So what really goes on a this new phenomenon - the yoga holiday ?
Do you need to be fit? Do you need to be brilliant at yoga? What age do you need to be? Do you need to go with a friend? Do you need to be spiritual? How much yoga will be taught? Can we drink alcohol? Do I have to be a vegetarian? What do I do if I snore? What do I wear? What do I do if I hate it?
These are the type of questions I get asked or hear mumbled at yoga holidays all the time - so its time to demystify - the Yoga Holiday !
I love this photo because the simple joy of all the ladies shows how much they are enjoying themselves - So the first rule of Yoga Holidays is - they are FUN ! Serious fun - Capital FUN.
Some of these ladies came alone and some came with one friend or two - but by day 2 all are bonding and getting to know each other - enjoying sharing their lives and laughs. Second rule - Friendships are made and deepened.
So down to the meaty stuff - here's a photo of breakfast - plenty of scrambled eggs, bread, fruit, yoghurt and granola - washed down with copious coffee and tea - for dinner there's always meat on the menu as its a yoga holiday not a health farm/ detox event. Although a lot of the ladies tried and loved the vegetarian options. Here's a photo of us having dinner on the veranda.
The point to this photo besides the beautiful girl on the left (my daughter) - is that there are Wine Glasses on the table - yes you will be able to drink Alcohol - as much as you like because its your holiday ! Cocktails, Wine, Beer, Cava, Champers, Buckfast - whatever is your poison - plus wine is ridiculously cheap in Spain and delicious. Of course if you want Ballygown you are most welcome - on this holiday two ladies didn't drink.
Friendship is really the whole point of the holiday - look at those happy ladies - it warms my heart when I hear the laughter and the singing - so joyful and fun.
A lot of people were worried that they would not be good enough at yoga to last the pace - I'm sure this photo will reassure - every evening we do a one hour restorative class - which no-one ever misses - as you can see these ladies are relaxing so deeply - restoring and releasing any stress from their normal daily lives. Its so important to give ourselves the gift of stillness and doing nothing.
As to the normal yoga class - its a 2 hour class in the morning with a water break - we do a mix of stuff all based in the Iyengar way - which is slow and very well sequenced - we also include some partner yoga which is very enjoyable. Both Lisa and myself are Iyengar fanatics and in that lineage every student is encouraged to move to their own ability - one of these ladies has serious hip problems - with two teachers and plenty of props we can find a way for everyone to experience the yoga effect! BKS Iyengar was famous as he made yoga accessible to everyone. With the benefit of two teachers - one teaches and the other adjusts and demonstrates. This means the students get a great mix of two very different teachers and also get a lot of attention and hence their practice of yoga deepens. One this holiday we had at least four students with physical difficulties. That said all the students had attended either Lisa or my class for at least a year.
The location for this holiday was in a beautiful Andalusian farm house tucked away in a valley of forestry in Catalonia - each room is stunning - the whole place is such a sanctuary. Rooms are shared. There is a perfect yoga studio and a pool - and lovely places to sit and chat or contemplate life. We run another holiday in Nerja near Malaga in June 2018. The house their is equally stunning.
On this holiday we went to Montserrat for a daytrip- the sun shone all day and we had a ball - one of the ladies has the eye for a good photo so she took this. It reminds me of Charlies' Angels. Some of the ladies went up the mountain and some went down. For me this photo sums up yoga holidays - fun and frolics for all ! Come home like a new woman.
