Whatever brings you to Boulder, immerse yourself in its rich natural beauty and vibrant yoga classes, workshops, and retreats.
By Elaine Lipson
Residents call it 40 square miles surrounded by reality. Others know it as a New Age mecca, an outdoor paradise, an affluent tourist destination, a college town, or a progressive alternative to nearby Denver. Boulder, Colorado, is all of these things and more; whatever brings you to Boulder, immerse yourself in its rich natural beauty and vibrant yoga classes, workshops, and retreats.
Boulder's best-known teacher is Richard Freeman, a student of K. Pattabhi Jois and director of The Yoga Workshop in the heart of the city, where he and others teach classical Ashtanga Yoga. Freeman has been teaching yoga in Boulder for 18 years and has noticed that "interest in Ashtanga Yoga is growing here, as it is throughout the world. It combines meditation, internal alignment, movement, and traditional yoga postures, so it gives you a profound experience of self-realization and freedom." The studio offers four levels of classes, but Level I classes explore Sun Salutation postures with a depth and focus that can benefit even advanced students.
A drive up Boulder Canyon leads to the mountain town of Nederland, gateway to hiking trails, alpine lakes, and Shoshoni Yoga Retreat in nearby Rollinsville. Shoshoni offers daily hatha yoga classes and meditation sessions; overnight guests enjoy log-cabin lodgings and vegetarian meals. Director Faith Stone says the ashram's teaching style is "gentle, classical, and more traditional—not super aerobic." The most unique thing about Shoshoni, Stone adds, "is the breath and spiritual aspect. Hatha yoga was and is a way to experience the inner Self, a spiritual path. In a lot of places that's been diluted, but it's very much alive here." Weekend Rejuvenation Retreats begin on Friday evenings; a full schedule and on-line reservations are available on the Web.
Back in downtown Boulder, the Iyengar Center of Boulder offers beginning, mixed-level, and custom-designed therapeutic classes in the Iyengar style. "Every class combines rest and activity, as you should in daily life too," says the Center's director, Laura Allard, who established the studio in 1991 with her husband Norman, a chiropractor and certified Feldenkrais teacher as well as a certified Iyengar instructor.
Though most yogis passing through Boulder won't have time for a formal certification program in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, or Ayurveda offered at the Rocky Mountain Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda, the Institute's weekend intensives (on subjects like pranayama, the art of teaching asana, and Ayurvedic medicine) are open to the public on a space-available basis. Classes are also open on a drop-in basis. A list of core and guest faculty—including Vasant Lad, M.A.Sc., and Robert Svoboda, M.D.—is available on the Institute's Web site.
Between classes, you can stroll down Boulder Creek or people-watch on Pearl Street, Boulder's social center. But take note: If you feel lightheaded or fatigued after arriving in Boulder, it may be because the city's elevation is about 6,000 feet. Sensitivity or overexertion can lead to severe altitude sickness, so take a day or two to acclimate, stay hydrated, and rest if nauseous, fatigued, or short of breath.
To find a studio in Boulder, search our Google
By Elaine Lipson
Residents call it 40 square miles surrounded by reality. Others know it as a New Age mecca, an outdoor paradise, an affluent tourist destination, a college town, or a progressive alternative to nearby Denver. Boulder, Colorado, is all of these things and more; whatever brings you to Boulder, immerse yourself in its rich natural beauty and vibrant yoga classes, workshops, and retreats.
Boulder's best-known teacher is Richard Freeman, a student of K. Pattabhi Jois and director of The Yoga Workshop in the heart of the city, where he and others teach classical Ashtanga Yoga. Freeman has been teaching yoga in Boulder for 18 years and has noticed that "interest in Ashtanga Yoga is growing here, as it is throughout the world. It combines meditation, internal alignment, movement, and traditional yoga postures, so it gives you a profound experience of self-realization and freedom." The studio offers four levels of classes, but Level I classes explore Sun Salutation postures with a depth and focus that can benefit even advanced students.
A drive up Boulder Canyon leads to the mountain town of Nederland, gateway to hiking trails, alpine lakes, and Shoshoni Yoga Retreat in nearby Rollinsville. Shoshoni offers daily hatha yoga classes and meditation sessions; overnight guests enjoy log-cabin lodgings and vegetarian meals. Director Faith Stone says the ashram's teaching style is "gentle, classical, and more traditional—not super aerobic." The most unique thing about Shoshoni, Stone adds, "is the breath and spiritual aspect. Hatha yoga was and is a way to experience the inner Self, a spiritual path. In a lot of places that's been diluted, but it's very much alive here." Weekend Rejuvenation Retreats begin on Friday evenings; a full schedule and on-line reservations are available on the Web.
Back in downtown Boulder, the Iyengar Center of Boulder offers beginning, mixed-level, and custom-designed therapeutic classes in the Iyengar style. "Every class combines rest and activity, as you should in daily life too," says the Center's director, Laura Allard, who established the studio in 1991 with her husband Norman, a chiropractor and certified Feldenkrais teacher as well as a certified Iyengar instructor.
Though most yogis passing through Boulder won't have time for a formal certification program in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, or Ayurveda offered at the Rocky Mountain Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda, the Institute's weekend intensives (on subjects like pranayama, the art of teaching asana, and Ayurvedic medicine) are open to the public on a space-available basis. Classes are also open on a drop-in basis. A list of core and guest faculty—including Vasant Lad, M.A.Sc., and Robert Svoboda, M.D.—is available on the Institute's Web site.
Between classes, you can stroll down Boulder Creek or people-watch on Pearl Street, Boulder's social center. But take note: If you feel lightheaded or fatigued after arriving in Boulder, it may be because the city's elevation is about 6,000 feet. Sensitivity or overexertion can lead to severe altitude sickness, so take a day or two to acclimate, stay hydrated, and rest if nauseous, fatigued, or short of breath.
To find a studio in Boulder, search our Google
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