I am hanging upside down in “child’s pose”, like some sort of yogic bat suspended above the floor. My shins are against the wall, my arms and head heavy, and as I let the strap around my pelvis take the weight I sense my spine lengthen all the more. I feel as though I could hang here for days, feeling the benefits of one of the most common floor-based yoga postures enhanced by the inversion.
Santillán, a yoga and wellbeing centre that opened last year high in the hills to the east of Málaga, has many things to recommend it. There are the beautiful views over the Med, the gorgeous Spanish finca-style accommodation (this used to be a boutique hotel until the owners teamed up with renowned UK yoga teacher Simon Low to turn it into a retreat), pretty gardens and a lovely swimming pool. But what sets it apart from any other centre is the vast, newly built, light-filled shala (yoga hall) with its 190-square metre Great Yoga Wall. Covered in detachable hooks for belts and straps, it has been designed to allow students of all heights and abilities to work on alignment and perfect held poses.
I’m here in sunny June on Low’s Yin Yang holiday – a week of twice-daily yoga classes (both dynamic flow and restorative, they can be up to three hours each, but fly by), with plenty of rest, optional spa treatments and tasty, healthy food. Although most of the group are regular practitioners, you don’t have to have done yoga before: classes are cleverly tailored to suit all levels and Simon’s co-teacher, Eija, also takes classes and is on-hand for expert adjustments. There are crystal bowl baths’ and meditation sessions. Time on the yoga wall, woven into classes, is a treat for its novelty and tangible effects. It’s serious yoga, but fun too – plenty of people are detoxing but no one frowns if you want the odd glass of wine and the paella party on the final evening is quite a fiesta.
Santillán hosts a roster of teachers who use the wall to differing degrees, but all holidays here promise something special. Owner Adriana, and her family, couldn’t be more welcoming and there’s a peaceful, healing vibe about the place. The Dalai Lama once visited on his way to a Buddhist monastery in Granada and commented on its “beautiful energy”.
After a week chilling and stretching – with a trip out to the coast one afternoon (there’s the option of going into Málaga too) – I feel rejuvenated and physically and mentally unravelled and keep wondering if I could construct a yoga wall in my home. Who needs a bed when you can hang like a bat?
• The Yin & Yang Yoga retreat with Simon Low costs £985 for a week; his next retreat is14-21 May, centrosantillan.com
