Best of the Maldives: Aerial Yoga – Six Senses Laamu

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Six Senses Laamu - aerial yoga

Instead of a yoga matt, Laamu introduces the yoga hammock. How Maldives!

“Aerial yoga is fast becoming the hottest trend in the world of yoga, bringing together stretching, breathing and meditation with gymnastics and aerial arts. Now available at Six Senses Laamu, it uses a hammock, made of a soft and supple parachute-silk fabric, which is suspended from the ceiling and used to support the body weight during a sequence of postures. Aerial yoga shares the mind-body connection principles of the traditional yoga practice, while the weightlessness helps remove compression from the spine and opens up joints, leading to stress and tension release. Additional benefits include muscle strengthening and lengthening, low impact cardiovascular conditioning, increased mobility, deeper body awareness and self-esteem…Performed in a sequential flow to music…classes incorporate levitating meditation, zero-compression inversions, sun salutations, floating savasana and joint opening moves…Certified by Ay Fly Training, the resort’s Yoga Teacher Elle Fernandes is a pro when it comes to tailoring classes to individual needs.”

This description includes one of the most lyrical phrases I have come across (in a world where mellifluous rhapsody is commonplace): “levitating meditation, zero-compression inversions, sun salutations, floating savasana.” Yes, I’ll have some of that, please.

Group classes are $35 per person while private classes are $85 per person.

Popular poses, I would imagine, include the Crane, the Eagle, the Feathered Peacock, the Heron, and the King Pigeon.

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Best of the Maldives: Aqua Yoga – Park Hyatt Hadahaa

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Park Hyatt Hadahaa - aqua yoga 1

Bouncing around in the water takes a more controlled, purposeful and therapeutic dimension at Park Hyatt Hadahaa. Their Vidhun Spa offers its own special Aqua Yoga programme.

The developer and teacher of this innovative activity is spa yoga teacher Deeksha (see photos). Like many activities (especially those that involve a bit of pain and effort), her charisma and energy mutes the discomfort and difficulty. She personally turns the pool into an effervescent jacuzzi of can-do with her bubbly personality.

Water is such an immersive part of the Maldives experience, I love it when resorts take activities into the water. The cool and refreshing water provides a crisp contrast to the soothing heat of the ever present sunshine. But when it comes to yoga, the aqueous venue provides extra benefits. First, the natural buoyancy of your body in water facilitates a whole range of yoga moves for a beginner that would require guru level balance and proficiency to achieve standing on land. Secondly, water provides a natural source of resistance. Instead of bands or other devices to provide strength building resistance, Deeksha has devised a number of gentle movements in the water where the water itself is your resistance.

The whole concept does raise the potential for an entirely new range of yoga moves…

  • Downward Facing Dogfish
  • Dolphin Plank
  • Eagle Ray Pose
  • Half Frogfish

Park Hyatt Hadahaa - aqua yoga 2

Park Hyatt Hadahaa - aqua yoga 3

in water

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Best of the Maldives: Paddleboard Yoga – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa

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Four Seasons Kuda Huraa paddleboard yoga

In the Maldives, it’s all about the water. Many yoga sessions are often at water’s edge. But Four Seasons Kuda Huraa has taken that aquatic intimacy one step further.

“Resident yogi began offering Paddle board Yoga about 5 months ago and has been doing this on a guest request basis here at Kuda Huraa.” GM Tulio Hochkoeppler

I’ve always been intrigued by those big exercise balls which provide a soft, unsteady platform which target the core muscles used for stability. If you thought balancing on land was tricky…

While FSKH’s sessions are literally as close to sea level as you can possibly have a yoga session, if you prefer the other extreme, check out Slovenian climber Martina Cufar’s nosebleed sessions.

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Best of the Maldives: Breathing – Kanuhura

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Kanuhura yoga

 

 

Happy Birthday Lori!

My devoted partner in adventure, my dive buddy, my sunset companion.

In honour of her special day, today’s post was selected by her. Very often I just can’t see and do everything on a resort in our short visits and so she ably and enthusiastically (most of the time) steps in to check certain things out. When Kanuhura suggested their ‘Pranayama’ yoga class focusing on breathing, she was not only keen, but also quite the expert on the subject. Lori recently finished her third graduate degree in the voice (Masters of Music, Masters of Voice Pathology, Speech Language Therapy Diploma) and knows a fair amount about the old wind pipes. When diving, most of the time she comes up with more air remaining in her tanks than the seasoned dive masters (so I would recommend the class not just for yoga enthusiasts, but especially for divers who want to improve their air usage).

Kanuhura describes the class as…

“Controlled breathing technique positively influence and release the flow of energy channels purifying, regulating and activating them creating physical and mental balance.”

Her assessment – “Brilliant introduction to basic yoga techniques focusing on the breathing.” If it impresses Lori then it is truly distinctive.

 

 

Kanuhura yoga 2

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