Self-care is not a hashtag

“That doesn’t mean you can be an asshole though,” he clarifies, taking a swig at a steaming matcha latte. What he’s talking about is self-care. Not as a handy hashtag for when you cane it in yoga or book a spa visit. He’s not talking about #selfcare. He’s talking about intention and realisation. But with a certain dose of coy, gritty comedy thrown in. We all get lost in the labyrinth of wellbeing, forgetting the basic element keeping everything running – physically and emotionally – is food. There’s too much going on, running here, rushing there, pinging phones, waiting for emails. And here in Ibiza, it’s also really, really hot. The first error in that downward spiral is eating anything we can find – something fast and quick. In compromising self-care, we end up sacrificing more than our health and mood – we sacrifice our ability to serve others.

“The ultimate goal of self-care is that it leads to service,” says Cliff. “Doing things for others feels really good. That’s where self-care should end up – helping others. It doesn’t mean you won’t complain about it on the way or forget sometimes. Or feel like a hypocrite occasionally.” The first pillar of taking care is eating well. There are no compromises at Wild Beets, where everything is aimed at maximum health benefits and prepared in a way that’s hard to achieve at home. Things happen behind the kitchen door that you won’t necessarily notice within the vibrant dishes on the menu. Vegetables are fermented (good for the digestive system), nuts and grains are soaked (releasing important minerals), and milks (rice, oat and almond) are made from scratch. Juices are cold-pressed (making the nutrients more readily available) and super charged elixirs are added to boost everything from the immune system to your mood.

It’s not just about eating healthy and delectable food. “The menu is plant-based, organic, cruelty free cuisine prepared via methods based on scientific evidence,” Cliff explains. “We never sacrifice the moral foundation of the restaurant.” Even in the height of a crazy day, you can stop by Wild Beets and get exactly what your body, mind and conscience needs. Good, homemade, plant-based, nutrient-rich deliciousness. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and juices – it’s all there waiting to help you take care of yourself. The Wild Beets offshoot, iPurify, provides cold-pressed juice cleanses either for home or with the guidance of the expert team. Or you can just grab a juice from the chiller for an instant, healthy pick-me-up. Naturally, everyone needs a little sweetness occasionally. Decadence is permitted and comes in the shape of beautiful raw desserts and cheeky homemade truffles.

Most parents are familiar with the age worn trope of getting kids to eat healthy food. The Wild Beets kids’ menu takes all the pain away serving up child friendly dishes that follow the same principles as the rest of the menu. The menu is so popular amongst the little ones that grown-ups are often caught sneaking nibbles from their children’s plates. It’s never too early to show kids how to take care of their health. While other establishments close down for the winter, Wild Beets is open all year round. “We hold it together throughout summer and winter so you don’t have to,” laughs Cliff. “If life catches up on you, come here. We do the hard work for you.” And in that lies the root of the Wild Beets reason for being. If self-care is ultimately about service, then Wild Beets does self-care by providing it for others.

Ethical Elemis treatments at Open Spa

Housed within the five-star Grand Luxe surrounds of Ibiza Gran Hotel, the soothing and naturally-lit treatment cabins set the perfect pitch for a rejuvenating experience using the latest in pioneering products and processes, including exquisite ethical skincare by ELEMIS. Open Spa chooses the ELEMIS range for a series of full body treatments, all carefully designed to install an overall feeling of wellness and restore balance and vitality to the skin, face and body. At the forefront of skincare technology, ELEMIS have been creating award-winning products for over 25 years and in 2017, were crowned winners at the CEW awards (also known as the Oscars of the Beauty Industry) so you know you’re in the best of hands.

The first stage of each the treatment is arriving to the beautiful welcome and changing areas of Open Spa, where you pampering and preening is second nature to the team of highly experienced therapists. All Open Spa guests are invited to arrive at least an hour before the appointment itself, leaving plenty of time to relax, unwind, change into a plush bathrobe and enjoy a delectable dip into the water, in the hydrotherapy centre just located next to the treatment rooms. Once feeling suitable mellow, your dedicated therapist guides you into the airy and aesthetically calming private cabin to begin your 80-minute treatment. The ELEMIS philosophy subscribes to a dialogue-centric approach to each individual clients personal skincare needs. By understanding your lifestyle, then using facial mapping technology, your therapist can personally prescribe and fulfil your unique and individual skincare requirements, which are changing constantly along with life’s demands.

The Face & Body Sensation therapy uses hot stones for a deeper than deep tissue massage, both invigorating and relaxing – the ergonomic Balinese stones sending warm waves through the most stubborn of muscle aches and pains whilst the skin is intensely moisturised with ELEMIS Frangipani Monoi Body Oil. This is combined with a luxurious facial massage and anti-ageing treatment to fight against wrinkles, improve the softness of the skin and restore its former youthful radiance. The Garden of England Rose Restore begins with a full body exfoliation, using the advanced bio-technology of the ELEMIS range matched to your skin type. Afterwards, your therapist applies a nourishing body wrap with a unique trio of fragrant and therapeutic rose, camellia and poppy seed oils to hydrate the skin and increase its elasticity all over leaving it deliciously scented and exquisitely supple. Absolutely heavenly. One of the signature ELEMIS treatments is the Couture Touch – a reinvigorating experience for face and body that combines a completely personalised facial treatment with an anti-stress back massage, ideal for achieving balance and feeling revitalised. While your body unwinds, your skin springs back to life thanks to an advanced bio-tech technology facial, using high-performance formulas that pass the strictest of ELEMIS testing procedures before being released to market.

Whichever treatment you choose from the ELEMIS range at Open Spa, you can feel confident that the combination of natural ingredients and the latest technology and techniques come together perfectly. Powerful marine and plant actives coupled with intricately-blended aromatics form the foundations for all ELEMIS products, all of which are ethically sourced and extracted, making the treatments as good for the environment as they are for your skin. Once your treatment is over, the restful space of the Open Spa is yours once again to recline, relax and recover in your own time. Enjoy the hydrotherapy circuit followed by a luxurious shower, before finally relaxing with a cup of herbal tea in the plush lounges of the welcome area. Your ELEMIS experience doesn’t necessarily have to be over when you leave Open Spa, with an extensive range of skincare products also available to purchase over the counter. Your therapist can recommend the perfect products to suit your skin types and need, meaning the results of your treatment will continue to glow long after you’ve left the spa.

Top Ibiza yoga teacher

Susie was functioning perfectly from the outside, but inside was merely existing, with a series of broken relationships making her feel further trapped and uninspired. “Yoga allowed me to connect to something so much greater and more powerful,” she explains of her transformation. Today, she is one half of the powerhouse female duo behind Ibiza Retreats, and finds herself helping many other people through the same experiences and issues she herself originally felt when she felt the need for a change. “Connecting to so many wonderful people and their awe-inspiring journeys has given me the strength and courage to be authentic and present,” she says. “In today’s society, no one’s ‘got time’ so you have to work with what you’ve got. Even if it’s just five minutes a day, getting on the mat is so important. You have to work with what you’ve got.”

When did you first discover yoga? I was a real gym bunny in my early 20s and I first tried a typical power yoga class in my gym. It was something I got into for exercise and I originally saw it as another way to keep healthy in my body and stay slim. Then I started going to Jivamukti classes – it was the high intensity and the music of that style that attracted me. Did you feel an instant connection to the practice? It was more like, the more I got into yoga, the less I thought about it as an exercise. I’d been suffering anxiety on the side with a really stressful job and yoga became a real medicine for me. Then the more I got into the meditation and the spiritual side of it, it really helped me. I wasn’t really a spiritual person, I was more like a girl on the edge… What kind of benefits you were seeing? Yoga helped me to get my head together and it became something I spent more and more time doing. Rather than being at work all the time, and focusing on my job, I started spending more time in the studio, looking at how I felt, doing more classes and meeting amazing people. My weekends became more about yoga – I had been a big party girl and yoga gave me the pathway to make a huge transition. It was amazing for me. At what point did you make the decision to become a teacher? I didn’t ever have the conscious intention to become a teacher. After about three years of practice, I decided to do a teacher training course as I thought it was a healthy choice. I wanted to deepen my practice and learn a little bit more about the philosophy, meditation, the depths of the asanas and I loved it.

Tell us about your training? I did a course called Teach Yoga which was more transitory than some of the intensives you see now – it allowed me to do it gradually, every other weekend over the course of a year and a half. It wasn’t something I could just jump into. It was with a lovely Italian lady who was an ex-GP, so for me it was a good in-road into yoga as it appealed to my logical side. How did you make the transition from student to teacher? I started teaching at work, on a Friday night or lunchtime, just to get some practice. I had a few clients I would teach on the side and then I went on a couple of retreats. The more I’d go down the yoga path, I’d go back to work and sit and my desk thinking ‘what am I doing here’? I’d been really passionate about my job previously, but I’d be working on dog food, mayonnaise or vodka advertising and I just couldn’t find my place anymore. So, I went on a last-minute retreat holiday (to mend a bruised broken heart) to Ibiza in 2010, which was the decision point for me. Six months later I arrived on the island with my little backpack, ready to make my way. What was it about that experience in particular that moved you? I’d only ever been in Ibiza to go clubbing before and there was something about this retreat that was just so beautiful and charming. It was high up in the mountains in Santa Agnes, with absolutely nothing else around. I stayed for two weeks and as soon as I got home, I knew I didn’t want to go back to my old life. The experience allowed me to say, I’m done with that. How did you make the connection with Ibiza Retreats? Yoga connections are amazing! A friend who I’d met on my teacher training course was mutual friends with Larah [Davis, co-founder] and told me I should meet her. In my second week on the island, we met in La Paloma – she was looking for a business partner, I was fresh from the UK with a lot of experience and enthusiasm. The rest, as they say, is history.

Who has been one of the most influential person in your yoga journey? There was a teacher called Vanda Scaravelli, who passed away over ten years ago. She trained with Iyengar, and what I love about her is that afterwards she said: “Thank you for all the lessons and all the things you’ve taught me, but I am a woman, not a young Indian man and my body doesn’t really work that way, so I am going to take what I have learned and look at what else influences me.” Her book is called Awakening the Spine and I first picked it up early on in my journey and thought, oh whatever. Now I read it, after going through my own transformation, and it makes so much sense. There is no prescribed approach, she takes a lot of cues from nature, the sea, the organic style of breathing… she fascinates me. Tell us about the style of classes you teach? I’ve been through all different variations and colours of the rainbow, but it’s still Vinyasa based – I like to have that movement and breath connection. When you first start teaching, you’re quite focused on ‘that’s what a warrior looks like’ or ‘that’s what a triangle looks like’ but over time it has become much more organic for me. I encourage my students to follow their own internal compass, so we improvise parts of the class and it’s more of a somatic experience, for them to close their eyes and go inside, rather than me dictating this, this and this. I think it’s empowering them to go inside and find their own practice –  every single body has got a different story. How do you describe your relationship with your students? I really love doing one to one classes. I feel my strength lies with the individual and I like getting to know people and watch their bodies change holistically – the spiritual body, the emotional body and the physical body. A lot of the clients I have now have been with me for six or seven years and we’ve grown together. It’s a personal and private relationship and I love that. How do you describe your personal teaching methods? We have fun. I’m not too serious about it all, though of course I can be when there’s a need to be, but we can have a giggle as we explore things. I’m not just sitting there and directing, there’s a lot of hands-on. We take it step by step and it’s really about understanding what each client wants and feeling them. You need to learn to read people – it’s like a language. Sometimes you meet a client and they’ll tell you what they want to do and you can see their nervous system buzzing… as you go through the practice with them, what they need becomes clear and afterwards they feel so good because they’ve listened, rather than doing what they think they needed. That, for me, is key. We’re not our thoughts, we’re not our minds – we need to come inside and feel.

What is your own yoga philosophy? It’s about connecting to yourself. The word spiritual gets bandied around so much, and there is so much craziness in this world right now, that I think yoga is a practice that anchors you when everything around you is chaos. If you can develop a practice – whether that might be sitting on your mat meditating or a strong Vinyasa – that’s what will ground you, the connection to yourself. What is your own personal practice like? Day to day it changes, so it reflects how I am feeling. Some days I get on the mat and I’m a warrior woman and I can do a really strong practice and other days, I’ll do a really long savasana and just some gentle moves around. I think as long as you get to your mat, it doesn’t matter how you formulate your practice. It’s about how you feel that day and it’s so important that you can honour yourself, by listening and tuning into that. That’s when you start to see and feel big changes. Do you ever practice under the guidance of other teachers? I do. I go to other classes at least twice a week because it’s so nice to be taught and to be in that collective energy of being and breathing. Sometimes, when it’s really busy in Ibiza and running the business is taking up a lot of time, it’s nice to go into a studio and shut the doors, just know that for the next hour and a half, you’ve got time with yourself. Tell us about one of your most profound yoga experiences? The first time I went to India, I had an amazing experience. I didn’t do mainstream India, I went straight out to the depths of Karnataka and stayed with an Indian family. I was so out of my comfort zone and my anxiety was completely triggered. I worked with a teacher in this village for two weeks and when I first arrived I just wanted to get out of there! He said: “Well you can just get back on those four buses you came on for the last day and go back.” So I stayed, and it was really profound and beautiful. We went out to a field to meditate at sunset once and I remember I really got into it and as I opened my eyes there were about 30 cows there just staring at us… we’d conjured this whole herd around us, and you know how sacred cows are in India!

How do you feel about the yoga industry becoming commercialised? It’s great that yoga has become something that is accessible to everyone – there are so many great benefits to it. That the positive side of it. A lot of young people are practicing these days which is great and you just have to keep spreading the integrity. What do you find most rewarding about teaching? When you can really help people to connect with themselves. I love getting to know people and see positive changes in their lives. We get so many testimonials from people after they’ve been on retreat and made huge life changes and it’s an honour to be part of that. All we’re doing is showing them the tools and techniques and it gives them this platform to leave jobs they’re unhappy in, make huge changes in relationships, to clear enough emotional space aside to have a baby. If you go in with your open heart and such passion like we do, that’s what people will feel, love and acceptance. What do you find most challenging? When you meet people who just want to do an exercise class and you just think, there’s so much more I wish you could see. It can be frustrating because I only get one hour with them but I wish I could spend more time to show them how beautiful the practice can be. Have you got a yoga ‘wow’ moment? I have a lot of times when I want to pinch myself – the wow moments are not few and far between. When I finish teaching a class or doing a class, I always get that moment of elation, the endorphins, the feeling of connection and that huge gratitude for the practice.

Patyka – Exclusive to Open Spa

Eating organic and avoiding highly processed foods has become second nature to many of us in recent years. We understand the benefits and thus take extra care with the products that go into our shopping baskets and onto our tables – you are what you eat has become somewhat of a mantra. These days however, it seems good skin health goes beyond what we ingest and also includes the products we apply topically. It makes sense then, to treat our faces and bodies with organic goodness, and here in Ibiza, the luxurious Open Spa at Ibiza Gran Hotel has introduced a new range of vegan-friendly products and treatments designed with exactly this in mind. Patyka is a luxurious, innovative range of organic skincare products – 100-percent natural and free from synthetic and toxic chemicals. The pioneering Parisian beauty brand is the first in history to be declared ECOCERT organic, the most highly regarded organic certification in Europe. Being declared organic no longer needs to be associated with the pungent scent of patchouli oil or incense and the Patyka range offers a scientifically proven fusion of pure and potent organic botanicals, refined using advanced biotechnology techniques and then given a significant dose French elegance.

Taking the name from the Hungarian word for ‘Apothecary’, the Patyka story dates back to Paris during the roaring 20s. History tells the tale of a young pharmacist who was so inspired by his love for an alluring French beauty that he formulated an illuminating skin elixir from rare plant oils and extracts. He named the youth serum ‘Huile Absolute’ and his lover was so enamoured of its results, she shared it with her inner circle of friemds, who just so happened to be the Parisian elite. It’s this coveted, age-defying recipe that was discovered decades later, and recreated by Patyka’s top scientific experts and is at the heart of each and every product within the range. As the first French brand to offer luxury skincare that is also certified organic, Patyka continues to bring the genuine Huile Absolute experience to life via innovative biotechnologies that heighten the active characteristics of its ingredients. The result is more luxurious, high-performance formulas that bring visible results. Today, the brand is no longer limited to the inner circles of Parisian socialites and has extended its reach to Ibiza’s one and only ‘grand luxe’ hotel, where Ibiza Gran Hotel guests and Open Spa clients alike are invited to step into the world of Patyka…

A unique menu of skin-pampering Patyka treatments has been created exclusively for Open Spa: pure sensorial experiences that are as luxurious and elegant as they are effective. The 80-minute Youth Remodelling Facial is an anti-aging treatment designed to smooth the skin and recover suppleness, firmness and radiance. By gradually layering on essential organic ingredients and immersing the skin in the most divine textures and essences, the skin truly benefits from the ritual, inspiring health and wellbeing. Even the deepest wrinkles are diminished, ensuring you float out of your treatment cabin looking younger, instantly… The 50-minute Balancing Radiant Facial is the perfect treatment to help restore balance to normal or combination skin, strengthening its capacity for self-defence. The skin is moisturised and balanced with pores visibly reduced, whilst the delicate lightweight lotions and silky sensuous oils are silicone-free and mineral-oil free for the epitome of luxury. Treatments are not simply limited to the face, with the Patyka Precious Wood Sublime Beauty Massage using a unique blend of four Amazonian tropical wood essences to refine, stimulate and nourish the skin with flowing, smooth movements, while the heady fragrance invigorates the mind and senses at the same time – a must-try treatment.

The Open Spa experience doesn’t stop when the timer is up on your Patyka treatment at Ibiza Gran Hotel; rather, it’s time to move onto the next stage of relaxation. Your therapist will lead you into the warm embrace of a low-lit waiting room, where tranquil music floats over the airwaves and heated lavender pads are applied on your shoulders to keep you in a constant state of bliss. Fruit and herbal teas are on offer, and when you’re feeling revived and ready, the refreshing water circuits of Open Aqua await next door – a series of hydrotherapy showers, hammams, saunas, baths and pools in a light-filled, tranquil space that is pretty much as close to heaven as one can get! For those who fall in love with the textures, scents and most importantly, the results of Patyka products during their experience, Open Spa also offers a select range of skincare solutions to purchase after your treatment, or to stock up your beauty cabinet at any time. ‘Going organic’ has never felt so good…

Larah Davis

In her early teens, she suffered severe spinal injury in a car accident, and the ongoing pain from this caused her to seek beyond modern medicine for an alternative way to heal her own body. Today, she is renowned as one of Ibiza’s leading wellness experts, with Ibiza Retreats hosting a wide variety of transformational holistic wellness retreats, grounded in yoga, for guests hailing from all walks of life and all over the world. It is here Larah feels she is living her true purpose of serving from the heart through the yoga, yoga therapy, holistic coaching, energy work and the ongoing development and refinement of the retreat concepts to bring life-enhancing tools and techniques to empower their retreat guests.

When did you first discover yoga and what attracted you to the practice?
In my early 20s, I was experiencing debilitating levels of physical pain. It was the aftermath of a very serious road accident in which my spine suffered significant trauma. Physiotherapy and general medicine only dealt with localised injury, whilst the trauma needed to be released from the nervous system in order for me to recover holistically.  I didn’t want to be on painkillers for the rest of my life so I started to seek alternative healing options. With every exercise program I started I would run into injury – I hadn’t awakened my body’s intelligence and didn’t know how to listen to my limits. When I was at university, I encountered yoga through one of my professors. Aged 64, he was teaching Shadow Yoga classes for just £2 per session, with the desks pushed back in a classroom. He was so calm, centered and incredibly strong and flexible – and his qualities were deeply inspiring: I remember thinking of my first class: “this is so challenging!” And I always loved a challenge.

Did you feel an instant connection to the practice?
I felt the connection with my professor, which was amazing, and then I felt the connection with my self as a whole being, at different levels – body, mind, breath and…. my spirit. I remember the first downward dog and how it challenged me mentally, energetically and physically. I loved how I really HAD to feel – had to breathe more deeply, had to meet my limits – and how that connected me with my truth, my shadows and also my light and potential. When you feel that inner connection, it’s like – click! You start to connect to a deeper source of knowledge and innate intelligence – as humans, we often need to feel convinced by feeling at the physical level, then we can refine and learn to control and utilise the breath, then we can get closer to mastering the monkey mind, all this has to happen before we can access the “Anandamaya” bliss level.

What was it that you identified with about yoga during that time?
Yoga is a journey of many lifetimes, yet what I loved most (as a very driven goal-oriented young woman) was that advanced yoga was not about whether you achieve the harder poses or not. Over time I realised that it was as much about surrender and acceptance of my state of being at that moment, on that day.  In essence, I was mesmerised by tuning into this subtler, deeper connection to myself and how I could truly tune in to and maintain this connection through my yogic practice.

When did you start to develop a regular practice?
I carried on studying with my professor and, when I started working in New York, I tried other classes, but they’d be full of 60 people, fast-paced and taught in Sanskrit… and, after too many stiff necks and sore shoulders I became concerned about injury, especially as I was very bendy and had a propensity to hyper-extend through my spine. So I started to explore different teachers and study every type of yoga that crossed my path. My first Ashram experience [in NYC] was a pivotal point in my journey – in my evenings, I was hosting one of the hottest restaurants in Manhattan, and on the other, I was really still seeking – beyond the physical side of yoga. I was living with a white light healer in the West Village, who invited me to meet her guru… and that’s when yoga went to the next, deeper (or higher!) level.

Tell us about the Ashram experience?
She took me up in a lift in the old Chelsea Hotel – where Sid Vicious killed Nancy Spungeon – of all places, and on the seventh floor, we entered an apartment that had been converted into an Ashram, with plush deep red carpets and soft calm lighting.  It was like opening a door into another dimension. The vibration was so high and light in there, it was overwhelming – pure love. Everyone was chanting mantras, and, when Baba (the guru) entered, his presence alone emanated peace, love and calm. This was my first ‘satsang’, (a talk by a guru or enlightened being). As he started to talk, I realised this was what I had been seeking – a naked, non-dogmatic truth that was pure and from the heart.

How did this change your direction in life?
I realised brand management in New York wasn’t where I was supposed to be, and, following my Ashram experience, I felt plugged in to a deeper sense of knowing.  I began to follow this – my inner-guidance system, my intuition. I went back to London to finish my degree, and during that time I came to Ibiza to live for a while. I’d been coming to Ibiza since I was 16, to dance and feel free. For me, there was always a spiritual connection and Ibiza was always a place where I could really be myself. It always felt healing, enchanting, inspiring. I loved the philosophical and esoteric conversations I’d have with people here, the colourful people, the natural beauty, the high vibrations and the sense of living more simply. Then a friend in Australia asked me to help him manage his musical career and I sensed that this felt right – so I booked a one-way ticket to Sydney find my purpose.

Tell us about this journey?
I went to the opening of a Day Retreat in Sydney in 2001. The woman fronting the company asked me to help her build her life transformation company offering workshops in Sydney and retreats in the blue mountains. I was already studying energetic and spiritual healing at the Natural Healthcare College in Sydney, but I didn’t know what the Life Coaching or Neuro Linguistic Programming was that her business was offering. I said to her: “If this is what we’re going to be doing with people, I need to be doing it too” and so, alongside my daily yoga practice and ongoing yoga studies, I began to learn this vital tools and techniques for enhancing your emotional and physical wellbeing and for living a happier, healthier life. This cognitive approach would later enhance my teaching at every level – and I always had yoga in the background, underpinning the cognitive and energetic studies. Yoga was my foundation. For someone who’s really cerebral, it helped me really get out of my head and into my body, to access and sculpt my energy to serve me and life better.

How did you get involved with retreats?
With this Life Transformations company, we started offering fully integrated wellness retreats to people with depression, high-stress lifestyles, insomnia, who were dealing with functional illnesses – which is what we do with Ibiza Retreats now – and it was up in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney that I developed a 360-degree multi-sensorial approach to retreats.

At what point did you make the decision to become a yoga teacher?
I had studied and studied many different styles of yoga – Vinyasa Flow, Hatha, Sivananda, Iyengar – all over the world. But it was when I moved to Ibiza 10 years ago, that I started looking for a course to train as a teacher. I had started Ibiza Retreats, and had qualifications in Energetic and Spiritual Healing, Life Coaching, NLP – but was looking for the right teacher to truly inspire me. You really meet yourself when you commit to a teacher training and I was seeking someone with the wisdom and life experience to professionally hold that space for a deep journey and who could offer an integral yoga experience, grounded in a therapeutic approach. For me, the path of yoga has always been about self healing and self-empowerment, with a very individualised approach for each person. In the end,  it was  Nora Belton I did my first teacher training with, who had a very therapeutic and well-rounded approach – it was amazing.

Have you done any other trainings since then?
Yes. I have studied with many teachers and since 2015, have been training in Yoga Therapy with the brilliant faculty at the Yoga Campus at The Life Centre in London.  The therapeutic knowledge and application is vital for the working consciously with the many ailments, issues and physical injuries that present on our retreats and ensures we can provide a safe practice that challenges many individuals at different, life-enhancing levels.

Tell us about the style of yoga you teach today?
It’s a creative therapeutic hatha vinyasa flow which is creative and highly individualised. Rather than pre-writing an entire script of postures and pranayama beforehand, I do a basic preparation for the class and then tune into the yogis on the mat and invite them to tune in to their needs and ‘Sankalpas’ intentions at that moment – on that day. It may involved restorative elements or be more dynamic and revitalizing – it all depends on the purpose of the practice for that person (or group of people) on that day.

Does the yoga taught at Ibiza Retreats also follow this style?
This approach is offered by all of our co-teachers on retreats. Our mission is to empower our guests to take home a self-practice that enables them to enhance their health, happiness and inner-journey and healing processes when back in daily life too. It’s always tailor-made to bring the best benefits possible to where our yogis are in the present moment, physically, emotionally and energetically – and I love teaching to amazing music and including mantras to open up the heart and throat chakras too!

How do you describe your relationship with your students?
I feel like I’m the taxi driver! I see yoga as multi-sensory medicine for body, heart and mind.  I’m here to facilitate an experiential journey of self discovery, by their sides, through their body, through their breath, through their awareness. I love inviting students to experience rather than achieve and through this approach, enabling them to awaken their own body intelligence and to listen to and trust themselves (rather than simply following my teaching cues). When it comes ot the deeper inner-journey of self-knowledge and healing, I let my clients lead, first by embracing blockages and pain as a tool for self-enquiry and learning – rather than seeing pain as a limitation, they learn why pain is there and what they have created in their lives that caused it – both physically and emotionally.  And of course, I offer yoga as an elegant and inspiring range of beautiful tools and techniques to release stress and tensions and to access peace, positivity and calm. The yogic journey always offers transformation and transformation is most powerful when my clients are leading THEIR way, at their pace, themselves.

How do you describe your personal teaching methods?
Intuitive. Therapeutic. Diagnostic. Empowering. Gentle, breath-led, always inviting my students to come back from the mind and to recognise when it’s the mind leading, and when they are really riding the breath and listening to that soft voice within. That for me is the integral part of Vinyasa Flow: the breath, synergised with movement, in a magical, vibrant harmony.

What is your own yoga philosophy?
Self-acceptance and self-love leads to self empowerment. Accept where you are now and truly challenge yourself to feel it. Listen to your inner-truth in that moment, then love yourself enough to listen to that truth. If it means surrendering into child’s pose rather than keeping up with the rest of the class, dare to do it – and this will empower you to make yoga your. Yoga is about union of body-mind-heart-and spirit – therefore it is not about looking at what the person on the next mat is doing, nor comparing what you can do.  It is about witnessing yourself, learning about yourself, surprising yourself and challenging yourself not to as often as to.  Maybe today is the right day to get your legs up over your head… But what is the purpose of that, right now, for you? Being true to yourself amps up your energy massively – as you release the pressure you put on yourself, you release pressure in your muscles and nerve endings too. As you find freedom in body, mind and breath – you can find freedom off the mat too.

Is there anyone in the yoga world who inspires you today?
There is a teacher called Uma Dinsmore Tuli, who has written an incredible bible on yoga for women called Yoni Shakti. She’s at the vanguard of yoga for women’s wellness internationally. She is phenomenal and has researched and developed a wealth of knowledge and a sophisticated, yet very authentic, cut the crap approach. She’s all about honouring yourself, honouring the shakti, making it fun, singing plenty of mantras, juicing up the energy in the class…  and yoga nidrra! (yogic sleep). She inspired me as a real human being and mother of three, with all these different perspectives and responsibilities in life, to try to integrate yoga at every level into my life, including my journey of motherhood and family life.

What is your own personal practice like?
Right now, as mother of a baby and a 6-year old It’s more integral than ever. It could be that I am just doing 15 minutes in the morning one day and the next day it’s 40 minutes, or 20 minutes in the afternoon with my legs up over a chair. It is purpose focused. What do I need today to be cenetred, strong, relaxed, focused and calm? I adapt my practice to suit my Sankalps and incorporate plenty of restorative yoga, and yoga bidras (the yogic sleep you enter via the theta state of self healing) into my teaching as well as my self practice, because our society now is so over stimulated. Our nervous systems are exhausted. It’s all about how to make the most of your 15 minutes to get to where you need to be. I’ve got a yoga deck under an almond tree, so when my baby’s asleep, I take longer there and dive into intuitive flow. But I do yoga every day. There is such a huge difference between the way you feel when you do, to when you don’t. It’s like drinking water or brushing your teeth! I am so much kinder, so much nicer and so much more centered with more patience and energy. I am much more balanced and I am stronger.

Do you still practice under the guidance of other teachers?
Yes! Some of my favourites are here. I love practicing with Suzanne Slocum Gori, she’s amazing and I really feel I am learning a lot more for myself as well as for my teaching methodologies when I train with her. I love Leana – she has a lot of Scaravelli inspired details and compassionate alignment principles, a therapeutic approach and recognising that one size does not fit all when it comes to asana alignment techniques. I also love Vivienne who teaches with me and for me on our retreats, she’s just gorgeous and has a very feminine energy and creative, somatic approach.

The topic of women’s yoga and empowerment seems to come up often…
This is the direction I am going into more now, into women’s wellness through yoga, pre and post natal, female empowerment. I love really inviting women to learn how to nourish themselves, their needs, their bodies, to create a new sense of body mind beautiful throughout the different stages (and challenges) of life.  Through living in London and NY, I became aware of the male go-go-go over-active energy that was running destructive patterns inside of me. I needed to learn how to ground, to rest, to receive and to reconnect to my intuitive self, in order to rebalance this. What’s also interesting is when it’s men that I’m teaching, I normally find ways for them to incorporate more yin, receptive  and female energies into their practice. Sometimes us women need to cultivate more core strength and yang warrior energy – it is all about balance!

Where can people practice with you on the island?
I’ve just started Mamalove Yoga & Baby classes, coming with your baby, on Tuesday mornings which resume in September and I also teach private classes – until next spring when I return to teach on our retreats, because my other yoga is my karma ‘mama’ yoga, As a mother to two small children, I am practicing the Bhakti yoga of devotion to their wellbeing as well as overseeing the wellbeing of Ibiza Retreats from the background. My children are my greatest gurus of all for sure. This is something that needs to be rekindled in the yoga world. Karma Yoga is the yoga of giving back, without expecting anything in return. All about kindness and giving. When you’re selflessly giving, it gives you energy and opens your heart exponentially.

Tell us about one of your most profound yoga experiences?
Each moment that I feel myself ‘drop in’ to my body and heart, when my practice becomes a true union, the feeling of peace that descends, from my muscles to my mind, is awe-inspiring. Underlined of course, by the time I received the Shakti Pat from a Guru in NYC, at that first Ashram. The divine Kundalini energies rising up my spine resulted in all the pain and tensions caused by my previous car accident just melting away. There were surges of love and bliss flowing through my whole system until the next morning. That was when I KNEW I had to get more of this natural high, from following my purpose, my Dharma (life path) to serve others. Another was being in such a deep ‘no-mind’ state, that I found myself in headstand without knowing how I had got there!

Have you got a yoga ‘wow’ moment?
Yes! Many. From practicing at sunset in front of Es Vedra when I first moved to Ibiza, feeling every cell alive with energy, breath and the magic of being there…. wow! I get shivers just thinking about it – the nature, practicing barefoot on the earth ionises our system and releases tension profoundly. And earlier in my yogic journey, finding myself upside down in headstand without even knowing how I had got there, realising afterwards that I had been practicing from a place of no mind. This for me is the greatest flow, when we have focused our mind with total mindfulness and presence, to access this awesome state of lightness and harmony.

What do you find most rewarding about teaching?
Seeing and feeling my students awakening their potential and empowering yogis to discover how much more they are capable of – opening vast oceans of possibilities for the mind, soul and spirit to spread your wings and fly! I love to see students connect to their practice beyond the physical, to connect to their purpose, passion and your dreams. Through this your soul invites you to create more meaning through your work and creations, you consciously begin to seek to offer your life in a way that is for the greater good at all. I love to think of it as empowering people to become inner peace warriors: sending out ripples of positive energy through their families, friends, colleagues and SM networks to enhance our beautiful world. What do you find most challenging? Meeting myself. [Laughs.] Because of course, when you are working with different students, their stories often mirror your own. One of the most important professional aspects of teaching, is to come from a non-judgmental, all accepting place. So one of the greatest challenges is when students come who are mirroring something in you – something you’re working on or that you need to work on. This becomes a healing path for both of you. How do you stay grounded and connected with your philosophy as yoga becomes more and more of an image-based business? Some people say if it’s a spiritual practice, then it should be free. Now, I agree with that in essence, and when we’re practicing for ourselves, it’s free, however teachers also need to have the means to live happily and invest significantly in our ongoing trainings, so it is also important to recognise the exponential value of good yoga teaching!  Additionally, I believe it’s very important as part of the yoga journey, we’re giving back. So with Ibiza Retreats, we’re aligning with a wonderful charity www.yogamandalaproject.org that is empowering and teaching trauma sensitive yoga, to refugees in Jordan and to Palestine. We’re going be giving a certain amount of our profits this year to them and invite our guests and site visitors to become more involved and more aware. Towards the end of this year, we’re also going to invite the APNEEF carers to our retreat. As you grow as a platform, it’s important to use that as leverage to give back and spread the yogic experience.

Trish Whelan

After growing up in Ireland, Trish Whelan moved to London at the age of 18, where she spent the next 25 years working in the music industry. Her career led her to Ibiza in the year 2000, where she felt an instant connection however at the time she had no idea of the transformational life experience that would lead her to swap her rock and roll lifestyle for an existence based around healing, happiness and bliss. A shift in consciousness saw Trish begin to study the healing arts, including Shamanic, Sound and Reiki healing – all of a sudden, she felt her life moving in a different direction. In 2008, she discovered Kundalini yoga – a practice she now describes as “the best thing on the planet” and embarked on a path that would see her train to become a teacher, launch her own healing retreat company Soul Adventures and permanently relocate to the white isle, where she facilitates transformational healings and practices for students from all over the world.

When did you first discover yoga? I had a couple of failed stars, where I did some bad yoga classes in the gym. But then in 2005, the first time I left the music business, I did 100 Sivananda classes back to back and I found that it was a really healing experience. I had found something that worked for me, very gentle and I really got into it. Something started to shift for me. At the same time, I was doing my Reiki training, I was an apprentice to a Shaman – I was going through a personal transformation which extricated me from rock and roll.

100 classes? That’s intense! How did that come about? I’m pretty intense kind of person! But I hadn’t really considered what was happening, until they gave me a card to congratulate me. Healing had started coming into my hands and my life was changing. Yoga helped me with that huge transition. Also in the transition from the ego and real truth – you know, the real you, that lovely person of light and that kind of bolshy little madam. Doing those 100 classes held me in a space where I could just breathe into who I really was. It helped transform me.

Tell us about your journey to discover Kundalini yoga? After the Sivananda, I went to India, where I had my first real Hatha experiences. It was more about the body, and then when I came back to London, I discovered Jivamukti. I really loved it because when the music talked to me like that in that space, I had a really strong practice. Then I was working in LA (I had popped back into the music business for a bit!) and a friend made me try a Kundalini yoga class. I just had such a profoundly strong experience in that first class, and when I got back to London in 2008 they’d just opened a Kundalini yoga centre in Camden so the journey really started there.

At what point did you make the decision to become a teacher? When I really saw what a powerful effect it was having on me and my happiness. On my general love of life and my general being. It really resonated with the other work I do, I feel like it’s facilitating healing in epic proportions. Kundalini yoga is holding space for such deep transformation through the technology. It’s so powerful. I just see people really changing and coming into just bliss – and not a bliss like an airy fairy bliss – an absolute, this is my truth, this is who I am, kind of bliss. The grace people fall into with Kundalini yoga is amazing. The master of Kundalini yoga, Yogi Bhajan was such a strong force in the world, for making the better place. His prophecies have all come true… in this case, seeing it is believing it.

You described Kundalini as a technology – can you explain what you mean exactly by this? In Kundalini yoga, we have thousands of different kriyas – classes are called kriyas and each one is very specific in what it works on, and there is a science of numerology involved in it as well. There are very specific amounts of time you do things for. If you’re working on the heart, you feel it in your heart. If you’re working on your third eye, you’re really seeing, feeling and vibrating differently. It brings a lot of energy to wherever you’re working on. The only way to experience it is by following the technology Yogi Bhajan shared with us. As teachers, we teach from a manual, which are like the instructions from his legacy and at the same time we’re tuning into this golden line of teachers and transmitting a vibration. Kundalini yoga is a shamanic practice, because you’re having the experience of healing yourself. And it’s great!

Tell us about your teacher trainings? I did my training in 2012. I was very lucky in that my first experience with Kundalini was with one of Yogi Bhajan’s first students, and then when it came to London, I practiced with so many amazing teachers. I go to LA quite a bit and I learn a lot from those original teachers who were at the foot of the master. I trained to become a teacher at the International School of Kundalini Yoga and since then I’ve been studying in Barcelona called Sat Guru, and also with a teacher in Portugal called Shiv Suron.

Who would you say has been the most influential person in your yoga journey? Losing both my parents, and in that loss and coming that close to death, I realised how important it is that we really live. I’m so grateful to all my teachers, my Reiki teacher, my Shamanic teacher. Everything you ever do in life takes you to the place you’re mean to be at. I feel like being here in Ibiza, now having all this land, where the energy of the land is really strong, having my own temazcal sweat lodge and being able to practice yoga outside in deep nature – I feel like all of the things I learned from my teachers, I can finally use.

Tell us about the style of classes you teach? I am really keen to present the highest vibration in yoga that I can. I’m keen to be as open as I can, to allow the technology to affect as many people as it can. When I am teaching Kundalini yoga, the music is a massive part for me, and the gong is so healing. Being able to incorporate my healing with Kundalini yoga… sometimes I get goosebumps, or I cry. I have to get people to have a little lie down while I’m having a little cry! You really feel your blessings in this practice.

What type of clients come to your retreats and classes? They are people who feel a calling the soul. People who want to go deeper into an experience of themselves and their lives. A lot of people answer the calling – it’s infinite how deep you can go into this practice. I have one client who has done eight ‘Vibrate at Your Highest Frequency’ retreat weeks with me and it has completely changed her life and that’s a journey we’re on together. Of course, sometimes people come and don’t feel it’s for them, but for the most part, it’s for people who want to go deeper.

How do you describe your relationship with your students? I just love my students! You know what they say, your vibe attracts your tribe! I believe whether people are coming to a class or a retreat, there’s a pre-destined soul contract between us to be in that space together. For however long we’re pre-destined to be there, we’re there. It can be hard – like having a party. Running yoga retreats is like having a party, you can think, is anyone going to come? I always feel happy people want to come and that people want to come back. There’s a family vibe here. I am not a retreat company, I’m a yoga teacher and I’m a healer. I offer a space for people to transform within my home. That’s quite a strong offering, so of course my relationship is gorgeous with them. We’re sharing many blessings together.

How do you describe your personal teaching methods? I’m real. Sometimes I’m soft. Sometimes I push. Sometimes I’m fast. Sometimes I’m slow and I am always trying to be graceful. I’m always endeavouring to be my most radiant. I’m always aspiring to vibrate at my own highest frequency. To be really real and to live it. It’s about staying on the yoga mat and learning. It’s an out there situation, teaching Kundalini yoga, but the effects are so strong and powerful, you’re really excited to share it. And everybody who comes here is a teacher, because everybody teaches us something.

What is your own yoga philosophy? Everything is yoga.

What is your own personal practice like? I practice every day. And at the moment I am doing a 90-day ‘getting in the sea’ practice.

Do you ever practice under the guidance of other teachers? I generally go to LA the end of the season and plug into all of my favourite teachers, the old school ones. When I see how radiant they are in their 70s and 80s – and I don’t just mean not having wrinkles, I mean their soul is so shiny – there’s a feeling when you’re around them and the enthusiasm with which they still share the kriyas. There’s a Yogi Bhajan quote I love that reminds me of them: ‘Make yourself so happy so that when other people see you, they become happy too.’

Tell us about your connection with Ibiza? I originally came with Roisin Murphy when I was working for Nellee Hooper and running his record label about 16 years ago. He had a side project called the Dysfunctional Psychedelic Waltons, and Roisin did the vocals to a song called Wonderland. We came over for BBC Radio 1 weekend, and I really felt like I’d come home. By lunchtime I was in feathers and turquoise and dancing on the beach. Ever since then, Ibiza has been a massive part of my life and I just can’t imagine not living here. I feel really blessed to be here.

Where can people practice with you on the island? I have quite a lot of retreats going on – a range of different programs I have developed, all using Kundalini yoga technology and healing to get fast results and strong transformations. The food is really important too. It’s about tuning in and resetting. There’s an option to participate in yoga holidays, to stay here as a bed and breakfast and do one class a day. Then I have classes going on all the time, three a week on my amazing deck on the top of a mountain with the sunset, and during retreats, those classes are also open for people to drop in. I try to share it as much as possible really.

Tell us about one of your most profound yoga experiences? My first ever Kundalini yoga experience felt like I’d come home but my most profound experience was really the first time I did the gong puja, which is an important part of Kundalini yoga. It’s continuously playing a gong and feeling the vibrations for 7.5 hours. The experience is called the Shabad Guru – the sound healer – and after the first all-night gong, I really felt really, really, really, so high. And so connected. Everything that I had experienced to this point energetically in my life, had fused into this one moment of absolute bliss. I saw an opening to myself and the real me, and I had no idea that I was like that.

How do you stay grounded and connected with your philosophy as yoga becomes more and more commercialised? It can’t be a bad thing. I don’t think there are any bad people who are teaching yoga – you don’t start teaching yoga because you want to make a fortune or rip people off, the intentions are good. And I think that everybody should do yoga and I think that everybody should do Kundalini yoga! I think the more people that do yoga, the better the world is going to be. The happier we’re going to be en masse, just by raising the vibration, person by person, we can change the world. I really believe that.

What do you find most rewarding about teaching? When I see people really experience true happiness.

What do you find most challenging? The ego. We resist so much because the ego holds us trapped. I am seeing my own ego constantly – I have to think, is that coming from my ego or my soul. I am always endeavouring to stay in the soul, and that’s challenging because the ego wants all that glitters. It’s all through grace that were here in the first place, and remaining graceful is the real work.

Holistic heart

Madrid born Delia de Miguel’s path in life was written in her DNA. As Wellness Manager at Agroturismo Atzaró, holistic tourism consultant to local government and coordinator of the government initiative Ibiza Is Wellness, she credits her yoga teaching, gym-owning mother as her inspiration. Her studies in cultural affairs and marketing took her from Madrid to Mexico and India, where along the way she began to connect her passion for wellness and her skills in communication. Calmness emanates from deep within her clear hazel eyes and joy plays across her smile with ease. Here is a woman who is following her dream to guide people towards health and happiness. Passionate, dedicated and highly motivated, Delia is helping to weave all the elements of Agroturismo Atzaró towards one holistic entity.

How did you come to live in Ibiza? Like many people, I came here when I was younger for holidays with friends. The first time was 20 years ago. Then, five years ago, when I lived in Mexico, I came here to work in different wellness centres for various summer seasons. Finally, I stayed for good!

How did your role at Agroturismo Atzaró come about? I’ve worked here for a year now but before that I collaborated with Agroturismo Atzaró a lot. I did some master classes with them on integral yoga, where I combined nutrition and meditation with positive psychology and Bollywood dancing! It was so much fun.

What does your job entail? As Wellness Manager, I concentrate on promoting and running the fitness club – exercise, events, courses and retreats. My colleague Santi coordinates the treatments and spa – he has an excellent team. But we are like a family here. We all work closely together. We have lots of packages where you can combine the spa with fitness and nutrition.

Were your studies directed towards wellness? While I was studying Cultural Management I became really interested in people’s healthy habits: what they eat, their exercise routines, the climate conditions, how they live… how healthy habits and conditions are part of culture. I realised there was a way to focus my studies into wellness as part of the local culture.

Tell us a little more about that. My master’s thesis was called ‘Holistic Tourism as a Tool for Developing Health, Culture and Sustainable Economies’. I used Ibiza as a model for the thesis and compared it to other places like Costa Rica, Tulum, India and Bali. I realised Ibiza has an enormous potential for holistic tourism.

What makes Agroturismo Atzaró a centre for wellness in Ibiza? It’s the perfect place for yoga classes, open air exercise and relaxation, healthy food and events – and we have many. We also provide space for master classes and workshops. The doors are always open to lots of different events to share with the people of Ibiza. We work towards being part of the community. Everyone wants to look after themselves and to look after the island. Everyone wants the tourists that come here to look after the island too. That’s what we strive for. We work from four main points – exercise and outdoor activities, wellbeing, nutrition and education.

Tell us about exercise and outdoor activities? The active aspect includes yoga, Pilates and fitness. You can do directed classes or train by yourself. Outside of the hotel we organise hikes, mountain biking, and water sports. So, we combine the indoor and outdoor sides of the island.

What does wellbeing entail? The part for wellbeing is about relaxation, health and forming good habits. Spa treatments include massage, rituals and beauty plus the hamman and sauna. In the spa, all the main products we use are organic and many are made here in Ibiza.

How does nutrition come into it? Our restaurant, La Veranda, has a super healthy and conscious menu. A lot of the produce comes directly from our vegetable gardens. We host workshops on organic gardening and cooking for those interested in maintaining a healthy diet at home.

And how do you educate your clients? The educational aspect comes in the form of master classes, retreats and workshops. Respected teachers from all over the world come to share their knowledge with us.

Yoga is a big part of the wellness activities on offer at Atzaró Fitness Club. Tell us about the styles on offer? We have such incredibly talented yoga teachers here. We offer Kundalini, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Hatha Power Yoga, Yin Yang Yoga, which works a lot with the four elements and breath. For a more therapeutic yoga there is Iyengar and Sound Healing Yoga. Then there is Chakra and Mindfulness Yoga, which places a lot of importance on training the presence and Dynamic Yoga, which is combined with Ayurveda knowledge. We also have Dance Yoga and Acroyoga for fun. There is yoga to suit everybody and every mood

What classes do you teach personally? I teach Pilates, Yogilates and Tonification. We also have Abs, Core and Hypopressive classes, which is a type of abdominal gymnastics. It’s very good for the core and post baby. All classes are open to guests and residents. We have very accessible packages for both summer and winter that can include spa access too.

What are the future goals for the wellness concept at Agroturismo Atzaró? Above all, we put a lot of effort in to continuing to improve the quality of the services we provide. It’s a luxury service but it’s also accessible. Anyone can come and do classes and courses here to participate in this lifestyle. We also have plans to extend the wellness space at some point so we can continue to offer interesting and engaging activities for guests and locals.

What makes Ibiza an ideal destination for holistic tourism? The world of wellness has changed a lot in the last five years. Here in Ibiza we’ve spent a few years germinating and now this side of the island is blooming. Daily life here is very clean and ecological. People who live here know that and love it for that. The landscape is beautiful, there is no pollution, and the produce is exceptional. Ibiza is becoming another thing. It’s very special.

How has your work with local government contributed to this change? The local government are now very interested in promoting wellness and holistic tourism. I was approached to develop a platform to help organise this side of the island. Ibiza Is Wellness works as a directory and a map of all the people and places that are providing holistic services. There are 16 categories including organic farms, healthy restaurants and shops, rural accomodation and many more. It’s been online since this year and it is growing fast!

What do you love about working at Agroturismo Atzaró? The team here is more like a family. It’s not like being at work! And it’s such a beautiful place. Sometimes I walk down to the spa and I think: ‘Wow! I get to work here!’ I also love how everyone here is always open to new ideas and projects. It’s very dynamic.

What do you love about living in Ibiza? The thing I love most about Ibiza is the healthy lifestyle we can have here. After living in Mexico City, Delhi and Madrid, you can imagine. You have everything here. A little village, a beach, a mountain; everything is within reach. Ibiza has a creative and magnetic energy.

Jacqueline Purnell

Jacqueline Purnell’s yoga journey has seen her traverse the globe, educating and training yogis and teachers alike. Today she is the Regional Training Officer for the renowned British Wheel of Yoga in London, and she is passionate about constantly updating her own education and skillset in addition to those of her students. Most recently, Jacqueline was invited to teach yoga classes in the iconic V&A Museum in Knightsbridge, London and she is currently supporting a movement lobbying the houses of Parliament to include yoga in the NHS throughout the UK – a move she believes will be successful due to the powerful nature of the research surrounding its health and wellness benefits. Here in Ibiza, she is the founder of Yogashala Ibiza, a beautiful retreat centre on the east coast of the island where she regularly hosts teacher training courses in a variety of techniques including pre and post-natal yoga and SUP yoga.

When did you first discover yoga and what attracted you to the practice? I first discovered yoga at a young age, my mother practiced and would encourage me to join her when she practiced movements and postures at home. My curiosity continued into my teens as I learnt more about yoga, however as a young adult working in the City I found that my work life balance didn’t allow for it. It was during my first pregnancy that I really started to focus on my practice and renew my passion for yoga.

Did you feel an instant connection to the practice? I felt the strongest connection when I was pregnant, which is probably why today I specialise in pre and post-natal yoga. When I was teaching in Egypt, a female obstetrician came to one of the yoga holidays and she said she could tell if women had been practicing yoga when they came the delivery suite. This struck a chord with me as I could see the importance, especially having given birth to two children, in improving the experience of pregnancy, childbirth and the time following the baby’s arrival.

At what point did you make the decision to become a teacher? It was in 1995 when I decided to do my first teacher training. I was attracted to the vocation and I did an initial Yoga Teacher Training with the British Wheel of Yoga. The course was comprehensive spanning  three years andwas a spaced learning course that took place over the weekends. I knew early on I wanted to be a teacher, however no one ever told me you had to jump through so many hoops to get into the course!

Have you done any other trainings? At the same time, I was completing that course, I went to India and worked with Derek Ireland, who was one of the first non-Indian students to go to Sri. Pattabhi Jois and learn Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga . He was amazing – I did an intensive teacher training with him, and then I carried on going up the ranks within  the British Wheel of Yoga, in doing so I qualified to teach the BWY Foundation Course 1 and Foundation Course 2.I also studied with David Life and Sharon Gannon to become a certified Jivamukti yoga instructor.

Tell us about some of the work you do today? I am the Regional Training Officer for the British Wheel of Yoga and I event manage and host  the Continuous Professional Development events each year throughout London . I seek out experts to share their knowledge with existing teachers. I also try to bring this to Yogashala Ibiza, so that the teacher training courses here are really cutting edge and up to date.

Who do your students tend to be? They come from all over the world. We’ve had students from the USA, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, France and England – the courses are all taught in English. We’ve had surfers, snowboarders, a lot of fitness people, ‘Iron Man’ champions, doctors, medical students, anesthetists, midwives, vets and even neuroscientists. They may not all end up teaching as a full-time profession, but we are evolving into people who are keen to gain insight into human anatomy and physiology in an accessible way.

What is your relationship with them like? I enjoy spending time with my students, seeing them grow throughout the course, which will differ depending on the level of their course. Though for all students,it’s an opportunity for them to shine and the best education is when people’s strengths come to fruition and they really come into their own. Also, seeing the wide array of benefits taking effect throughout the course.

How do you describe your teaching methods? I am quite eclectic and very responsive. I want to incorporate everyone, so that whatever people’s strengths are, there is evidence that learning is taking place. Identifying these strengths is part of the training I’ve had. It’s an observational practice.

What is your own yoga philosophy? My philosophy focuses on the breath. The breath and movement can form a gateway to relief from everyday stress, enabling people to improve their quality of life. I think a healthy work life balance is really important for people. When teaching, I find it fundamental to highlight to my students the effect stress can have on a person’s wellbeing, so that they can take this into consideration when teaching and practicing themselves. Whilst we need a certain amount of stress to get up in the morning, it’s also about balancing the systems of the body, such as the central nervous system. We need to balance stress at work with rest and play – with fitness, flexibility, breathing and yet again the connection to the breath.

What is your own personal practice like? I practice every day except on Sundays, I believe that it is important to give your body a break. Ashtanga Vinyasa was my first love, so it does have an influence on what I do. My practice is quite dynamic and I do enjoy going upside down! It’s quite empowering – when times are tough, to be able to lift away from the earth and make your perspective become completely topsy turvy. I also love the breath work and my practice is full of flowing Vinyasa style sequences. I continue to learn all the time and I am very open to learning new styles of practice.

How do you stay up to date with new research and teaching methods? I stay informed because I’m always on the lookout for experts in their field for the British Wheel of Yoga Continued Professional Development events. I initiate and help to develop new days with various providers of education.These can consist of top osteopaths, teachers, med students, scientists, neuroscientists, midwives and other various health professionals – it’s a two-way learning process, as they apply their knowledge in a way that can be filtered down to help numerous people. Things change all the time and it’s important to be as based in fact as much as we can be.

Tell us about your connection with Ibiza? It’s funny, because I was teaching all over the world – in Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, New Zealand and Hawaii –and I remember people used to say to me that they couldn’t believe I hadn’t been to Ibiza. They always said I would love it, that it was one of those places that once you go there, you will absolutely love it and you won’t go anywhere else. And that’s kind of what’s happened! I came here in 2007 on a retreat with the students who were completing my British Wheel of Yoga Teacher Training and then the next year, the Yogashala Ibiza space came into my hands and I’ve been teaching here ever since. I am always back and forth to the UK with my work.

Where can people practice with you on the island? I host weekly dynamic drop-in classes at La Galeria Elefante on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.30am until 11am. I also do a lot of one-to-one sessions.

Or what other services do you offer? At Yogashala Ibiza we host 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training courses that are Yoga Alliance certified. I’m hoping to do more throughout the winter as there is a high demand for people wanting to come away in the off-season. We cover quite a broad spectrum, look at poses in great detail, study different philosophies and fundamental anatomy and physiology, plus teach students how to teach classes. There is also Pre Natal and Post Natal Yoga Teacher Training courses and classes and SUP Yoga Teacher Training courses. Being so close to the Med, it’s amazing to have an excuse to be out on the water.

Tell us about one of your most profound yoga experiences? There have been so many. As I’ve gone along the pathway of my career, it’s interesting that I have always somehow recognised my teachers before having met them formally. I have seen people in the street and felt some kind of recognition, and then they turn out to be the teacher I am doing a training with.

How do you feel about the commercialisation of the yoga industry? I don’t know if it really is commercialised. If you underestimate your students, you won’t be going for very long – people know if it is authentic or not. People are incredibly sophisticated and there are so many different styles and traditions that appeal to different people on parts of their journeys. I think most of the people who practice and teach yoga are quite genuine and it comes from their hearts.

What do you find most rewarding about teaching? Seeing students get stronger and really progress. The transformational aspect when you see people’s mood lifting, to see the looks on their faces at the end of a class. I mean, what fabulous work: I totally love my work, it takes me to amazing places and I meet inspiring people – it’s such a journey.

What do you find most challenging? I love the challenge of keeping up to date with new trends and ways of enhancing peoples lives. I think it’s really crucial and that’s why it’s important to have a connection to a big city, wherever that may be, if you teach on a smaller island, like I do. Otherwise it can be hard to update your knowledge and keep learning. Whilst you can read and research new hot topics, it’s not the same as connecting and collaborating with other people, learning from different perspectives and developing friendships. The most vital way for me to harvest knowledge and information is by continuing to teach across a number of countries and capital cities.

Awa Baidi

It was not love at first downward dog but her natural curiosity was piqued and she continued to find out more until the stars aligned to create a chance encounter in Thailand where her life was changed forever. Awa moved to Ibiza in 2001 after many years of visiting the island for summer holidays. She recently created a yoga temple on the grounds of the luxury Hotel Xereca in Puig d’en Valls from which she lives, breathes and loves yoga.

What can you say about that very first yoga class you attended? I was already doing a lot of sport. I liked to climb, go hiking and do cardio. A friend of mine was teaching yoga. She talked to me about it so I went one day. But I wont lie, I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t connect to it. During the class I was looking at all the people, so relaxed and I just wanted to run! I didn’t understand it and I left the class early. But I decided to keep trying. This was around 20 years ago.

What made you persevere? I was thinking, if people are talking about yoga so much there must be something to it. In Africa, it’s still a new thing. Our traditions are very strong. I like to learn about new things so I started reading about yoga and then I was coming to Ibiza on holiday and I went to different classes but I still wasn’t feeling connected to it. It didn’t make me feel like ‘wow, this is for me’. I was happy to do classes, but I was thinking there was something missing. I needed something more. And I never give up. I have to find that thing.

At what point did you find ‘that thing’ that finally connected you to yoga? I was in Thailand travelling alone. I went to Chang Mai to do a massage course. One day I was walking after the massage school and I looked up and there was a yoga room on the other side of the street. I went in and all the people were Thai – there were no foreigners and no one spoke English. When the teacher arrived, she said would be very difficult for her to teach in English. And I said, ‘that’s ok, don’t teach me in English’. Yoga has no language. I stayed in the class. I was able to look at her to correct myself. When she noticed me having difficulties, she would come to me. We finished the class she asked if I would come back. She was the first teacher who made me understand what yoga was. We didn’t share a language but I was connected. It was a very special moment that day, just being human, no cares about language or colour; the yoga was for everyone.

How did you come to teaching yoga? I wanted to go to India, then I saw that the same teachers there and around the world were coming to teach in London, so I thought ‘why not to do it there?’. For me, it was a wonderful opportunity to speak in English every day, to better in one of my favourite languages. I knew that one day, if I didn’t want to limit sharing my love of yoga, I would have to speak English as I spoke mostly Spanish. I spent a month there, and I am now teaching in both languages. I do not need to translate in Spanish sometimes, as most of my yoga lovers speak English.

What kind of yoga do you teach? At the temple we have different styles, but I really love Vinyasa. I respect all types of yoga but Vinyasa is more creative. There is more flexibility to make your own structure. Here in Ibiza it’s not easy to make people disconnect. I think Vinyasa makes it easier to take them to another dimension and keep them on their mat and present. My opinion is based on different conversations with my students – most of them like Vinyasa because as they say, the sequences are never the same, but they also to try other classes and then make their one choice.

Tell us about the development of your yoga temple? When I discovered yoga, I was doing classes on the beach or in a gym, where in the next room there was a spinning class. I wanted something special. My husband said you always complain about the yoga spaces and I told him my dream. A few days later he came to me with a drawing of the temple. He had drawn my temple! When he brought it to me I started crying and said, ‘That’s my temple! How did you know?’. We went to Bali and started buying things. I bought the first mats, even before we bought the wood. Then we started to build it. It was a dream for nine years and it was finally built two years ago. Now I want to share it with more and more people. We have weekly classes and I also host two retreats a year.

How would you describe your teaching style? My style is based on respect, humility, equality and patience. I like to take my students to that point when one feels strong and free in the asanas. My classes are generally considered strong. We are all strong but we don’t have the same limits and limitations – there’s always someone who seems to be better but at the end you will realise that you are better just the way you are. I am also very good with the final relaxation – it’s not easy to lay down and just let it be.

How would you describe your relationship with your students? One of the reasons I really wanted to follow this dream was because many of my students first met me in the gym and discovered yoga with me there. There is a lot of trust. There is a lot of love in the temple. All the people that come are part of my dream. I want them to feel at home. They are part of my family. I think it has a lot to do with my tradition. Here in Europe the word family means something different than in Africa. When you spend time with people you are family. For me, the relationship is very easy and I hope they feel that way too. There is a strong emotional connection with my students. The temple is a beautiful place but without them, their energy and their smiles it makes no sense for me. They are powerful people. When I am giving a class I forget about myself. When I am on the mat I am only there for my students.

How does your tradition and faith influence your yoga? Being so far away from my family, I have learned to value the little things. My tradition is with me every day. I’ve been in Europe longer than I was in Africa now. But my base comes from Africa and I hope I will never change. I am Muslim and I love yoga. I am living in Europe, my mum is Catholic, and my dad went to Mecca and is Muslim. Yoga for me is one more thing that completes me. I can combine it with all those things. Yoga helps me through Ramadan and Ramadan helps me through yoga. There is a connection between my Muslim traditions and my yoga. In yoga and in the Muslim tradition, they talk a lot about sharing, peace and love, tolerance, humility – this is the kind of Islam my dad taught to me. I think about it a lot. When I pray, it’s the same as yoga. I put all these things I have received in life together.

What is your personal yoga philosophy? It comes from deep inside me. Yoga is a powerful gift for the world. I want everyone to try because it 100-percent changes lives. I wish I could make people understand there is no perfect body for yoga – it’s for everyone. I want yoga to be everywhere in our lives, in schools, in sports. I want it to get everywhere. This is my next dream. One day I also want to create my own place for children in Cameroon – at the moment I support an orphanage. I want them to eat and to pay for their schooling. Without education, there is only violence.

Tell us more about this idea? When I was little in my neighbourhood there was a woman with lots of children and I asked my mother, ‘Why does that woman have so many children?’ She explained to me they had no mother. I was always thinking how can I help? Then when I created the yoga temple I had another idea. We do picnic yoga by donation and all the money goes to an orphanage not far from my village. With just 10€, a child can eat for a week or go to the doctor. I have to tell the kids ‘do not think just because Sister Awa is in Europe that she has a tree growing with money!’ I do yoga and they ask about it. I show them pictures and do it with them and they tell me ‘Oh that’s hard.’ And I tell them ‘Yes it’s hard, but your life here in Africa is hard.’

What do you find most rewarding in your work? When I go to the temple, I still get that little thing inside, excitement, a bit nervous, but in a good way. I still have that before class then in the final relaxation with teatime I look into my student’s eyes – it is the best thing. They say thank you and I tell them, ‘no thank you!’ I thank them. Every day. They are the reason that every day, something special happens in my life. In class, they are my world. I love yoga because I think yoga loves all of us.

Yogayda

Described by Kate Winslet as ‘the teacher who got under her skin’, she goes beyond an every day practice to help her students (who she prefers to refer to as yogis, believing you are your own teacher) unlock their fullest potential – be it physically, emotionally, spiritually, professionally. Her varied skillset allows her to address all concerns and her inspirational teaching style has seen her lead classes from the clifftops of Ibiza to A-list luxury resorts around the world.

When did you first discover yoga and what attracted you to the practice? At the age of 17, I had a very serious ballet injury and needed hardcore physiotherapy on my back. At the time I was supposed to be in a wheelchair and living off medication and I wanted to stop this. The physiotherapy went well and I needed to exercise to maintain its benefits, and because I wasn’t able to dance or do my usual fast-paced gym workouts, spin classes and running, so I tried yoga at the gym.

Did you feel an instant connection to the practice? [Laughs] No! It was a classic example of a boring gym power yoga session – though I did feel the connection I was missing to my usual sports, I didn’t think yoga was ‘my thing’.

When did you start to develop a regular practice? It came at a point when I had a conversation with a doctor after I had gone down to nine-percent body fat, which is quite dangerous for a woman. He was concerned for me – mostly mentally, as I didn’t have anorexia or anything like that, I was just addicted to sports. I think I was compensating for my sadness of not being able to dance ballet anymore. I had started jogging again and my Asthma became worse, I was having dizzy, fainting spells… I realised that I may never be able to do my sports again and so signed up to a professional yoga studio in order to do more.

Is this when you felt the connection? [Continues laughing] No! I’m lucky they didn’t kick me out of my first class. I cracked up laughing so loudly when they started chanting… Honestly, I couldn’t even spell the word yoga without laughing for about two years. I thought it was like scientology. But I persevered and started to practice every day wherever I was, Germany, France, Turkey – I wasn’t conscious of a change happening at the time, but now that I look back, I see it just felt right. The yoga was doing its magic on me.

At what point did you make the decision to become a teacher? It wasn’t really a conscious decision! In 2007, I was doing a lot of work with children’s charities and someone asked me why I hadn’t been to India – it seemed to fit with my yoga practice and charity work. The idea of an ashram didn’t really appeal to me so much – I thought I was too European! But I loved the idea of the colours and music, and thought why not? While I was there, I didn’t practice but did some charity work in a small village. It was here that a fifth generation Brahmin who owned a Tantric ashram came to me and said [adopts perfect Indian accent] “I hear a lot about you and what you are doing for this village. I would like to invite you for dinner in my ashram.”

So it was a chance meeting that inspired you? Well… in the beginning, I didn’t go! I heard the word ashram and was like aaahh! Of course, the Brahmin thought I was quite rude and sent someone over to remind me of his invitation. She very kindly said to me that if someone like him invites you to dinner, you shouldn’t say no. So in the end I went, and he told me straight away that he wanted to train me to be a teacher, and asked if I wanted to ‘save’ people. I burst into tears – I didn’t know what he was seeing in me but it resonated. I was always having people end up on my sofa telling me their life stories or helping people after yoga classes. So it was here, really, that the true connection to yoga, Tantra and me started.

Tell us about your training? I thought the Brahmin would be the one to teach me all of the most amazing acrobatic yoga positions. But the toughest thing was, for the first eight months we just did the tree and mountain positions. My teacher said to me [again breaks into perfect Indian accent] “If you understand these positions, you will understand the other 490.” He literally broke down my physical ego. It was a very psychological training. I stayed in India to train him for five years (off and on), and after that I did two more yoga teacher training courses including Anusara yoga. I am now 1000-hour certified.

Tell us about the style of yoga you teach today? It’s definitely Anusara based. Once you’ve tried this, you are hooked – the alignments and adjustments are so profound and the healing benefits are amazing. But I also use my Shamanic drum and other instruments in the practice, I use sage and work with the moon constellations, plus I incorporate Tantric flow so it is not strictly Anusara. I’d call it the Yogayda method.

How do you describe your teaching methods? I am direct. Very to the point. Strongand hands-on. I explain alignments very clearly and carefully, so you know how you should be feeling during the positions. I’m not a teacher who will stand at the front of the class and demonstrate every position. You’ll find me walking through the studio, correcting everyone – students need to listen to my voice as a guide and focus on their own postures rather than watch and copy. I also like to explain the psychosomatic impact positions have as well as the physical.

What is your own yoga philosophy? I want to help bring people to their fullest potential, with whatever tool they are using. I am also a Shamanic healer, a trained counsellor, a naturopath, a transformational guide – sometimes yoga is just 20-percent of what I do for people, and I always work from the heart.

What is your own personal practice like? I’ve maintained a personal practice over the years but it’s much more gentle now. I do a lot of Tantric breathing exercises, Kundalini and more yin yoga, which is female energy. I can’t imagine ever doing a power yoga session again! Sometimes I practice for five minutes, sometimes half an hour, sometimes one and a half… but I have let go of the pressure of putting my practice into my calendar as something I ‘have’ to do in order to be a good teacher. I believe you have to find a practice option you can live with – what your body tells you, not what any teacher tells you. For me, this includes meditating twice a day, setting conscious intentions and practicing awareness exercises and praying. It doesn’t have to be physical.

Do you practice under the guidance of any other teachers? I must say, I would love to train with someone else in Ibiza but I haven’t yet found another Anusara teacher on the island. It’s important to be connected, to have that hands-on experience. I love that.

Tell us about your connection with Ibiza? I came here by chance in 2010, for a birthday party (and I didn’t want to go!), and instantly knew this was where I was supposed to be. Six months later, I moved here. I will always continue to travel, it keeps my mind going but Ibiza is where I am based. I love this island – sometimes, when you really want to fly it can make you feel like you are losing your wings, but in the end it acknowledged me and helped me grow. Ibiza is my home. I’m very proud to be where I am here today, with my passion as my work.

Where can people practice with you on the island? I offer private sessions and I host regular pop-up events in some stunning spaces surrounded by nature all year round – like the cave in Cala Conta. This year I’m also hosting my first therapy retreat, where all sessions will be completely private and one-to-one, with the support of the group dynamic in the villa and at mealtimes. I also offer bespoke weekenders fusing yoga and healing (sometimes more of one than the other, depending on what they need) for people – in Ibiza, or in their homes.

Tell us about one of your most profound yoga experiences? For me, it was when my original teacher [the Brahmin] told me I had to stand in mountain pose: legs hip width apart, feet on ground, shoulders back, upright position, arms hanging. It looks simple. Very simple. And I started to cry. I had an emotional breakdown for around three and a half hours. I cried in a way I never thought I was able to and I felt a deep grounding within me, that I hadn’t had before. I felt all at once my ego, sadness and trust… literally I felt everything we talk about in Tantra. Opposites: darkness and light, happiness and sadness. I think this is probably where I started to crack, which let the light to come in.

Have you got a yoga ‘wow’ moment? It was when I was flown to the Maldives to teach Kate Winslet for a week in 2015. When they asked me, I thought, why are they asking me? Surely she has her own private teacher. I had my own reef villa, a private butler and I called my whole family and said “I think they’ve got the wrong Ayda!” But really – it was an amazing experience. She was very humble and later wrote in Conde Nast Traveller magazine that I was the yoga teacher who ‘got under her skin’. I don’t differentiate between my yogis – everyone is different – but that raised my awareness.

Photography by Ana Lui