YIN YOGA IS THE NEW BIKRAM

Last December I was on Koh Samui at a yoga retreat. I was in the mood for peace, relaxation, just enjoying myself, you know how it is. Somewhere on a white beach, for seven days I did an hour and a half of vinyasa, hatha, yin, and astanga led classes in the morning and evening. And if I felt like it, I could meditate in the afternoon. Most of the time, I preferred to read my book on a lounger by the pool or on the beach.

You have to learn yoga. The first few times I could still worry about my paperwork or the laundry that needed to be hung up during a sun salutation. Now I manage to leave everything outside when I step into a class. Comfy clothes, my own yoga mat, a cup of herbal tea, and after an hour I feel reborn outside.

I am a big fan of Delight Yoga, a very nice yoga school where you can follow different methods. You have to be on time to secure a good spot in the room, as yoga is the trendy thing. Not only Gisele Bundchen, Miranda Kerr, and Doutzen are weekly in the downward dog , I also often see rolled-up yoga mats in a bike basket on the way to a class here in Amsterdam. So I do that too. Weekly, I immerse myself in the world of Buddha. You can make it as airy as you want, of course. I'm quite down-to-earth, so I sometimes catch myself chuckling during the “closing song”. But well, I don't want to be without it anymore.

If you really want to be cool, you don't do Bikram (exercises in a room of 40 degrees) anymore, because that's passé, but you sign up for a Yin class. Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, and Karlie Kloss do this daily.

It's a class where you hold different asanas (positions) for a longer time. When you sit in a position for a while, you feel much deeper muscles, tendons, and joints. It's a very slow class. Each class gives you a greater range in your movements (and makes you more flexible) and a freer flow of energy. Sounds wonderful, right? All aboard the Yin!

No Delight Yoga nearby? No worries. You can also do yin perfectly at home.