Swinging upside down under the guidance of a Yogi is a surprisingly relaxing experience
I must have been a monkey in a previous life. As I swung upside down next to the beach at Four Seasons Resorts Maldives at Kuda Huraa, I felt a sense of serenity washing over me. Perhaps the sound of the waves gently lapping the beach helped create a relaxing atmosphere. Or the tropical birds chirping in the trees. But maybe a large part of it was down to knowing it was under the watchful eye of a Yogi from Four Seasons Spa. After all, this was all part of an AntiGravity Yoga session.
AntiGravity Yoga (also known as Aerial Yoga) combines elements of traditional yoga with aerial art. It helps release ‘happy hormones’, improves flexibility and gives you a unique sensation of ‘flying’. I can only compare this sense of flying to when you are scuba diving and swim over the edge of a dropoff into the blue. But with AntiGravity Yoga, you feel like you’re having a really nice stretch at the same time.
During the AntiGravity Yoga class, the Yogi showed me how to flip upside down using the silk hammock suspended from the ceiling of the yoga pavilion. It’s genuinely fun to swing upside down while you exercise, particularly in such a beautiful setting as this.
The AntiGravity Yoga sessions at Four Seasons Kuda Huraa take 75 minutes. You can choose between a group class or a private class. They take place in a yoga pavilion on the resort’s Spa Island, which is accessed by a tiny traditional wooden boat. A skipper ferries you over the channel from the main resort island to get there, which only takes a few minutes. It’s worth setting some time aside to wander around the Spa Island, too, because it’s such a lovely little spot.
As you can see from the short drone video of the AntiGravity Yoga session (filmed by Forever Video on a Mavic 3 Pro), the Spa Island is a small hourglass-shaped islet surrounded by particularly lovely pale, azure waters. It’s the only spa in the Maldives that’s set on its own private island.
The main resort island of Four Seasons Kuda Huraa is also surrounded by a large expanse of water in this same delicate turquoise shade. Not all island resorts in the Maldives are surrounded by such a large area of this beautiful shade of blue. That’s a detail you may start to pick up on after you’ve seen more resorts in the Maldives. And if you’re obsessed with the water, like I am, that’s something that matters.
If you’d like to give AntiGravity Yoga a shot at Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, my top tips are:
• Go early in the morning or during the evening to beat the heat, because it takes place in the open air
• Wear well-fitted clothing (like Lycra) that stays in place whether you’re swinging upside down or sideways!
• Don’t eat for a couple of hours beforehand
AntiGravity Yoga/Aerial Yoga originated in the late 1990s, so obviously has little to do with the ancient and spiritual origins of Yoga, which I was fascinated to learn about when I lived in Sri Lanka. But it certainly is a good challenge and a different sort of workout. It had been a while since the last time I tried an AntiGravity Yoga class, but it was just as much fun as I remembered. I can see why monkeys and fruit bats like it so much.
