Where the Adriatic meets a dedicated practice
If your travels bring you to Pula, perhaps for its Adriatic coastline, Roman history, or the impressive Pula Arena, there is another place worth discovering, especially if yoga is part of the way you travel.
At Gortanova 32, not far from the sea, you will find Iyengar Yoga Pula, a small, fully equipped studio created by Nataša Sršen. Today it is a place of regular practice and a close-knit community, but its beginnings were much simpler.
When Nataša first started teaching in Pula, there was no studio waiting for her. She taught wherever she could find space, sometimes to just one or two students, carrying all the necessary yoga props in her car from one rented room to another, and then taking everything home again.
Years later, those beginnings have grown into something lasting: a studio of their own, regular classes, committed students, and a community brought together by a shared curiosity for yoga.
It may be a small studio, with space for around ten practitioners, but its roots run deep.
From personal practice to teaching
Nataša began practicing Iyengar Yoga in 2000. What started as her own practice gradually became a path of deeper study and, eventually, teaching. She completed her teacher training in Germany and received her first certification in 2012. Today, she is a Level 3 certified Iyengar Yoga teacher.
Her teaching remains closely connected to the work of B. K. S. Iyengar and to the idea of yoga as something much broader than a sequence of asanas. At Iyengar Yoga Pula, students are introduced to the practice, philosophy, and art of yoga, with precision and curiosity at the center.
Nataša is joined by Ana Ljubić, who began practicing Iyengar Yoga in 2018 and received her Level 1 certification in April 2026.
Together, they continue to build a place where the tradition is respected, but the atmosphere remains warm, open, and very human.
Serious practice, light atmosphere
What makes Iyengar Yoga Pula special is the balance between discipline and lightness.
Before class, the studio can be filled with conversation and laughter. Once the practice begins, however, the atmosphere changes. Nataša takes the work seriously and asks her students to be fully present, physically as well as mentally.
Many students attend regularly, bringing curiosity, thoughtful questions, and a genuine interest in understanding yoga more deeply. When the class ends, the conversation often continues, sometimes about yoga, sometimes simply about what is happening in everyday life.
This combination of focused practice and human connection has shaped the character of the studio. There is space to work seriously without making the practice rigid, and space to connect without losing the concentration that yoga requires.
A practice for different stages of life
The classes at Iyengar Yoga Pula reflect the diversity of the people who come through its doors. The regular program includes beginner, general, and intermediate classes, while individual sessions offer more focused support when a therapeutic approach is needed.
There is also a gentle class for students over 50, currently attended by a group of women, with the practice adapted to their needs and abilities. Over the years, Nataša has also taught children’s yoga and classes for pregnant women, offering them whenever there is enough interest.
New students can begin with a trial class, giving them the opportunity to experience Iyengar Yoga before committing to regular practice. Nataša also often speaks with new students beforehand, so she can learn a little about them before they step onto the mat.
The groups bring together different ages and levels of experience, but the intention remains the same: to create a practice that is precise, attentive, and appropriate for the person practicing it.
A community that grows beyond the mat
At Iyengar Yoga Pula, the sense of community does not end when class is over. Over the years, students have come together for book study, workshops, yoga conventions, and trips, as well as more informal moments, from sharing a pizza after practice to a movie night celebrating B. K. S. Iyengar’s birthday.
Workshops are an important part of this wider practice. Nataša regularly organizes accessible three-hour workshops, giving students of different levels an opportunity to explore a particular subject in greater depth. Earlier this year, for example, a series of monthly workshops focused on shoulder health.
The small studio in Pula has also welcomed teachers from the international Iyengar Yoga community. Uday Bhosale came from London for his first visit to this part of Europe, followed over the years by Elisabeth S. Brass from Berlin and H. S. Arun from Bangalore. Nataša’s friend and fellow teacher Lara Speroni also teaches workshops when visiting from London.
This October, Elisabeth S. Brass returns to Pula after seven years for a three-day workshop, bringing another opportunity for the local community to study, practice, and learn together.
Stories that stay with you
A yoga community is perhaps best understood through the people who grow within it. For Nataša, some stories have stayed with her long after the classes themselves.
One is of a girl who first came to class with her mother when she was just nine years old. A year later, she joined Mali Jogi, Nataša’s yoga classes for children, and continued practicing until she left Pula to attend university. Looking back, Nataša remembers how naturally yoga became part of her growing up and hopes that, even as life takes her in other directions for a while, the experience will remain with her.
At the other end of the age spectrum is a 78-year-old student who attends the general class. Despite the physical challenges that come with age, he approaches practice without complaint and speaks about yoga with genuine positivity. His persistence and attitude have become an inspiration even to students many years younger than him.
Two very different stories, yet both reflect something essential about the studio: yoga can accompany us through very different stages of life. What matters is not age or ability, but the willingness to return, observe, learn, and continue.
From props in the car to a studio of their own
Perhaps the story of Iyengar Yoga Pula is best captured by remembering where it began.
When Nataša started teaching in Pula, she was the only Iyengar Yoga teacher in the city. There was no permanent studio and no established community waiting for her. She rented spaces, carried the props she needed in her car, taught, packed everything again, and drove home. Some classes had only one or two students.
She continued.
Today, those early days feel very different from the small studio on Gortanova Street, where around ten students can practice together, classes run regularly, and familiar faces return week after week.
For Nataša, having this space and the community that has grown around it is something she describes simply as a real blessing.
And perhaps that is why the studio feels so rooted. It was not created overnight. It grew slowly, through years of practice, teaching, persistence, and people who kept coming back.
A small studio, indeed, but one with deep roots.
Iyengar Yoga Pula
Address: Gortanova 32, 52100 Pula, Croatia
Website: iyengaryoga.hr
Facebook: Iyengar Yoga Pula
Style of yoga: Iyengar Yoga