Namaste!

Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in Europe. I think because I am from the Aegean region, I am attracted to warm, lively people, warm weather, sunny, green and historical cities.

I went to Barcelona for the first time in March 2014 to run a marathon. I completed the 42km 195m marathon course and ran the whole city then :) I stayed with my friends for a few days, toured, ate delicious food and enjoyed the city. Barcelona has a very special place in my heart because it is a city where I ran a marathon.

I founded Yogazero in February 2016. After the website opened online sales, I decided to expand abroad as a Turkish brand. When I was looking at yoga festivals in Europe, Barcelona (perhaps because it is a city I love) seemed the most appealing. As Yogazero, we attended an event abroad for the first time in July 2017, the Barcelona Yoga Conference. At that time, my brother Fırat and I were working together, we went together, and we had 5 fun, tiring and educational days.

We did not attend BYC in the summer of 2018. The reason was that I attended an advanced teacher training abroad for about 1.5 months at the beginning of the summer, and I wanted to take a break from Yogazero work and focus on yoga teaching.

While planning 2019, Barça took priority again because I loved it so much and I decided to join. Because my brother Fırat left Yogazero and the economic conditions and exchange rate increases in our country, I decided to go alone this time. The decision was right, but going alone was really tiring.

Since I was alone, I couldn't attend many yoga classes during the 3 days the stand was open, but I was able to observe some short classes.

Barcelona Yoga Conference is held in a sports school in the city center. The school garden is organized as Yoga Village, all sponsor companies and stands are located in this area. This year there were 52 stands. It was great to see the stands of our designer friends that we know from the previous year. I had to give them a little account since I couldn't attend last year :)

There are Karma yogis from different countries volunteering for this event. There were 160 Karma yogis this year. Whenever I needed help, my friends helped me with everything. During the breaks, they had a great time at the Yogazero stand and tried on lots of tights :)

Barcelona Yoga Conference lasted 5 days in total. 52 yoga teachers from 23 different countries gave classes.

Ashtanga, Hatha, Yin, Dynamic Fusion, Kundalini, Jivamukti, Dharma, Dhara, Power, Integral, Rainbow, Vinyasa, Prana Flow, Liquid Flow, Yin, Acro Yoga… 20 different styles of yoga were practiced.

The first day is Thursday Pre-conference; the last day is Monday Post-conference, the days when yoga teachers hold their workshops. The other 3 days are Friday-Saturday-Sunday full day and evening yoga classes and events. You can buy tickets for 3 days full or daily, single lessons, kirtan concerts and workshops according to your interest, time and budget.

The entrance to the Yoga Village with stands is free. There were also many free yoga classes and events throughout the day. The total number of people who participated by purchasing tickets was 1600 yogis from 42 countries (AD AR AT AU AX BE BG BR CA CH CL CN CZ DE DK EG ES FI FR GB GI GR HR IE IT JP MA MQ NC NL NO PL PT RU SE SI SK TR TW UA US VE). Apart from this, hundreds and thousands of yogis came to the free events and Yoga Village.

Yoga practices started with Sadhana at 7:00 in the morning and ended with Kirtan at 22:00 in the evening. 8 different areas were used at the same time. Each class was very crowded but the class areas were very large. During the breaks, the yogis spent time in the Yoga Village where we were also located.

The first day was Friday, I attended Yoshio Hama's Dharma Yoga class at 7:00 in the morning before the Yogazero stand opened. I know Yoshio from the New York Dharma Yoga Center, I like his practice, his teaching and his posts. Dharma Yoga is a style I love very much and Sri Dharma Mittra is a teacher I admire very much. It was a sweet morning practice that I enjoyed very much.

If I had time during the day, I would like to attend Pau Castellsague, Jason Nemer, Mireia & Edu Acro yoga, my friend from China Juan Dong Vinyasa, Bryan Kest Power yoga, Patrick Broome, Simon Park, Heeki Park and Daniela Garza Lucid flow yoga classes.

I attended Shiva Rea's workshop, it was amazing. This was my first time meeting Shiva Rea, it was a practice that I still enjoy. He looked amazing after recovering from his illness. My intention is to practice more with Shiva Rea in the coming years. Prana Vinyasa Flow is probably the practice I need these days.

I recorded a short part of Shiva Rea's class. You can watch it. A few more videos are on our Yogazero Istanbul Youtube channel; here .

There was free Kirtan all day long at Yoga Village. Tina Malia was amazing again this year. I had watched Tina 2 years ago both at BYC and at the Udaya Yoga and Music Festival in Bulgaria and was a fan. This year Tina was on stage every day. I watched Manose for the first time, I was impressed, she was different.

The festival's main sponsor Yogi Tea's new ice-tea varieties this year cooled us down. The vegan/vegetarian options in the food court; Vegan Paella, Vegan burgers, Hummus crepes and Indian dishes were incredibly delicious. And of course, the line in front of our neighbor and sister Shanti Gelato, the world's number one vegan ice cream, never ended.

Mirabai Ceiba was one of the artists I watched for the first time. She was with her husband, daughters and artist friends at Kirtan on the first evening. Her voice and stage presence are magnificent. She is a very good harpist and also plays the harmonium. Tina Malia, who is a close friend of hers, accompanied Mirebai in a few mantras. It was a very beautiful night.

When I was reviewing the Barcelona Yoga Conference program, the biggest factor in my participation was Krishna Das' participation this year. I had first watched him in Kirtan when he joined BYC in 2017 and was amazed. At that time, after Kirtan, I went up to him on stage and had a chance to chat a bit. 2 years ago, my knowledge of Bhakti yoga and Sufism was at a basic level. Krishna Das' interest in Turkey, his compassion and what he said about Sufism had impressed me. Over the past 2 years, I have read, researched, followed Krishna Das and tried to add more mantras and kirtan to my practice.

On the second evening, BYC performed at the Krishna Das 'Piece of My Heart' Kirtan evening. It was such a joyful evening that no one wanted him to leave the stage. He extended his live performance for another half an hour and then He politely said 'Go to sleep, Namaste' and sent me off. I quickly had him sign my CD but I couldn't chat because there were so many people waiting. Luckily for me, I met Krishna Das the next day in the evening at Yoga Village, then we went to get crepes together :) In the meantime, I was able to convey all the beautiful words that came to my heart to him.

Also, on the last day of the BYC post conference, I attended the Krishna Das workshop. Since it was the end of the conference, the stands were packed and I felt at ease. I had an enjoyable, productive and educational day listening to Krishna Das melodies, chanting mantras, listening to his posts, thinking and taking notes all day long.

Barcelona Yoga Conference 2020 will be the 10th. The organization said that they have prepared a great celebration and wonderful content. We have already included it in our program :) The web page where you can follow the details; https://www.barcelonayogaconference.cat/program/

You can find all the videos and photos we have taken in our Highlights section stories on the Yogazero Instagram page; https://www.instagram.com/yogazero/

You can also watch videos of yoga classes and other Kirtan artists on our Yogazero Istanbul Youtube channel. You can access our Youtube channel from here .

This time, we proudly featured Turkish designers at the Yogazero stand and the new yoga and sports collections that yogis at BYC liked;

https://www.yogazero.com/collections/jerf

https://www.yogazero.com/collections/lando

https://www.yogazero.com/collections/anais-margaux

https://www.yogazero.com/collections/ajma

You can always contact us for your questions.

Much Love,

Gozde Uysal

Istanbul, Saturday, August 10, 2019