way to further self-development.

Unfortunately, after a few months I had to stop but then I already knew I would get back to yoga one day. After some years I took up yoga again at the very same place. In 2013 thanks to my girlfriend, now my wife Monika, I met Małgosia and Zbyszek Baranowski, who run Halasana Yoga School. I decided to practice yoga with them and of course with my wife Monika. I used to think that I would practice yoga only in the school where I started my adventure because others didn’t seem professional enough.

After some classes with Małgosia I understood it wasn’t true and that it was Halasana Yoga School where I wanted to continue my yoga practice, which helps a person develop physically and mentally and gives me really a lot.

Roman Trzciński

It is said Bruce Lee used to say that one can lose strength if one doesn’t do anything to keep it. Yoga, in order to keep fit throughout next seasons on a horseback, stretches out, strengthens the muscles, makes you more body conscious, teaches how to breathe smoothly and calmly.

A horse can feel it, so year 2014 will be another year of practice with Malgosia, Dorota and Zbyszek.

Magda Kania

Today I managed to get to classes and it was great! Everything was perfectly adjusted to my current abilities.

Dominika, a mum -to- be, 17th week

I have been practicing yoga for 3 years now in Halasana Yoga School, and – to my surprise- regularly! I wasn’t really convinced when I was starting (yoga seemed boring to me and not for me), but soon I realized that there was no room for being bored. What is really important to me is that every session is different (although I have been practicing yoga for a long time in every single session I learn a new asana pose), if your body doesn’t let you do something you just don’t do it (you practice for yourself and as much as you can).

I am under a watchful eye of an instructor (Malgosia has an individual approach to every single trainee and chooses appropriate asanas depending on the needs), groups are small and there’s a nice atmosphere ( there’s also a kitchen at our disposal. When it comes to results – I already know ‘a bit’ and my new skills make me really happy (my favourite asana –  standing on head yoga pose) not to mention a few minutes of relaxation – hardly ever do we have time for it in everyday rush.

I do recommend it!

Magdalena Piskorz

I have noticed that I have more energy, my body is more flexible and firmer with visible muscles and much fitter than three years ago before I took up yoga. I find yoga gripping and if you practice regularly you can feel the improvement of your overall body fitness straight away. I recommend yoga to everyone who spends a lot of hours sitting at the desk or driving a car a lot.

In Halasana Yoga School you can practice on different levels and without stress.

Monika Witkowska

I fell in love with yoga ten years ago and I missed it a lot when I became a mum and didn’t have time to go to Warsaw to attend classes. Then I found Malgosia’s school and I really liked them. I got a really warm welcome and felt a very friendly atmosphere – teachers know everyone by name. Nobody makes you do exercises which you can’t do. We are encouraged to respects our body’s limitations. That’s why there are people of all ages in the class. And what does yoga give me?

After a session I feel more energy, my body is at the same time strengthened and relaxed and I am calmer and relaxed. And of course my back thanks me for every session – when I go to classes regularly I don’t have any backaches.

Magdalena Barańska

After a sitting job at the desk when I go to yoga I stretch out mu cramped muscles, which has a good influence on my mood and well -being. I am also satisfied when I see some improvement of my yoga skills (unfortunately it requires regular practice).

And I always wait for the relaxation exercise during which I happen to doze off.

Janusz Księżopolski

I have been practicing yoga for years. Practicing even once a week gives me energy and at the same time relaxation after an intensive and tiring working day. A small group makes me feel secure and  you do as much as you can, everyone makes progress at his/her own pace – no rivalry, no comparisons, no pressure – the instructors make sure it happens like that and at the same time they make sure the classes aren’t boring neither for the beginners nor for the advanced ones. What I like is that when I have a ‘bad’ day I don’t have to make an excessive effort and I do as much as I can and everyone understands that – no one finds it surprising or shocking, there is no judgment … I can see the difference after each classes when I am slowly becoming fitter, stronger, more resistant.

I use it in my everyday life and the life itself becomes easier and nicer …. When I was writing it I realized how much I owe yoga and now I even know better why, despite being tired and the bad weather, I go out in the evening to attend yoga classes.

Monika P.

Yoga brings our body up right and stretches out all our muscles. Thanks to yoga practice our body is fitter and we feel better.
Gosia is a great professional yoga instructor and her school Halasana Yoga School is a great place!

Joanna Jałocha