Staying consciously active during the festive season in MallorcaDecember 23, 2020

The festive season in Mallorca stretches from Christmas Eve to the arrival of the Kings on 6 January. While this makes for a wonderful holiday, it also means days filled with delicious food and drink and the temptation to relax and keep warm and cosy.

But the holidays offer the perfect opportunity to explore the island’s glorious great outdoors at a time when the weather is ideal for walking and the days are often bright and sunny.

It’s also an ideal time to practice your yoga in one of the island’s excellent studios.

We hope you enjoy our Christmas gift of suggestions how you can enjoy keeping active in the festive season in Mallorca.

A conscious Mallorca walk with Sarah Elfvin of Happy Souls-New Perspectives

Yoga master Sara Elfvin created Happy Souls-New Perspectives to encourage people on the island to connect with its landscape and culture.

Her walks are designed to remind us, or introduce us, to just how breathtakingly beautiful this island can be.

As she told me, “my walks are filled with the yogic philosophy of true generosity and acceptance that creates curiosity to explore new pathways, structures, and solutions relevant for our time. They enable me to share my love of the the islands landscape and culture and of the Mallorcan people who offer abundant generosity to visitors.”

On 27 December, Sarah has organized a walk in the foothills of the Tramuntana mountains from Caimari to the magical monastery at Lluc. This will take between five and six hours including lunch. You can meet the group in Palma at 9.30 or Caimari at 10.30.

Sarah has also organized a ‘Sankalpa hike’ on 3 January which will involve a meditation, setting intentions for the coming year and walking from Son Serra to the monastery at Betlem. The walk will take between four and five hours. Meet the group in Palma at 9.30 or Son Serra at 11.

To find out more send Sarah a WhatsApp on +34 674 085065. Follow her on Insta @happysouls_newperspectives.

Yoga in Deià with Mountain Wellness

Deià is fortunate to have its own yoga studio in the heart of the village at the charming, unmissable Villa Rullan.

Mountain Wellness is the baby of yogini and teacher Louise Fletcher-Loni. Her tranquil studio with beautiful views of the landscape around Deià will be open every day of the festive season in Mallorca apart from 25/26 December and 1 January.

If you’re in Deià and want to keep up your yoga practice, Louise’s holiday schedule is here.

Yoga in Palma during the festive season in Mallorca

If Mallorca is yoga island, Palma is definitely its capital. In recent years, the number of yoga studios in the city has boomed. Which makes it kind of difficult to know where to start if you’re visiting the island or a newcomer.

Earth and Zunray are two yoga studios I know very well and which I wholeheartedly recommend to yogis at all levels of their practice.

Both studios are centrally located, friendly and welcoming and there are plenty of classes in English in all the popular forms of yoga.

Zunray is open throughout the holidays and is offering a “very special and powerful online meditation with Zaira Leal on Sunday 27 December between 10 and 11 am. To join the meditation you’ll need to download the Zunray Yoga app from the Google and Apple play stores.

Check out the Zunray schedule and restrictions due to the virus here.

Earth is open throughout the festive season in Mallorca apart from 25/26 December and 1 January. Restrictions as a result of the virus mean classes are limited to just six people so it’s essential to pre-register via the website here.

A bracing dip in the Med

As someone who’s swum year round in Mallorca, I can tell you that the sea’s freezing but it’s also beautifully clean and clear.

A dip in the Med over the festive season in Mallorca will certainly blow away the cobwebs and make you feel glad to be alive and ready to face 2021.

I know there are people who swim at Cala Deià on Christmas Day. There’s also an organized swim on New Year’s Day at 12 pm on Son Matias beach, Palmanova in front of The Olive Tree Mallorca. If you’re thinking about taking part, the organizers encourage you to bring something to donate for island charities Santa Ponsa Food Bank and SOS Calvia, both doing sterling work.

If you’re not convinced you do want to jump in the Med unless the spirit takes you, do what I do and keep a towel with you and something warm to slip into when you go for a walk on the beach. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been on a gorgeous, deserted beach on a sunny winter’s day, the sky empty and blue, the sea tantalisingly near and crystal clear, and yearned to swim.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been on a gorgeous, deserted beach on a sunny winter’s day, the sky empty and blue, the sea tantalisingly near and crystal clear, and yearned to swim.