Darwin Yoga Space

I headed down to Coconut Grove in Darwin last night for my first class at Darwin Yoga Space. I had heard quite abit about them from the boyf, as he had taken some classes before leaving Darwin and I had done a fair bit of stalking of them via their website in preparation for getting here.

Carole Baillargeon founded Darwin Yoga Space 9 years ago. From it’s humble beginning with a handful of students in a small shed, Darwin Yoga Space has grown to become a known Darwin venue with 3 teachers (a handful of  teacher trainees) offering around 17 classes a week from beginners to advanced levels . They follow Iyengar’s practise of yoga at the studios and have an extensive amount of props and wall space to aid in the practise of the asanas. They also offer Darwin weekend yoga retreats and workshops with guest teachers from interstate and overseas and I cant wait to experience some of these over the next year.

The large purposely-built warehouse they call home allows students to enjoy the serene atmosphere, beautiful and breezy premises and the presence of a lush garden. Pictures of Iyengar adorn the wall, with incense infusing, they set up a beautiful space for yoga practise.

We opened the class with three OM’s and an invocation to Sage Patanjali:

Yogena cittasya padena vacam malam  sarirasya ca vaidyakena yopakarottam  pravaram muninam patanjalim  pranajaliranato’smi abahu purusakaram  sankha cakrasi dharinamsahasra sirasam  svetam pranamami patanjalim.

Translates to:

Let us bow before the noblest of sages Patanjali, who gave yoga for serenity and sanctity of mind, grammar for clarity and purity of speech and medicine for perfection of health. Let us prostrate before Patanjali, an incarnation of Adisesa, whose upper body has a human form, whose arms hold a conch and a disc, and who is crowned by a thousand-headed cobra.

It was a lovely experience from start to finish and although I do normally like a more vinyasa flow of yoga, focusing on the technique of each asana as you do in Iyengar class was refreshing and rejuvenating. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area, I have my 10 class pass and am already looking forward to my next class.

Categorised in: Yoga, Yoga Styles

This post was written by Laura Avery