Le Soleil d’Or, Cayman Islands
Happy Yoga Month! September has been anointed as National Yoga Month, and Smart Meetings has a few suggestions on where to get your om on.
It’s great to see so many meeting properties offering yoga and other life-enriching activities. Add in healthy F&B trends that are integrated into many of these same resorts and hotels, and it’s obvious that the hospitality industry is spearheading a whole new approach to meetings and events.
So, as Madonna would say, “Strike a Pose” at any of these 10 peaceful properties.
Yoga Month Refuges
Bacara Resort & Spa, which is just north of Santa Barbara, California, has perhaps one of the grandest venues for yoga anywhere. Classes are held on a grassy lawn overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This beachfront resort features a get-away-from-it-all nuance that fosters brainstorming and outside-the-box thinking. The Forbes Four Star property offers 358 guest rooms, many with ocean views. There is 70,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including the Executive Conference Center, which is housed in a separate building for privacy.
Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa in Montauk, New York, is offering indoor paddleboard yoga. Situated on Montauk’s most pristine stretch of oceanfront real estate, Gurney’s Montauk is a Hamptons icon and the perfect yogi escape. During Yoga Month, classes will take place in the resort’s world-famous indoor, ocean-fed seawater pool with panoramic views of the Atlantic, the only pool of its kind in North America. The property offers a variety of fitness classes each day including vinyasa flow, flow into yoga and Buti yoga. Gurney’s features 146 rooms, suites and beachfront cottages, each with dramatic ocean views, and direct access to a 2,000-foot private sand beach.
Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, celebrates Yoga Month year-round. The Chopra Center at the Omni offers a number of yoga classes throughout the week, as well as meditation classes taught by Chopra Center Certified meditation instructors. The signature program—Perfect Health—has attraced thousands of people from around the world to experience healing through this transformative program developed by Deepak Chopra and David Simon. Perfect Health is is based on the principles of Ayurveda—a powerful natural healing system that originated in India 5,000 years ago. There are six-day and 10-day programs, including instruction in the Seven Spiritual Laws of yoga, Ayurvedic spa treatments, mind-body consultation with a board-certified physician and Ayurvedic expert, an Ayurvedic cleansing diet and instruction in Primordial Sound Meditation.
The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago is featuring Rooftop Voga, which is yoga done while voguing to ’80s music. The class, on Fridays at 4 p.m., is $20 for hotel guests. This is a great opportunity to let loose and work out those muscles in a fun, lively environment with iconic views of the Chicago skyline.
Twin Farms in Barnard, Vermont, is an all-inclusive Relais & Chateaux property. The only Forbes Five Star resort in the state will celebrate Yoga Month with its exclusive Salutations and Libations on Friday, Sept. 16. Guests will enjoy stream-side yoga under the full moon on the new yoga deck, surrounded by 300 acres of meadows and woodlands. Following the full moon yoga session, guests can indulge in moon inspired treats and sip on lunar inspired wines and cocktails. In addition, to the yoga guests can take advantage of the Furo, a 104-degree Japanese style soaking tub (clothing optional) to truly cleanse and revitalize the mind and spirit.
The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club in Florida is offering yoga in September on Thursday and Saturday mornings. The classes are being conducted in the resort’s yoga studio situated by The Spa at The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club. The classes are available to guests, groups and locals. The Gulf of Mexico resort also offers “Yoga on the Beach” for private sessions. This can be for individuals or groups. Private sessions in the yoga studio also are available.
Park City Canyons Golf Course in Utah is celebrating Yoga Month with sunrise yoga on its signature No. 5 hole. Taught by Park City local Ashley Battersby, who is an avid skier and former competitive freestyle skier, the one-hour vinyasa flow class will take place on the No. 5 hole, which is known as one of the most picturesque locations on the course. The 18-hole course features unrivaled views of the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains and panoramic views of Park City. Classes will take place Sept. 10 and Sept. 24 with golf carts departing from the Canyons Village. Grand Summit Hotel guests can enjoy complimentary wellness drinks and fresh juices after class.
Omni Nashville Hotel holds yoga on its rooftop on Saturday mornings. This property is across from Music City Convention Center and near the famous honky tonks. Nothing like partying to live music at night and stretching in the morning.
Le Soleil d’Or in the Cayman Islands is a renowned beachside farm-to-table wellness resort rooted in strong beliefs in a holistic and healthy lifestyle. The property’s secluded and tranquil beachside sanctuary serves as the perfect environment for yoga and meditation practices. In addition to the newly built fitness studio complete with state-of-the-art Pilates equipment, the property offers several wellness programs, including Relax & Meditate and private yoga sessions, which can be customized for one-on-one sessions or a group. These personalized sessions can be held in-room, out by the pool, on the beach or even on the resort’s 20-acre organic farm situated on a limestone bluff, which provides fresh produce for meals, spa treatments, in-room amenities and more.
Few properties are embracing National Yoga Month more than Terranea Resort, A Destination Hotel, located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Poised above coastal bluffs and surrounded by the tranquil waves of the Pacific Ocean, this resort invites yogis of all skill levels to say “Namaste” to invigorating California fitness. Every Monday, Thursday and Friday in September, Terranea offers complimentary yoga classes in the oceanfront yoga Movement Studio at The Spa at Terranea. In celebration of September’s Harvest Moon and National Yoga Month, yoga lovers are invited for a mid-yoga-month check-in under the light of the full moon. The Full Moon Yoga Gathering takes place on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. on the Ocean Lawn, and participants are asked to bring $20 to contribute to Vistas For Children, Inc.
In October, participants can celebrate their progress and connect mind, body and spirit with like-minded individuals during Terranea’s annual Seaside Yoga Gathering that attracts upwards of 300 participants on Terranea’s 16,000-square-foot oceanfront Palos Verdes Meadows. Yogis can mix and mingle with wellness professionals while enjoying light bites and refreshments at the Wellness Fair. Following, a complimentary one-hour class will be dedicated to finding inner peace using the most current yoga moves and techniques.
