Yoga in Varkala, India
Sunset in Varkala, India By Sonja Bjelland
Finding a good yoga class while on vacation
Ask to see the yoga room. These can range from air conditioned and clean to beach mats in a concrete den.
People walk up and down the main corridor toting yoga mats. Ask which classes they like and always ask more than one person.
Understand this is not YogaWorks. There will not be bamboo floors and a special iTunes playlist. Some do have blankets, blocks and straps though.
Varkala, India – Sunburn is the latest fashion trend here.
Between 8 and 9 degrees north of the equator, the sun is fierce and the beach is always calling. White women trying to be a little appropriate wrap their shoulders in a shawl purchased at one of the many shops that line the well-worn path on the cliffs above the Arabian Sea.
But those come off at the beach where Indian men sit, cell phone cameras in hand, to collect the images of bikini-clad women. That aside, Varkala is an easy place to visit. Plenty of restaurants and fellow tourists to make friends with. It’s even possible to venture out after dark for a dinner of banana leaf steamed barracuda with a lemon and garlic sauce.
This relaxed, beach vibe made me not want to do anything but play in the waves and read my book. But I managed to get myself off the beach and out of the shops long enough to take in some yoga classes.
Finding a good class, though, took a bit of research, kinda like picking the restaurant with the freshest seafood.
Like most seasonal beach towns in India, Varkala businesses open in November and remain open until March. Some teachers work in Europe or other locales until the season hits so out of season might leave you out of luck. This can also lead to constant turnover so advertisements about certain hotels having yoga and such may not be true.
I didn’t have time to attend every yoga class in Varkala (that would take awhile) but I did hit a few and enjoyed where I went.
Ullas began the morning class at Progressive Yoga with several rounds of pranayam or breathing techniques. The hour and a half class included beginner-level standards of sun salutations and triangle pose but also incorporated a few more advanced poses such as crow.
Varkala, India By Sonja Bjelland
Coming from a line of yogic and ayurvedic professionals, he said he has been teaching yoga in Varkala for 15 years and trained at Sivananda, an international yoga school that has an ashram a few hours away.
The class was well paced for vacationers and was a good way to start the day, though occasionally interrupted by the clang of the kitchen next door. His classes run from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and 4:30 to 6 p.m. and costs 250 rupees ($5.55 USDs).
Similarly along the tourist path at the Green Palace Hotel, Harinarayanadas teaches morning and afternoon classes. The small, clean room in the lower area to the right of the entrance to the hotel has a ceiling fan and an air conditioner.
He changes the speed of the class depending on the level of the students and makes quick work of adjusting each student into the correct posture. Despite having some beginners in class, he helped everyone safely manage poses such as a headstand that they might not have thought possible.
The hour and a half classes start at 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and cost 200 rupees (about $4 USDs)
Outside the main tourist hub is one class I heard good things about but didn’t get to try.
It starts at 7 a.m. at the Oasis Hotel north of the Black Beach area.
The walk leads out past clothes shops to where fisherman outnumber tourists and one can feel a little closer to India.
The key to finding the Oasis Hotel, is to walk about 10 minutes past where the sidewalk turns to sand north of Black Beach. Go through the first stream and fishing village and keep following the shoreline through the second stream. Up and to your right you’ll see the yellow Oasis Hotel. Continue on the path hugging the beach and go past the Blue Water Ayurvedic Center and turn right. That rocky, dirt path leads up and around the hotels such as Oasis that are perched on a small hill. Keep going right until the path stops at a “T” and turn left. Oasis will be a couple doors down on the right.
It’s sounds a bit “over the river and through the woods” but it’s really quite simple and supposed to be worth the effort.
Thank you Sonja…..