WOW: Yoga Around the World Workshop

I love to travel, and frankly… I’ve been missing it lately.  My last trip was in DECEMBER.  I haven’t set foot in an airport nor have I even taken a good road trip.  So weird.

When my friend LaDawn mentioned that there was a “Yoga Around the World” workshop coming up at a local yoga studio, I knew I wanted to check it out.

The instructor was one of our new favorites at Asana – Shelly Blais, who just has fantastic energy and leads the most beautiful practice.   So, on Saturday while the rest of the city was deep into their 8th mug of green beer, LaDawn and I grabbed our mats and headed out for this fantastic voyage.

The class description indicated that it would leverage Shelly’s worldly travels and music collected along her journey.  It also promised to transport us to far off lands… which was RIGHT up my alley.

We started the class with a quick warmup and very quickly found ourselves in Latin America… spending time in colorful Cuba and exotic Brazil.

The stories Shelly shared during each transition were vibrant and paired with the music, I really felt like I was there.  She even used music from the rain forest when she was talking about the beautiful wilderness of Brazil.  All the while, the class moved through the most beautiful asana poses.  Example:  We found ourselves in tree pose, just as we were traveling the Amazon Rainforest.  Just awesome!

Next, we jetted off across the ocean to Africa with our first stop in South Africa before moving onto Uganda.  Here we heard beautiful music from tribes and hear stories of safari… we even had a chance to do some abwork while reclining in raft pose.

At this point, and almost an hour into our class… we were halfway through our journey and I had already received a considerable workout.  Determined to power through, I focused on Shelly’s stories and enjoyed the trip…

Next stop:  India!  The birthplace of yoga… here we learned about visits to the ashrams, the Taj Mahal, and most memorably, we went on a sensory journey.  While we were firmly planted in downward dog, Shelly described the many many different scents we’d experience on an Indian street…. everything from cow to the most delicious curries ever made.  She took us to the peaceful pockets of India that I long to visit from my studies of Elizabeth Gilbert’s work Eat Pray Love.

By the time we arrived in Japan, I have to be honest… my quads were trembling from all the Warrior poses, Lunges, and extended Downward Dogs.  Japan was our time to stretch and ground.

We spent our time in the last country in poses like Happy Baby and Supine twists, preparing for our final Savasana after a huge trip around the world.

To say I loved this class was an understatement.  When I am in yoga class, I get really into the mental piece.  It’s not uncommon for me to be transported to an incredibly peaceful place, but rare for me to travel the world.  I loved this guided global adventure,

I am even MORE excited to hear that Shelly is going to be continuing this class as a weekly series where each class will visit a new country.  I plan on being a regular in that class, which started this past Sunday night.

Do you enjoy international travel?  What is your favorite place you’ve visited?