Yoga in Mallorca: an insider’s guide to practicing on the islandApril 5, 2018

If you practice yoga and you’re anything like me, it’s become part of your life. Whenever I go somewhere different, I love to find a studio and check out the classes. But, even though studios and teachers have websites, there’s no substitute for inside information. Here’s an introduction to yoga in Mallorca.

Nearly every studio and teacher I recommend teaches in English. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, the international language of yoga will make classes easy to follow. Yoga in Mallorca is truly global.

Deià

If you’d like to practice in Deià, your only option at the moment is a private teacher.

To make finding a teacher easier, Jane Winterbottom of the excellent Centre Holistic Deia and Deia Retreats has just launched a matchmaking service for yogis. All you need to do is tell Jane the style of yoga you practice and your level and she’ll suggest a teacher for you.

Get in touch with Jane at centreholisticdeia@gmail.com to find out more.

You can book a private session with highly experienced teacher Jeanne Lurie at Belmond La Residencia. Jeanne offers all styles of yoga at all levels but practicing Kundalini yoga with her is a truly special experience.

To try a class with Jeanne, contact Belmond La Residencia or wander up to the hotel and book.

Palma

People move to Mallorca for a better quality of life and that includes yoga teachers. This means that succeeding as a teacher or running a successful studio is a highly competitive business. For us yogis, the happy result is that the quality of yoga in Mallorca is as high as anywhere you’ll find in the world.

In Palma, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to amazing yoga in the centre of the city. Both Earth Yoga and Zunray offer the most popular styles of yoga – Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin and Kundalini – as well as prenatal and mummy and baby yoga. If you’ve just discovered Bowspring or you’re curious about what it is, Zunray has introduced classes.

Many of my yogi friends go to Zunray and Earth and I’ve enjoyed life-changing classes at these studios. I have to say that Earth is my personal favourite, perhaps because it’s where I really fell in love with yoga and became part of a community of yogis.

Earth also offers an excellent choice of workshops throughout the year. If you’re lucky, one might coincide with your visit.

For those of us who practice Iyangar, Kundalini or Ashtanga yoga, there are specialist studios in Palma for all these styles.

A yoga teacher friend of mine says great things about Logo Yoga, the Iyangar studio and it’s a beautiful space. It appears that they only offer classes in Spanish so, if you like the look of Logo, I’d check with them if English is spoken. Mind you, it’s always fun learning the names for body parts in a foreign language via yoga. I knew the Spanish for shoulders and ankles before I could order breakfast.

For us yogis…the quality of yoga in Mallorca is as high as anywhere you’ll find in the world.

The Ra Ma Institute, close to Earth Yoga, is part of an international chain of studios offering Kundalini yoga – a practice becoming more and more popular. From time to time, I take a Kundalini class and I’m always reminded why I especially love this exceptionally powerful practice. If you’ve never tried Kundalini, now might be the time and Ra Ma the place.

I like to check in with Ashtanga yoga when I feel that my practice has drifted slightly. Because Ashtanga focuses on correct alignment more than anything else, it’s a great way to get back to the basics and correct any little bad habits.

Natalia Paisano at Ashtanga House Mallorca comes highly recommended by a yoga teacher friend of mine who’s an Ashtanga obsessive. Ashtanga House Mallorca is also in Santa Catalina so it’s nice and central.

Actually, all of the studios I’ve recommended are conveniently located and easy to find if you’re new to Palma. When you drift out of class on a wonderful yoga high, there are plenty of cafés in which to reward yourself with a deliciously sinful Mallorquin pastry and potent coffee or a rather healthier smoothie and gluten-free little number.

Relaxing in the sun after a class is one of the special pleasures of yoga in Mallorca.

Outside Palma

If you fancy exploring the island and want to use yoga in Mallorca as an excuse, there are a couple of places tucked away you might like to head for.

Cal Reiet is a holistic centre near Santanyi in the sleepy south of the island that offers yoga classes and private sessions. A friend of mine has taught at Cal Reiet and says it’s a gorgeous place.

Peopletree, an intriguing retreat centre close to the charming village of Alaro, which nestles at the foot of the Tramuntana mountains, offers yoga events and short workshops, often with a Kundalini yoga orientation.

Because yoga in Mallorca is so well-established, it’s highly likely there will be a teacher near you, if not a class, wherever you are. If you’re not in Deià or Palma, I’d suggest you ask about teachers on the incredibly useful “I have a question” Facebook page for Mallorca.

And if you’re a yogi or teacher reading this who can recommend teachers or studios I may have missed, please contact holzer.david@gmail.com.

Namaste!