Iyengar yoga holiday in Portugal – Cathy’s alluring review

 

“I thoroughly enjoyed this holiday. Rachel’s tuition was excellent and successfully managed to cater for a mixed class (at all levels of experience). Also, plenty of hours yoga tuition. The accommodation was wonderful and special mention for Wendy’ cooking. I would definitely recommend this resort.”

Cathy from Tooting took our Iyengar yoga holiday in Faro and left the retreat feeling relaxed and refreshed after the best night’s sleep she’d had in ages! Read about her experience here:

Had you had much experience in Iyengar yoga prior to the holiday?
I’ve been attending a weekly Iyengar class for the last year.

What was Rachel’s teaching style like?
The teaching was aimed at all levels and the group included all levels, but Rachel‘s style is very inclusive.  She pushed those who had more experience but didn’t make those with less experience feel that couldn’t keep up.  Even though I’d covered the basics in my classes back home, I found a new way of working through the poses – always something new to learn.  Rachel had also thought clearly about what we wanted to achieve during the week – so we started with the basics and then moved to standing poses and reached some of the harder poses in the last few days by which time we were all feeling much more flexible.   I also felt that by concentrating on the basics, it put me in a much better place to tackle some of the later poses we did.  We had a day off mid-week which was a good idea as it gives your body a rest if you are not used to the intensity.  I love her style as she is so calm and patient and knowledgeable.

What was your accommodation like?
Very peaceful and full of character.  There are two villas each with a pool.  What’s nice is each has a kitchen and living room, so people can sit and relax and chat, be sociable.  Each room has its own bathroom.  I was in Casa Mimosa which has a real Portuguese farmhouse character.  Given it was October and quite cool in the evenings, it had a very welcome fire to keep us all cosy.  We also ate as a group in the main room as well.  I loved the fact it was so peaceful and dark at night – I’ve never slept so well!

What kind of food did Wendy prepare for the group?
The food is vegetarian – no meat or fish. Interestingly, none of our group were vegetarian but we all said at the end of the week that we hadn’t missed meat.  The food was plentiful but you felt as if you were eating healthily.  Also worth a mention were the breakfasts or “ brunch” as we ate after morning Yoga at 10.30am. Sufficient food not to have to eat until the evening meal.

What did you do in your free time?
Some days we walked to the nearby town of Loule which has a market and historic centre and plenty of interesting shops and cafes.  A group of us also hired a taxi one day and went to the Ria Formosa nature reserve by the coast.  A few of the group had hired cars but it’s easy to hire a taxi and Rachel uses Mario Taxis who are very dependable and friendly.

On the evening off we went to an Angolan restaurant in Loule – can’t remember the name but a popular place with the locals and specialises in seafood.  One point to note is, if out walking locally, the roads can be quite busy with no pavements so be careful of traffic and also the local dogs can be a bit intimidating if you are not very confident around dogs.

There was also the opportunity to have treatments or massages every day.  I had a deep tissue massage but some of the group were more adventurous and tried the “Tibetan souns cups”.  I think this is what it was called but those who tried it raved about it!

The weather was quite cool and showery (it was October) but we all spent time just sitting around reading, chatting…very relaxing i.e. having the opportunity to really not do very much at all.

What was your personal highlight on the holiday?
I’m not sure I have one highlight – I enjoyed it all – the people, the teaching, the yoga, the food, the accommodation!

Would you recommend this holiday to other solo travellers?
Definitely. Quite a few of our group had come alone and we all just bonded.  Because you all have the same focus and an interest in yoga, it’s easy to find common ground.  Even those who had come with friends/ as a couple easily became part of the group.  We were mix of ages, backgrounds, male/female and it all seemed to work!  We all ate together sharing bottles of wine in the evening. There’s never any need to feel lonely but, if you want some space, you can have that too.

If you’ve been inspired by Cathy’s experience, find out more about our inspirational wellbeing holidays and Portuguese breaks and book your unforgettable holiday today.