Chantal’s reputation in the yoga community precedes her. I had heard about her classes and signature Hanuman Flow a long time ago but only managed to experience it a few days ago at her beautiful new Yoga Atelier. It was actually the driver behind my directory’s “expansion” outside of the Zurich realm, to Thalwil! You can check out all the studios via this link or anytime under “Studios by location” > Thalwil, easy peasy 😉

I had been receiving yoga studio recommendations in the area for quite some time but I was too lazy to take the 8 minute train ride (as it turns out…) to Thalwil. Good Chantal settled down there with her two babies: the atelier and Milo Davis, the most adorable cuddly dog in the world!

The Hanuman Flow Sunday class could not have been better timed: at 4.30pm, after the Saturday night hangover and Sunday brunch induced drowsiness have worn off. The studio is a true gem: light wooden floors, airy, classy, and spacious enough for intimate yoga sessions. I was joined by 3 other yogis this time and in this group we could all enjoy a lot of personal touch and attention from Chantal.

The class started without an intro meditation, and I must say I only later on saw how nicely progressive the whole practice was. We worked with elementary poses and variations thereof: twists in lunge position, with knee down / in the air, with palms closed / arms extended, with / without binds. Throughout the class we developed and deepened the poses, and the progress felt very natural.

For some classic energy boosters, we alternated Chantal’s signature flow with sun salutations. Still, it felt to me like the whole practice was very core engaging, and most specifically sometime around halfway through the class, when we had some hardCORE practice. There’s lots of core activating poses in yoga, from plank to boat pose, which were both part of this class. However, it was certainly the first time when I worked on the core with a stick! Yep, a wooden stick held behind the neck, pushing the elbows back and straightening the shoulders. Now try crunching like that! Mhmmm…

We laughed that one off a bit (also a core activating exercise by the way :)) – and that was one of the parts I truly loved about the class: it was engaging, empowering and FUN! We were also aligned many times along the way and used quite a few props – not just the stick – to play with more complex arm balancing poses. It’s nice how a little bit of fun and games can make a seemingly difficult task much less of a challenge.

The final shavasana was certainly deserved, yet the best reward and parting gift were the cuddles with Milo 🙂 He was practicing shavasana for the whole 90 minutes, so he’s already very well integrated in the yoga world.

I certainly can’t wait for my next opportunity to join Chantal’s unique classes, and I’m eyeing her special session on Friday, 30 August for the end of summer practice!
See you again soon in the Atelier ♥