Yoga in Palau

One of my goals whilst in Palau is to deepen my yoga practice. I thought with all this extra time & limited distractions from the outside would that it would be the perfect opportunity to do this. I'd read previously that there was some yoga taught on the island so I knew that there would be a community here- so I went to my first class on Wednesday evening. 

The name of the lady that teaches the class is Ellen. It is every Wednesday 5-6pm in the central area of the Cultural Centre. It's FREE!! So cost is no excuse. I read that the type of yoga she teaches is called Forrest. I've never heard of this variation before but from what I can work out it is a variety of Hatha yoga but less flowy. There were a couple of strong breathing exercises around drawing the naval in & then blowing your stomach out. Again nothing completely unusual but a little different. 

There was a large turn for the class, maybe about 20 people. Mostly expats. I hear the Palauan's like the Zumba. I probably knew about 5 people there already! 

The class was quite strong & as it is quite hot there is little need to warm up. We started in dolphin pose which is strong on the triceps & all poses were held for a little longer than I'm used too! Child's pose was very welcome. One benefit of the heat is that I am much more flexible than usual. This makes me think that Hanuman Splits is achievable with a bit of practice. 

If you do get along to a class bring plenty of water & a towel to wipe your brow with as you will work up a serious sweat! 

This will definitely be a regular thing I do.