Yoga Spa at Pause Yoga, Days Bay

Because I work at a desk in the city all week, I sometimes feel like my body is seizing into a sitting shape. Does anyone else get this? It is common knowledge now, but Yoga is one of the best things for counteracting this nightmare. Fighting the sitting with the chest openers is one of the most blissful feelings, I personally have in my current desk dwelling life. SO. You may have seen a post I wrote last year: A Guide to the Best Yoga Studios in Wellington and one of those is the BEAUTIFUL Pause Yoga in Days Bay. This weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to spend a day at this studio for one a Yoga Spa Day, and it was so lovely and gave me such a brilliant opposition to the working week.

yoga spa pause yoga days bay

The name Yoga SPA day may have you think of jacuzzis, massages and facials. But a yoga spa is different. The yoga spa is a self-care in a different way, through Yoga, of course. Pause is owned and run by the lovely Cathy Gamba who has created the most amazing space in Days bay where she teaches Yoga throughout the week as well as putting on the spa days at different times throughout the year. The spa day includes a morning of meditation and vinyasa flow, followed by a nourishing vegan lunch at Kotare, down by the ocean and the afternoon is a session of Yin and more meditation.

yoga spa pause yoga

I don’t think I have the words to describe how perfect Pause Yoga is a space to practise yoga and meditation. It is nestled in the hills surrounded by trees and singing birds. The whole front of the space is sweeping glass doors, that give you a view of the entire valley and the ocean. The shala is made of raw wood with giant mirrors that reflect the trees and the light throughout the room. It feels like you are right in the middle of a forest.

The Yoga spa was SO special. I honestly have not stopped buzzing about how divinely relaxing it was. Mats and global artichoke bolsters and blocks are provided and you immediately feel so comfortable in this space. Despite this day being a chilly autumn one, the studio was so warm and with the sun streaming through the windows felt like the middle of summer. The whole place also smells AMAZING, not only because of the beautiful forest surroundings but also because of the Ecoya candles burning in the shala.

The yoga in the morning was the strongest session, but totally manageable with variations available depending on whether you wanted to push yourself further or not. I’m not a yoga expert but sometimes classes I go to can feel like you are being pushed to do a million vinyasas just for the sake of it. Cathy’s class is so much more than this, there is rhyme and reason to everything and I don’t think you would feel bad even if you decide to do a 30-minute child’s pose.

Lunch at Kotare was a winter vegetable broth, a purple rice salad and bread with garlic herb butter, herb humous and an amazing seasonal feijoa green juice. This food was so beautiful and perfectly light to sit in the middle of a four and a half hour yoga session. It was also really nice to sit with and talk with the others on the retreat over lunch.

The meditation and afternoon yin was also epic. I have found meditation something really hard to tap into despite trying and having heard countless times about the benefits it can bring. Meditating in the morning is supposed to be life-changing, especially for a massive stress head like me but, I just haven’t been able to get into it into it. This is why a guided meditation like the one we did at Pause is perfect. Cathy read from her favourite recommended book A Clinicians Guide to Teaching Mindfulness and guided us back to ourselves. As always, I am not sure if I got the desired effect but doing it surrounded by nature and trees with the amazing scent of the candles, it felt like I got into some great space.

This was SUCH a beautiful day, I had wanted to try it for some time and it lived up to my expectations. Honestly, by the end, I was so relaxed that I was sleeping (probably not a very good yoga thing!). The cost is around $130 per person, and I think that is damn reasonable considering you could easily spend double that to have a day spent in a “real” spa. Also, I should say, don’t be afraid to go on your own without a friend: almost everyone at the day yesterday was alone but everyone got chatting.

Kotare days bay lunch

Kotare

I can’t believe I have got through this whole blog without mentioning the adorable yoga cat! There is a sweet cat that roams around the shala and comes to cuddle you while you are in Yin poses. He even cuddled up on top of one of the yogis while she was in her final Shavasana. This just adds to the super homey and comfortable feeling that Pause has.

Thank you for the beautiful day, Cathy. My desk felt like a distant memory. I can’t wait to come back to the studio.

yoga spa pause yoga days bay