In Search of YOGA: Barcelona Yoga Conference

It's time again, one of the best yoga experiences I've had the pleasure of being a part of...the Barcelona Yoga Conference is back for its 2nd year!  Register before March 1 (less than a week from now) and it only costs 165€ for the 3-day pass (or 75€/day) compared to 215€ by June 1.  The conference runs from July 5-9 (but it was so awesome I have to mention it now!)

Once again, there will be such a variety of yoga classes to try, all taught by incredible teachers.  AcroYoga carries a noticeable presence throughout the conference (led and founded by Jason Nemer and Jenny Sauer-Klein, who both played a major role in organizing the whole conference) and I knew nothing about AcroYoga but had fun learning.  Part yoga, part Thai massage and part acrobatics, this is a FUN and different style of yoga.  Practicing this brought back memories of my childhood gymnastics days, minus the scary coach and bruised body.  Jason and Jenny did a terrific job of safely teaching and allowing us to practice in a safe, supportive environment with each other and additional AcroYoga teachers participating in the class.  "Antigravity" massages and "therapeutic flying" are terms you will learn and experience firsthand if you can make it to one of these classes!

The 'Joy of Handstands' was one of my favorite workshops.  Here's a brief instruction on how they taught us to get into a handstand (with a partner spotting):  Start in Down Dog, but bring feet a bit closer to hands, shoulders stacked over wrists, feet together, (spotter standing behind in Vira 1), kicker kicks both legs together (hips also as high over shoulders as poss), starting kicking in squats, then straddles, then pikes..eventually each way can come up to handstand!

Lots of handstands with partners...

 

But its not all acrobatics and handstands!  You'll get to try these styles and more:  Kundalini, Asthanga, Anusara, Yoga Esenio, Iyengar, Sivananda, Shadow Yoga, Vinyasa, Jivamukti, Bhakti, YinYoga, Traditional Hatha Yoga, Prana Vinyasa Flow...
Don't miss it if you can!  Barcelona doesn't get much better than this!

My highlights of the conference:

• Swim breaks on Barcelona's beach!
• The warm n fuzzy energy and love flowing around!
• Variety of yoga styles taught by talented, inspiring teachers!
• "Joy of Handstands" and "Yin and Reiki" workshops
• How much this conference opened my mind and heart to new styles and methods of yoga