Soul Fire Studios flung open its doors last week and welcomed everyone to our 2021 Open Day! We ran taster sessions of all 18 classes that are on our weekly schedule and held tastings for our organic juices and raw vegan treats. Everyone got a chance to look around, explore the various rooms and studios within Soul Fire, relax, chat, and get to know the community better.
The classes began at 10am with Vinyasa Fire followed by Hatha Fire in the Fire Studio, and Slow Flow followed by Aerial Open in the Soul Studio. Throughout the day, the more ‘active’ classes were held in the Fire studio, where we hold all our hot classes, and the Soul studio was the more relaxed, gentle room. It was amazing seeing the attendees of both sessions coming out into the foyer at the same time – those dripping with sweat, having had a real cardiovascular, rhythmic work out, and those having experienced a deep sense of calm and relaxation in their classes! Most people who came along had never tried either hot yoga or aerial yoga before, so it was so invigorating seeing everyone coming to challenge themselves and try something new.
For those who haven’t tried hot yoga before – here’s a little bit of information about starting out safely - It is often suggested before yoga and most physical activity to: drink plenty of water, hold off on eating a large meal or consuming alcohol/caffeine. In Hot Yoga, these are especially important to consider to have a safe and enjoyable experience. We recommend that you don’t eat or drink caffeine a minimum of two hours before class, drink plenty of water the day before, the day of, and the day after your practice. Topping top with electrolytes will also help keep you clear-headed and cramp-free when practising regularly. Read more on our website - https://www.soulfirestudios.co.uk/hotyoga
Throughout the day, all the aerial classes were fully booked. Aerial is such a fab practice – it incorporates a silk hammock, hung from the ceiling so that you can sit, dangle and invert (go upside down), with it. You’re working with and against gravity at different points throughout the practice, finding balance and strength simultaneously. It is now largely considered a complementary practice to a traditional mat based yoga class.Aerial is a creative and playful form of yoga, so we’re not at all surprised it was so popular over the weekend. It gives us the freedom to embrace to joyfulness we had as children to flip, roll and go upside down whilst being safely held and supported by the Aerial ‘silks’.
After those sessions, we had a break for everyone’s favourite… food! Sally and Mavis had been working incredibly hard to make sure we had a fully stocked fridge with all of Wild Leaf Vegan’s delicious treats and juices. They’d made Black Lemonade, Pina Colada, Raise the Roots and R8 Green along with apricot and pineapple energy balls and of course, our famous sneaker bars! If you haven’t tried a sneaker bar yet, think of a millionaire shortbread but good for you! It’s gluten free, dairy free, sugar free and vegan, and delicious – rich and gooey with a treacly after taste, it was just as popular as we’d anticipated!
We were blessed with beautiful bright sunshine throughout the day, which came streaming in through the windows, making for some very atmospheric photos. Some people stayed the whole day, but most chose to drop in and out, finding the sessions that appealed to them and discovering something new.
After the break Anne Marie continued in the Fire Studio with Dharma Yoga and Dharma wheel. After really loosening up in the heat, those who stayed were flexible and supple, ready to really lean into their asanas. The sessions were only 30 minutes each, so the teachers were not able to run a really extended session, but AM managed to get in some arm balances, crow practice and headstands. Pretty amazing considering how many new yogis we had on the day! For Dharma Wheel, everyone was encouraged to really lean back into their wheel to experience the full nutrients of their backbends. The room is still a bit warm after a hot class, giving it a wonderful, restorative, and nourishing atmosphere.
After the aerial classes, Sally taught Gentle Hatha and Soulful Yin sessions in the Soul studio. These nourishing, temperate classes were a huge hit, with everyone coming out of them looking truly radiant after a moment of complete relaxation. It was a wonderful moment to calm down from the buzz of the day, and if you haven’t had an opportunity to come to Soul Fire Studios, we’d recommend these soft, tender classes to absolutely everyone.
Across from Sally in the Soul studio, Gosia was teaching a very different type of yoga. Her Flexibility Flow, Vinyasa Alignment and Power Yoga are all wonderful energetic classes, helping to create heat and flow, and challenge your body to reach its appropriate edge. Her classes are fun and vigorous, and she’s a wonderful, hands-on teacher, who helps guide her students through their practice to find their full potential. Having the two types of classes running in tandem to one another really helped highlight the amazing variety of holistic offerings for health, exercise, and wellbeing that’s on offer at Soul Fire Studios.
Towards the end of the day Victoria came in to teach Hatha Restorative and Ferret finished the day off with Yin Yang Flow. We were all very impressed by the 2 people that stuck with us for the whole day and tried as many sessions as were on offer – what an amazing way to spend a Saturday!
Al but one of our teachers was here on the Open Day, but unfortunately everyone has such busy schedules, they all had to run off and we didn’t get a full studio staff picture – perhaps next time! If you were at the open day, we’d still love to hear your feedback – it was such a beautiful, energetic day, but if there’s anything you’d have liked to have seen, please let us know! Running these 30 minute sessions was a bit of an experiment for us – did you find it long enough? We felt it would be a great way to encourage new members, rather than running longer sessions that might sound a bit too challenging to those who were nervous about coming.
We had such a fantastic day, and it was so great to open up the doors and meet so many new faces. We can’t wait to see you all again soon!
