My wife Paola has been teaching yoga in Tokyo for almost a year in our beautiful yoga studio. Recently we went on a first trial-run of a yoga weekend retreat. We got to know of the delightful hostess, Jude, who runs a fantastic bed and breakfast near the beach, close to Kurihama in the south western corner of Tokyo Bay. The NOBI BEACH CLUB.
Two students were eager to try out the experience and we got the train together to Keikyu Kurihama station (about 1 hour of out Tokyo).
There's a popular country park about thirty minutes walk from the B&B, that has a variety of attractions including a spectacular Godzilla statue.
Sunday Morning we had the first lesson at 9am. This included standing poses like Trikonasana and Parsvakonasana , and inverted poses like Sirsasana (headstand) and Adho Mukha Vriksasana (handstand) . After breakfast we had some free time to explore the countryside around Nobi.
The afternoon class focused more on stretching and twisting asanas and ended with pranayama (breath control). In the evening Mr G, organised a very tasty barbecue and we sat, laughed and talked around the fire.
On the Monday morning we got up good and early for a silent meditative walk along the beach to a suitable location on the boardwalk for Surya Namaskara ( The Sun Salutation ). We performed ten rounds of the sequence of forward and backward bends and stretches in the glorious morning sunlight before heading back to the B&B for the morning yoga class. This lesson was challenging, but the excellent eggs and bacon provided for breakfast were a good reward for our hard work.
We had some free time to enjoy walking along the beach and into the forest that starts right outside the house. We ended the weekend with a trip to Jude's favourite eatery: the Kalika, an excellent Nepalese restaurant overlooking the sea.
Paola runs lessons suitable for all levels. Private lessons for a minimum of two people are available. We are also planning many more yoga by the beach weekends starting in June 2010. For more details drop me an email or contact Paola directly from YogaSan
