Yoga Fools
One of the criteria that Boom Boom had for our trip to Tulum was that the hotel couldn’t have a gym. This was no small task as most places have something, even if it’s just a broken treadmill and a set of dumbbells. It seems the only ones that don’t have a fitness center are the no-tell motels that rent rooms by the hour because they figure guests are getting their cardio in some other way. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.
That is the one near where I grew up. Honestly, I never went in. (from flickr)
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She didn’t want a gym because she knew she’d make it a point to go every day and thus defeat the purpose of trip – to relax. Good strategy, but also too good to be true. I knew that as soon as that first bowl of tortilla chips gets polished off, she’d be thinking about how to burn those calories.
Since many of the hotels in Tulum barely have electricity, finding a hotel without a gym was pretty easy. And with all the hippies and New Yorkers who frequent Tulum, there is also no shortage of yoga classes.
The building that houses the yoga studio at Be Tulum.
The actual studio where we went for “Treetop Yoga”
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This was perfect as yoga offers the calming effects that she wanted from the trip and the calorie burning she didn’t know she wanted. I used to practice yoga frequently, but haven’t done it in years. Boom Boom got into a yoga kick a couple years ago, but it’s been a few months since she last went. We ended up going four times in the five days we were there.
Our favorite place for yoga was at the hotel Casa Violeta.
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It was close enough to the ocean to hear the waves, but far enough to be surrounded by beautiful foliage.
But what really made the experience was our instructor, Josh. He was a 30-something beach bum, complete with scruffy face, board shorts, and a polo with the sleeves cut off. But out of his mouth came some of the most inspirational words about positivity and peace. Sure, some of it was hokey and he even caught himself by saying, “It sometimes amazes me that, here I am, a regular guy from Jersey is saying these things.” But it was perfect for getting us in tune with the sessions.
But the best part came during Savasana, a final relaxation pose in yoga where you lie on your back and chill. During the 5-10 minutes, you don’t sleep but are actively stay in tune with your body. Usually, yoga instructors put on some instrumental world music or, even worse, some new age bullshit.
But not Josh.
About midway through it, he whipped out a guitar and started singing to us. One day he sang Sarah McLachlan’s Angel –
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Sure I’d rather hear some Young Jeezy and it’s edging into the “Guilty Pleasure” zone, but it’s still a beautiful song.
The other time, he played one of my favorite songs of all time – Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Here’s Jeff Buckley’s definitive version of it –
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In retrospect, the whole idea of the guitar-playing yoga player seems a little cheesy, but it was perfect at the time.
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What do you think – beautiful or corny?
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11 comments on “Yoga Fools”
Leave a Reply to timmilford Cancel reply
wine century
Doppel Member, Baby!
Good call on the Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah”. There are too many versions done of it in recent times by crappy pop stars, which really riles me.
It’s weird, it’s such a classic that if you dare try it, you have to really bring your A-game. But it’s so damn good that it’s hard for it not to be a beautiful song anyway.
Hahah! Can I say beautiful and corny? Reading about it, I feel like I would start laughing if he did this, but I’d probably be more mellow about it when experiencing it during yoga.
Beginning to think that some of the most beautiful experiences are the corniest when out of context. I did crack a smile when he had trouble hitting some of Sarah’s notes…
The studios…Beautiful! Whipping out the guitar…not corny, but maybe a little awkward? What were some of the inspirational things he said? And did he say them with a Jersey accent?
Stuff like releasing negativity because it holds you back and feeling the power from the earth which is especially strong in Tulum coming up through the floor.
No accent tho. Just the usual yoga guy/ NPR calm soothing voice.
I think that sounds pretty perfect, all around!
how about interesting? I’ve been to classes where the instructor sang at the end- but she didn’t have a guitar and it was some New Agey song- though she had a beautiful voice so it was kind of nice.
A Capella new age?!?
Psyched to have new locations to practice at when I go back!
Thanks – you guys look like you had a SUPERB vaca!
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