My Bali trip was intended to be a yoga focused holiday and Ubud offered me an opportunity to fulfil that with great ease, it really is a stretching lovers heaven. Below are my experiences of yoga-ing in Ubud, you can find out more about my time in Seminyak and Canguu here and read about why I chose Bali as my yoga bubble here.
Yoga Barn, Ubud
Do your research on yoga in Bali and this place is sure to pop up time and time again. Set back slightly from the main road not far from the Monkey Forest, the Yoga Barn offers a beautifully engineered space for classes that stretch the mind and body. There’s six yoga studio’s across the site (check out their timetable and you’ll see why the space is needed) that host the varied selection of classes on offer everyday. From Acro Yoga to Crystal Bowl Meditation and beyond, there is something for everyone. There’s a pretty committed following to its daily offerings too, it’s a bit of a mecca for the mid-30’s trying to sort their shit out. You’ll find a sea of folks in patterned leggings talking about the book they are writing or the job they plan on never going back for, but I’ll be honest I couldn’t think of a better place to do it. If I wanted to cry into my chia seed pudding about the state of my life, then I definitely felt comfortable enough to do it here and how often can you say that about a place? It’s how I’m scoring things these days.
Talking about food, the reasonably priced (although often overstretched) Garden Kafe will sort you out pre or post class with it’s vegan this and gluten free that….there’s no excuse for not filling your body with the good stuff here.
In the week or so I was there I managed to get a good mix of classes in across a few of their different studios, it was good to experience it all. My favourite was the Kundalini Yoga with Greg Kaps. I took the early morning class which Greg introduced beautifully before adding that today’s class would be a simple kriya for transition. I rolled my closed eyes and moaned to myself ‘I haven’t travelled for 18 hours for this softly, softly crap Greg’’ Fast forward 90 minutes and I’m chanting Sat-Ta-Na-Ma with tears rolling down my cheeks and an overwhelming feeling of warmth and complete ease pulsating through my body. This was one of the most transformational Kundalini yoga classes I have ever experienced. I always feel awesome and sometimes emotional after a class but I have never gone to town with the waterworks while i’m sat on the mat, Greg made it happen. Well done Greg!
I also took a women’s only yoga one afternoon. This was soulful class led by a passionate and knowledgeable teacher(whose name I forgot to note, dammit) I love being led by someone who is in their element and teaching from the heart about a subject they truly love and she really was. I found this with all the teachers, a Vinyasa flow and afternoon meditation class were also wonderfully taught and even with such big classes the space was held beautifully.
I did try to give an Ecstatic Dance class a try one evening. I haven’t done it before and do feel slightly nervy about my dance/letting it all go skills sans alcohol if I’m honest. I got there 20 minutes late and the class still hadn’t started, I stood around and felt awkward and then thought I’m all good for more awkwardness thanks and disappeared. It’s still on my list of things to get over/give a go…
For me, if you are in Ubud then this is one to definitely one not to miss. You can get class bundles, so if you fancied doing your own day retreat with yoga and cleansing food, you’ll get all your needs catered for here.
The Yoga Barn also offers accommodation and cleanses, you can find out more about them here.
The Ubud Yoga Centre
The Ubud Yoga centre was also on my list of places to visit. I was keen to try a Kundalini class especially after Greg’s awesome offering. Located slightly out of town you are best to get a taxi or bike there and don’t make the mistake of walking like I did. The 30 minute walk (as told to me by google maps) turned into being closer to an hour. I had planned on doing a Hatha followed by a Kundalini, but due to the extent of the bloody journey I missed the first class. Hot, sweaty and feeling a tad cranky at having missed the class I headed into the restaurant and dining area which offered a tree lined vista and soon chilled out.
I toyed with ordering some food as it looked delicious (another beautiful menu on offer) but decided instead to order a juice and laid out with my book on one of the swing beds.
About forty minutes later they kindly woke me from my mini snooze and I made my way up to the top floor for the class. It was not quite as airy a space to be in as I hoped, but the class was beautifully led as we worked through a kriya for our heart chakra. It went over the 90 minutes as the teacher sat and spoke more about the chakra’s and the importance of loving yourself. It was a delight. I left the class feeling great before realising the heavens had opened and I needed to get home. One of the centre staff were leaving, so I hopped on the bike and made my way back in the rain. I was soaked through by the time we arrived, but what an experience it was and a perfect way to end the day.
The Ubud Yoga Centre also run a lot of workshops and retreats, I missed a Kundalini one by a few days which looked great. You can find out more about them here.
Other Ubud offerings…
The are of course many other places to embrace the yoga offerings of Ubud than the two I managed to visit, some that would need transport to get to and some that are more centrally located.
Radiantly Alive yoga: I heard good things about here and did plan on a class before our sightseeing day took preference.
Bodyworks: The massage and yoga are very well regarded here and I was recommended a few times to go. Unfortunately I tried and failed to join a class, I actually found the staff incredibly difficult to get information from and due to the holidays there seemed to be a mix up with what was being held.
Taksu Yoga: This one also had a great timetable, I didn’t spot it until my last few days so didn’t manage a visit unfortunately.
If you have been to any of these then please comment and let me know your experiences!
