What is yoga?
CORE 40
Yoga comes in many shapes and sizes, or perhaps, more accurately, in many styles and sequences! As the students of Hot Yoga Ibiza know, our school follows the Bishnu Ghosh lineage of yoga and one of the subsequent sequences of yoga that has evolved from this lineage is CORE 40, developed by Tony Sanchez, who is recognised as one of the foremost experts on Hatha Yoga in the world today.
So what is CORE 40 exactly? The class is a 90-minute sequence of therapeutic Hatha yoga postures, featuring 40 therapeutic positions derived from the traditional 84 asanas of Bishnu Ghosh’s yoga. Devised by Tony to be taught as an introduction to the full sequence, he himself called it the ‘master core system’ – it was his teaching disciples who went on to give it the name by which we know it now. As the name suggests, the class focuses on your core, starting from your spine and working from the inside out in order to rejuvenate and care for your central nervous system.
Those who have previously practiced Bikram Yoga may recognise around half of the poses – as the two sequences hail from the same lineage, there are some similarities, however during CORE 40 you will experience a much deeper practice. Tony added what he felt was missing to the series – abdominal exercises, hip openers, arm balancing and strengthening exercises. Hot Yoga Ibiza founder Sebastien Carincotte describes it as, “more fun, we can move and play with some of the postures, especially in the two-hour class on Saturdays.”
Who is it for? CORE 40 is for suitable for all levels, and can be adapted to suit each student, focusing purely on postures, breath work and meditation. It can be practiced from a beginner’s level to a much more challenging style of practice, depending on the student’s experience.
What to expect in class: First and foremost – it’s not practiced with any heat.
Our studio may be called Hot Yoga Ibiza, but our heating is not always on – students create the heat within their own bodies during a practice such as this.
As a general guide, you’ll start with pranayama (breathing exercises), followed by the Salute to Gods and Goddesses series, Salute to the Sun series, Salute to the Moon series, Awkward series, Eagle series and the transition series, preparing you to go from the standing postures to the floor. Then, after a brief Savasana and wind-removing pose, you’ll go into the Cobra series, followed by a combination of spine compressions and extensions, the stretching series and finish with the double side series. Then you’ll focus on some deeper pranayama before your meditation – the experience you have spent the past 90 minutes concentrating and preparing your body for.
