There are a lot of yoga classes offered in Saarbruecken. Many are offered through the local gyms, and there are private studios as well. Here are a few that I’ve tried or heard about.
Iyengar style yoga
I’ve attended a number of Iyengar yoga classes at the Bergem Studio. Karin teaches s a pretty standard Iyengar class. I didn’t Karin quite as much as my favorite Iyengar teacher at CMU, but she’s definitely a trained, prepared teacher. Her class is different every week, although I think if you go twice in one week you’ll get the same class. I generally went to the daytime classes, and the students were mostly older women. The teacher’s husband, Roman, also teaches a few of the nightime classes, and there’s a bit more diversity in the evening and weekend classes. Karin charges 40 euros a month to attend one (1.5 hour) class a week. A student’s first class is free. Take bus 105 or bus 125 from the Hauptbahnhof, and then you walk half a block. The teacher requests that students wear all white. Mats and props are provided. Instruction is in German.
On the Iyengar Germany page two other teachers are listed in Saarbruecken:
The first is Beatrice Deimel who appears to run the Elan Insitute, which offers different types of classes including yoga for the back, nordic walking, personal training, etc. Prices are 50 euros a month for one hour a week.
The second listing is for Ilse Zielasko. On the Bergem page she says (I think) that Zielasko has studied with B.K.S. Iyengar in India, and both she and her huband have taken classes with Zielasko. I’m not sure if she’s offering classes, but Zielasko appears to be located in Am Staden at Geibelstr. 1 66121 Saarbrücken, Germany. Her phone is listed (0681 685 1808) as well as her email: yoga.ilse.m.zielasko@t-online.de
Power Yoga
There’s a new yoga teacher in town. Karsten, a teacher at the Yoyoga studio in Berlin, just moved to Saarbruecken. He’s trying to find a location to start his own studio, but currently he’s teaching three courses at local fitness studios. Only one of the courses is open to the public. It’s at Rapidfitness on Tuesday nights at 8pm. The class is by donation, and lasts about 2 hours usually. It’s an advanced, hard-core class. I usually can only do about half of the poses, but I really like the class. Karsten is a great yoga teacher.
Hi, I’ve been attending Beatrice Deimel’s class for a few years now and I highly recommend it. Although the prices have gone up to 70 Euros by now, the classes are very good and Beatrice is a very sweet but also professional person who’s is constantly working to improve her own qualification. For instance, she travels to B.K.S. Iyengar’s ashram in Pune regularily to study for a month (during which her school is closed).
If you are interested, why not come to a free test lesson? I would suggest either the Monday or Wednesday night session of 90 minutes. Her website is down currently but classes on these days start at 6:15pm. Phone number of the school is 0681 / 390 66 17.
Thanks for the tip. I will check it out, although 70 euros a month is quite steep for me.
Yeah, I know, it’s not super cheap, but I lthink that it’s worth it because of the quality of the classes. In all the years I’ve been to her school, I don’t think I have ever had the exact same class twice. Beatrice is really good at putting variation into the practice, so it never becomes boring. She is also very observant and will give very detailed corrections which is something I personally like a lot. Another great thing about her classes is that she will individually alter the poses if they’re too advanced or if you’re injured or something – so you will always be able to follow along.
Oh, and one more thing about the price: since she’s a certified teacher, most health insurances will reimburse some 70 Euro per year, so in practice you’ll end up paying only 11 months. 🙂
One last thing: The reason Beatrice’s website has been inaccessible was because she moved it to a new domain: http://www.elaninstitut.de (no hyphen). The page is in German, though.
Thanks Thomas.
hello captious! i’ve just discovered your blog – i’m a brit, so it’s interesting to hear a fellow english-speaker talking about saarbrücken. i noticed you practice yoga. if you are interested in trying a different class, please check out http://www.yoga-by-blum.de. maybe i’ll see you at one of my woyo and intensive yoga classes.
Im a vegan from Macedonia , lookin for same minded friends…..
my e-mail is veganvm@gmail.com
vlado
I second your opinion about Carsten Schier (Karsten you have written) – I just did a dynamic yoga flow workshop with him and am impressed. Has deep knowledge, gives attention to details, does breathing and meditation. I’m thinking of starting yoga classes again! 😀
Whoops, thanks for correcting my spelling!