Sebastien says

Before I start on a series of monthly blogs, it occurred to me that first I should introduce myself. My name is Sebastien Carincotte and I am the owner and founder of Hot Yoga Ibiza. I was born in Paris, and have been visiting the island since I was little boy of just six years old with my parents, so I always felt a connection to Ibiza.

My connection to yoga is a little different. I was a problematic student for my theatre teacher when I was 16 – it wasn’t only me, we were all troubled at that young age, we felt a lot of issues – and so she started to introduce the concept of yoga into our classes. Just breathing exercises, to make us feel calm, help us relax, and connect to the body – because acting isn’t about saying the words, it’s about expressing something with your words and your actions at the same time. We were always laughing in class – it was like a silly game to us. Haha, we’re doing yoga! I couldn’t imagine that around 10 years later, I would embark on the yogic path again.

I moved to the Mediterranean island of Ibiza permanently when I was 26. I was tired of working in clubs in Paris, and I had connections in Ibiza so I knew I could easily get work. I was working in restaurants… but unhappy. It was not what I wanted to do with my life. But you have to pay the bills!

A friend told me about a ‘weird thing’ she had tried, and invited me along to a Bikram Yoga class. I was intrigued. It was the heat that initially attracted me, and in that very first class, something happened inside me. I felt connected to the practice. I hadn’t done any sports for about eight years – when you’re young, you think your body doesn’t need any kind of training – and then I started going to class about three times a week, and after four months of practice, the teacher asked me if I was interested in doing a teacher training course.

It was a fast transition, from the first class to the teacher training (normally you should practice for at least six months beforehand, but I thought why not?), which was nine weeks with Bikram Choudhury in Hawaii. Really, I knew NOTHING about yoga. And I wanted to die. I think I spent the first two weeks just lying on the floor wanting to go home. But your ego… it won’t let you. It told me, just lay down and try to manage the situation. Don’t give up. You will learn.

This was the most difficult experience of my life – and I’ve been through a lot! There were so many times when I wondered what I was doing there, and thought it was too tough, too difficult, too stressful, too hot in a humid room full of 300 sweaty people… I was out of my comfort zone but this is how I learned, and how I learned how to teach. I learned Yoga is not just about practicing asanas. It’s about raising your awareness, your consciousness. The union of body, mind and spirit that brings you towards the discovery of the truth – this is something I would continue to keep learning (and still do today) and to keep feeling.