Arriving in Bali, I felt a bit overwhelmed with this broad yoga offer. On every street corner there are yoga studios with a very varied selection of courses. I followed a recommendation and tried the yoga studio "Radiantly alive" in Canggu. It is very centrally located in Canggu but quiet due to its location on the 2nd floor of the building and you have a very nice view over Canggu. I actually didn't even bother with what kind of yoga class I signed up for. I decided very spontaneously to do yoga that day and thought it would be a nice idea to time the class to coincide with the sunset. Before we started the yoga session, each of us was supposed to draw a card with a saying - I found this a nice idea to arrive here and send away the remaining thoughts that might still be circling around in my head.
The yoga session started with a relaxed breathing exercise. Our yoga trainer then explained to us that this unit is about staying longer in various stretching exercises to counteract shortened muscles. For each stretching exercise, there were different variations of how to do it, depending on the flexibility of one's body and, of course, the condition of the day. With the help of blocks or pillows one could have some support. While we calmly moved from one exercise to the next, there was very relaxing music.
Since I am a runner and my muscles are therefore very shortened, stretching exercises are usually a big overcoming for me or I usually sit/lie there very unrelaxed and wait tensely until the trainer says that we can finish the stretch. For this reason, I was a little worried at first that this 75min pure stretching session would be associated with a lot of discomfort on my part. But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The longer we stayed in a stretch, the easier it became for me. Don't misunderstand - stretching remains stretching and is never a great joy for me - but I was able to semi-relax and engage in the stretch by breathing and focusing on the music in the background. By staying in one position for a few minutes, it really made you feel a lot looser later on.
Overall, I really enjoyed this yoga session. This unit was already exhausting but in an opening and not sweaty way. I think that I will do Yin Yoga again in any case or there are according to the trainer also combinations between Vinyasa and Yin Yoga - that also sounds exciting - you will read from me! 😊
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