Manchester Yoga Central review

The many health and therapeutic benefits of practising Hatha yoga include improved flexibility, balance, grace and weight loss. In a belated quest to start the year with a new exercise regime, Hatha yoga seemed to be the perfect choice - especially when priced at just £5 for 75 minutes at Manchester Yoga Central.

I just couldn’t seem to master a pose called the ‘peacock.’ Noticing the pain I was facing, the instructor immediately came over to help. Apparently I wasn’t balancing my body weigh evenly. I may have been disheartened over the peacock but the instructor’s dedication to her students gave me the confidence to keep trying, without the worry of doing myself an injury.

Hatha devotees will know it to be the most relaxing form of yoga - slowly breaking you in, while relaxing both body and mind. Manchester Yoga Central is situated in a small, comforting room in a mixed-use building on Lloyd Street. The hardest part of the session was actually trying to locate the room. After what seemed like enough exercise for the day, walking up and down the stairs like lost children, we eventually found it. Already late, and with no time to change and no obvious signs of a changing room, I ended up doing yoga in my skinny jeans - not something I'll be doing again.

The class was small, with around ten people taking part. Some had clearly never been before (my friend included) and others were clearly master yogis. I fell into the middle category. We began with the usual breathing and stretching exercises and with the dimly lit room and tranquil music, it really was hard not to want to fall asleep. However the pace quickly increased.

Each pose was demonstrated at the front of the class and the instructor also came around, easing us into the poses where necessary. Unsurprisingly, she ended up spending a lot of her time at the back of the class, helping both me and my friend – the newbies - to perfect the correct poses.

The most difficult part for us, wasn’t maintaining the poses, but getting them right in the first place. That said, most of the poses were achievable for most novice yoga fans and even the advanced positions didn't cause too much of a challenge in the class on the whole.

And then of course, there’s the one that got away.

I just couldn’t seem to master a pose called the ‘peacock.’ Noticing the pain I was facing, the instructor immediately came over to help. Apparently I wasn’t balancing my body weigh evenly. I may have been disheartened over the peacock but the instructor’s dedication to her students gave me the confidence to keep trying, without the worry of doing myself an injury.

The session also included less pain-inducing poses such as the bow, the salutation and the wheel - all of which were advanced poses, yet with guidance and simple breathing techniques were, again, easy to follow. The 75 minute class ended with a relaxation technique to help wind down the body and mind. Despite getting off to a stressful start in skinny jeans up against that pesky peacock, Hatha yoga at Manchester Yoga Central provided the perfect calming end to the day. It’s most certainly the one exercise regime which doesn't make you want to give-up after the first session.

Manchester Yoga Central
18 Lloyd Street
Manchester
M2 5WA

Monday: 5.30pm - 6.45pm
Thursday: 6pm - 7.15pm