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

Warming up the winter

Set in the year-round village of Santa Gertrudis, the stylish modern eatery is known for its nutritious and creative menu, fresh juices and smoothies (it’s also the home of the renowned iPurify juice cleanse program) and spacious set-up, which now includes the addition of a roaring fireplace. This new cosy atmosphere, combined with some winter warming menu additions, makes Wild Beets the kind of place you can pop in for breakfast… and then stay for lunch and afternoon tea!

From its inception in 2014, Wild Beets always intended to cater to island residents and holidaymakers 12 months a year – not only serving up healthy and nutritious dining options but also providing valuable year-round jobs to locals. Rather than shutting up shop when high tourist season is over, the restaurant simply switches into a more appropriate winter mode. Think less raw dishes (because let’s face it, when it’s chilly outside, you naturally want a steaming bowl of goodness under your nose!) and more hearty, healthy bowls and delicious warm drinks. Breakfast (served from 9am until 12pm) has been given a winter upgrade, with hot oatmeal, warm grain bowls and quinoa blends now appearing as specials alongside the classics. Lunch service begins at 12.30pm with new additions for winter 2017 including the Buddha Bowl, Dragon Bowl, Protein Bowl and Macro Bowl – vibrant, colourful and above all, nutrient-dense dishes designed to sate all appetites and dietary requirements. Whether you’re looking for an energy boost, a post-workout protein replenishment or a completely macrobiotic meal, these new warm bowls showcase a variety of different grains, quinoa and rice mixtures ideal for winter climes.

Hot drinks become the star of the show in winter with Matcha being one particular specialty of Wild Beets. Owner Cliff Grubin has scoured the globe for the very finest Matcha, and personally brings in the high quality, health-packed tea blend from small specialist producers in Japan. “It’s an amazing product,” he says emphatically. “No other Matcha anywhere else comes close to this. It’s out of this world.” Above and beyond the silky taste and texture – choose between tea or a latte, created with Wild Beets’ homemade almond or coconut milks – the health benefits are extraordinary, chock full of amino acids and boasting powerful cancer fighting properties. Another buzz-drink on the Wild Beets winter menu is Golden Milk Tea, another wonderfully warming drink ideal for winter, made with the natural anti-inflammatory and health boosting turmeric. Just because it’s cold outside however, doesn’t mean the Wild Beets juice bar slows down – in fact, Cliff says these past few weeks have seen the iPurify juice detoxes increasing in popularity – perfect for treating post NYE indulgence or those New Year’s resolutions kicking in! Juices can be snapped up as single doses, daily packages or more intensive weeklong programs – enquire within to find out more.

Open daily from 9am until 6pm (kitchen closes at 5pm), Wild Beets welcomes one and all to pull up a pew by the fire and make the space their own. With the international school nearby and a local school practically next door, it’s the perfect place for a post-school run catch-up, or to grab a healthy snack or meal between Pilates and yoga classes (with plenty of studios and teachers in the area). Large tables make it great for long lunches while quiet corners are perfect for more intimate dates and on a sunny day, you can even enjoy the open-air terrace – there really is something for everyone at Wild Beets. Also famed with the island’s digital nomads for its high-speed WiFi connection and ample table sizes, Wild Beets has also become a hotspot for meetings and popular mobile office that’s always nice and cosy, with a warm ambience making it easy to be productive… especially when you don’t have to get up and boil the kettle yourself every time you crave another warm drink! Photography by Maria Simon

Romance and relaxation

However delve a little deeper and the white isle will always provide – beyond the big names, brands and overcrowded venues are plenty of amazing places to indulge in some intimate bonding time with your loved one – the very best of them being Open Spa, the island’s most prestigious modern-day healing and wellness centre. Set within the luxurious surrounds of Ibiza’s only ‘Five-Star Grand Luxe’ resort, Ibiza Gran Hotel in the exclusive Marina Botafoch area, Open Spa boasts a specially designed, lavish Romantic Suite, where professionally trained, expert therapists devote their time to giving you and your partner side-by-side treatments. Whether you’re here on a romantic getaway, or simply wish to whisk your lover away from a busy group itinerary for a few treasured hours, this is the perfect place to be enveloped in positive, loving energy and be treated to luxurious pampering rituals.

In 2016, Open Spa introduce the all-new Romantic Massage – a deluxe couples’ massage experience offered within the romantic and well-appointed cabin – giving you all the more reason to indulge in some much-needed ‘us time’. A soothing atmosphere is created by soft candlelight while the air is perfumed with the essence of rosewood to awaken your senses while two plush massage beds lay side-by-side awaiting you and your partner to sink in, relax and let go of anything that enters your minds. The mini luxury lovers’ retreat begins with a welcome ritual where expert hands use gentle pressure and scented wipes to induce you into the utmost tranquil and serene state. The massage uses natural, organic essential oils of camelia and frangipani to encourage total wellbeing, while the physical movements relieve stress, tone aching muscles and bring you both into deeper relaxation. The massage is therapeutic and restorative and tends to your entire body, leaving no fatigued muscle behind.

Finally, the experience is completed with a farewell ritual, uplifting, invigorating and encouraging healthy blood flow throughout your extremities, leaving you feeling relaxed yet completely revitalised. Following the treatment, couples are invited to plunge into the therapeutic waters of Open Aqua and experience the healing powers of the water circuit, an ancient practice known to relax, detoxify and replenish. Together you’ll leave Open Spa with restored health, calm minds and relaxed bodies plus a very special experience carved into your Ibiza holiday memories to remember for years to come.

Meet the founders – Ibiza Retreats

Larah began by connecting world-class teachers and group leaders with the island’s incredible retreat locations, therapists and chefs and when Susie Howell joined her as her partner in 2009, their offerings expanding to develop a range of their own inspiring holistic retreats. Combining yoga, meditation and tailor-made programs of treatments and therapies, Ibiza Retreats focus heavily on teaching techniques for self-healing to inspire their guests to nourish and care for themselves. Practicing what they preach is certainly part of the process for Larah and Susie, and a thorough understanding of life’s ups and downs means they connect with their guests on a deeper level. Moving into the new Ibiza Retreats HQ, Casa Lakshmi Luz, in 2016 has seen the dream come to full fruition, but the road was long and not always easy for these two beautiful and inspiring souls.

Meet Larah Davis – A holistic life and wellness coach (NCFE certified in the UK), NLP Master Practitioner, yoga teacher, yoga therapist and energy worker. When Larah’s previous relationship broke down, her partner’s business had become her world. Drowning in a negative spiral of co-dependency, smiling on the outside yet shattering inside, she was holding it all together but was stressed to the core and trapped in a painful comfort zone. Yoga, massages, meditation and time in nature were the only things keeping her sane. From Sydney to London, she had been training for four years as a Holistic Life Coach and NLP Master Practitioner and was quietly seeing clients, but when she started working with a terminally ill friend she saw a powerful transformation.

Working with dozens of complementary therapists and healers, Larah finally felt truly inspired. Whilst support-coaching at a workshop in London, the group visualised their ideal life and a vision of transformational retreats in Ibiza arose from her heart. She had already had experiences in Sydney studying energetic and spiritual healing, Life Coaching and NLP when she helped to develop a life transformations company in 2001/2002. Yet until that moment, had not felt ready to stand in her light and “serve”. “I needed to find the confidence, clarity and self-belief to break-free from the relationship and mental ‘gridlock’ of London living,” she says. “Every cell of my being was aching to retreat. Yet I couldn’t find, at that time, any retreats in Ibiza that offered the whole holistic package of coaching and wellness, yoga and meditation, integrated treatments and therapies, spiritual guidance and consciously created cuisine. There were none where I felt I would be truly nurtured as a woman, where I could rest my head, let go and release. I realised that there was a thirst for this, a market niche and a need.”

Larah felt deepy nourished within the Ibizan sisterhood. A community of women from all over the island and indeed the world who openly shared their own stories, empowering Larah to release the past, forgive her ex and most importantly heal and forgive herself. These women had gone through hardships and drawn on their inner resources to create a new life of grace, joy and gratitude. This open-hearted sisterhood continues to soothe her soul. “In a tepee at home, or high on the mountains, in workshops and retreats, we sit with women of all ages, sharing, our truths, our challenges, and our needs,” she says of her day-to-day experiences of life in Ibiza which inspire her work with Ibiza Retreats as it evolves. “Granting respect to the wiser older spirits and embracing the younger girls’ blissful innocence. And in the sharing flows acceptance, openness, courage, vulnerability, an expose of the inner-qualities that incarnate our sensitivity and our ability to honour and be the more emotional, feminine race. I am constantly inspired by the courage of each guest, to see themselves, to look into their shadow sides, face certain truths and to take up the gauntlet to create the health, happiness and success that they deserve.” Today, always looking to extend her wellness and healing capabilities, Larah is currently studying yoga therapy and is specialising in enabling her clients to self-heal anxiety, depression, recuperate from surgery and chronic back pain. And her philosophy that “women need to fill our cup first, so that we have more love and energy to give” rings true, as you find her rejuvenating her soul, from her morning practice outside under an almond tree, to the white islands’ women’s circles in yoga, meditation, kirtans, prayer and sound healing ceremonies as life allows!

Meet Susie Howell – A yoga teacher and wellness consultant who is passionate about yoga as medicine. Susie moved to Ibiza in 2010 after an intense 10-year career in advertising and a series of broken relationships saw her feeling trapped and uninspired, disconnected from her fractured sense of self and stuck in patterns of self-destruct. She had graduated at 21 and began her relationship with her yoga mat at 24, suffering from well-hidden anxiety attacks. Gaining promotion after promotion she was trapped in the cycle of wanting more, but struggling with anxiety as there wasn’t enough of her to do it all. She was functioning perfectly from the outside, but inside was merely existing. “Yoga allowed me to connect to something so much greater and more powerful, and was a space to be softer, away from the stresses of work and dysfunctional relationships. It helped me through a divorce, deaths of close friends and family, and a feeling of ‘who am I and why am I actually here?’” Time spent in the yoga studio steadily increased and in 2007 Susie undertook a yoga teacher-training course in London.

Over the course of 18 months this enabled her to break away from some of her destructive patterns, to build new friendships with inspiring people and to cultivate the strength to begin to explore what it is she was really looking for. When Susie was introduced to Larah she felt an instant connection to her passion and vision. Soon she became a partner in Ibiza Retreats, and building and evolving their shared baby has been a healing journey. “Connecting to so many wonderful people and their awe-inspiring journeys has given me the strength and courage to be authentic, to be present, and to explore beyond what is told and trained and conditioned. It has enabled the bondage of the past to be released – the guilt and the fear – and for me to use all that has been learned and shared with the brave women who come to begin or further their own journeys.”

Whether working one to one in yoga or co-creating and hosting a retreat, Susie’s passion for what she does shines through. She is fully present for you and your journey – without any judgment for the story – and helps you connect back to yourself – to what is real and authentic and to recover what has been lost along the way. “Ibiza became my place to grow, throw off the mask I had been wearing and align with my true self. Authenticity and honesty are some of the greatest freedoms – and helping people to tap into that has been a humbling journey.”