Stanisław Górski, a 92-year-old yogi from Bieszczady, wakes up with the first rays of the sun. He does a short warm-up and … stands on his head. "Yoga has given me strength," she says. - Thanks to her, after 60 years of my life, I made my dreams come true.

Each day of Mr. Stanisław begins the same. Wake up at dawn, followed by the obligatoryasanas , i.e.yoga exercises . Meanwhile, his wife prepares a light breakfast. After the meal, each spouse goes about his own affairs. They never complain of boredom.

Jadwiga takes care of order in the house and her husband's wardrobe, beautifully embroiders, crochets and embroiders. Her hands are distorted by rheumatism, but she's still holding the needle firmly in her fingers. Elegant and well-groomed, she dresses with fantasy. She shows her hand-made hats coquettishly, spreads sweaters, scarves, and skirts decorated with colorful floral appliqués on the couch.

Stanisław spends the most time at the table. He writes a book or cuts out and assembles cardboard models. - Only after 1 p.m. I receive my guests - he emphasizes. - But I try to have as few of them as possible, and preferably not at all. I used to teach yoga and heal people. I don't have time for that now. And I don't have to advertise myself anymore. At the moment, I am advertising elsewhere, including the Internet at the top … Everything I could convey to people I included in my book "Polish Yogi". If someone wants, they can learn from it.

The beginning of the adventure with yoga

"I was born on September 20, 1913 and died right away." This is how Stanisław Górski's book begins. It contains not only practical advice and specific yoga exercises, but also extensive excerpts from the author's biography.

- For a year after my birth, I was clinically dead - says Mr. Stanisław. - I didn't like it in this world and I wanted to go back to heaven. But they sent me back to earth and told me to stay. I was weak, hunchbacked, my legs crooked. My friends at school made fun of me. Until I met an Indian from whom I learned yoga. I was 10 then. I lived in Łomża.

The Hindus wandered around the backyards of tenement houses in Łomża. He was showing "arts" and coins were falling from the windows. The fascinated boy followed his every move, then, hidden in burdock leaves, he imitated the complicated postures of a yogi.

Yoga helped in times of poverty

- Minethe first audience were my friends - recalls Stanisław. - Later I started showing my skills to others. I followed the Indian - he went to one yard, I to the other. This is how I earned my bread. I helped my parents because there was poverty at home.

Before the war, Stanisław Górski got a job in the Lviv theater. He was an acrobat and a clown. He dreamed of treating or teaching people, but he lacked money for education. After the war, he became a cultural and educational instructor and … taught yoga.

- The communists did not mind physical yoga, limited only to body exercises - Mr. Stanisław remembers well the atmosphere of those times. - I even got a special paper from them that I could be a yoga teacher. At that time, I myself did not know much about the whole philosophy of the East. It wasn't until later that I started reading books and exploring the mysteries of true spiritual yoga.

Important

Yoga has a tradition over 2000 BC. It comes from the Hindu philosophy. According to mythology, its creator was the god Siwa, who invented individual exercises (asanas) for his wife Parvati. They were supposed to be a source of well-being and beauty. The word "yoga" in Sanskrit means uniting, connecting - integrating individual and cosmic consciousness. Yoga is a system of exercises involving the body, mind and spirit. It includes relaxation methods leading to inner peace, breathing and physical exercises. The Western version of yoga mainly includes the practice of body position (hatha yoga), breath control, and the practice of concentration and meditation.

Yoga gives you energy to act

For 50 years, Stanisław Górski has lived in Ustrzyki Dolne, but he left the Bieszczady Mountains for some time several times. It was when he found employment in sanatoriums. He worked, among others in Moszna and in Podczel.

His life gained momentum in the late 70's. Then he realized his dreams. He passed the recreation instructor's exam, specializing in relaxation exercises, and at the age of 67 he passed his secondary school-leaving examination. Nine years later, in Opole, he graduated with a master's degree in care and educational pedagogy.

- I also got a bioenergotherapist qualification - he proudly adds. - And for many years I helped people. It's all thanks to yoga. Yoga releases enormous potential in a person, it draws energy that is in the skies. A bioenergotherapist only uses this cosmic magnetism for healing. When we practice yoga, we activate various abilities. Therefore, a yogi can do anything, he can even get a woman of his dreams. So it was with me and Jadwiga.

He met Jadwiga 19 years ago in Sanok. He was then a 73-year-old widower - she was a 66-year-old widow. They met ona lecture in a cultural center.

- I came just for a moment to meet a friend - remembers 85-year-old Jadwiga Górska. - He was there and started asking people about me. Then he came over and said, "I'm going to marry you!" I was indignant! I neither knew him nor was I going to get married anymore. But Staś, still in the doorway, shouted after me: “I wasn't kidding! I'm really going to marry you! ” Then he started visiting my friend when he knew he would meet me there. And he put his own way … Our wedding was a sensation for the whole Sanok!

Since then, the Górscy family have been inseparable. They will soon be celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. They rarely leave Ustrzyki, because Mr. Stanisław does not tolerate traveling well and is reluctant to get into the car. They used to travel together in the Bieszczady Mountains, but now their walks are getting shorter and shorter.

Diary cut out of cardboard

Gray block of flats in Ustrzyki Dolne, modest, one-room apartment. In the corner behind the wardrobe there are cardboard boxes almost to the ceiling. What's in them? Mr. Stanisław evades the answer for a long time. - Later. I'll tell you when the time comes - she smiles mysteriously. After all, his wife cannot stand it: - This is Stas' whole life! - explain. - Cut from my old calendars and cardboard. Scenes from his childhood, experiences from a POW camp in Germany, as well as biblical stories and various such … He is still sitting here at the table and cutting out. And he hardly uses glue, so he cleverly puts it all together.

- I meditate this way - explains the old man, opening more boxes. We see: a Christmas nativity scene, Resurrection, a green forest with partisans. There is also a pyramid with a sphinx: "Man, the world and the cosmos are one," says the inscription below. - Some of the works will go to Krakow, to the Museum of the Home Army, says Stanisław.

Meanwhile, Ms Jadwiga begins the presentation of her daily gymnastics. She has been practicing since she was the wife of a yogi.

- I taught her that - emphasizes Mr. Górski. - But now she chooses the exercises herself. Once, even his wife appeared on TV in Warsaw.

- It was ten years ago - explains Jadwiga. - I was young then, I was 75, I was still doing a stand-up collar and a lotus. Today I'm scared. My bones are weak, and my joints are also a problem for me, but if it weren't for yoga, I would be sitting in a wheelchair now. She had menisitis several times, they put her leg in a cast, then she walked on crutches for two years. - I healed myself using nettle compresses - she says, arched my back into a cat's back.

The last rays of the setting sun fall through the window. Mr. Stanisław hides his cardboardtreasures. His wife puts glasses of green tea on the table and offers sandwiches.

- My recipe for longevity? … - the 92-year-old yogi muses. - You have to be he althy. And for this you need fresh air, exercise and a proper diet, adapted to the climatic conditions. We eat everything, but in summer mainly fruit and vegetables, and in winter a little more meat. The meat should be young and fresh, and the vegetables only those grown in the sun, above the ground. One should also breathe properly - that is, normally, quite normally, not in four phases, as some yoga teachers say. Get enough sleep, live in silence, take your time, don't chase money … A peaceful life - that's what yoga is!

Anyone can be a Yogi

- Body exercises are the beginning of the road, then you have to train your spirit - explains Mr. Stanisław. - The master doesn't even have to move much anymore, because all he does is yoga. Every human being is a bit yogi. Especially when he's asleep. Sleep is such a divine life … The breathing is then shallower, calm. The soul flies to heaven, and awakening is resurrection.

Yogis wake up and die every day. And they meditate all day long. People often ask me what that means. Meditation is prayer. But not one that is said in the church. It is concentration, tranquility, a state of mind. I still meditate like this. My whole life is prayer. I'm writing about it in the book I'm working on right now. I also write about what is "on the other side". Yogis are there and they know. And I am a yogi.

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Yoga