As a yoga lover who struggles to find time for practice outside the retreats we host here at Lake Skadar (young kids, busy business!), I suddenly found myself with all the time in the world when I was put into two weeks' solitary quarantine in Podgorica last month! As the Coronavirus pandemic spread across Europe, Montenegro suddenly closed its borders while I was visiting the UK. Knowing yoga would help me maintain a strong mind and body through a mandatory 14 day confinement for returnees, I dashed out to buy a yoga mat before boarding a repatriation flight. Never was five quid better spent! Each day that followed, I rolled out my mat and set about a long restorative Hatha practice – at least an hour – guided by the brilliant Down Dog yoga app and always ending in a healing Savasana. As I progressed, I found myself mastering poses I had failed at before – Crow pose (Bakasana) & Hand to Big Toe Pose (Tadasana) - or hadn't managed since childhood (the wheel in my 40s!). It's true what they say about daily practice being the key to success. I also finally grasped the power of my breath. In just two weeks I felt stronger, fitter and more flexible than I had in ages. On the yoga holidays we run, workshops take place outside, early morning, on Villa Miela's tree-fringed yoga deck. It's when the birds sing their loudest and before the sun shines hot. Inside my four walls of quarantine, I saved my practice for late afternoons; something to look forward to and taking advantage of being able to watch the late winter sun lowering over the mountains beyond the city from my window. I like to do the same thing back at Villa Miela, but with no
As a yoga lover who struggles to find time for practice outside the retreats we host here at Lake Skadar (young kids, busy business!), I suddenly found myself with all the time in the world when I was put into two weeks’ solitary quarantine in Podgorica last month! As the Coronavirus pandemic spread across Europe,
