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Healthy Options Yoga Holidays Review: Put The Fun Back Into The Healthy

Healthy Options does wellbeing without the worthiness, as Alix O’Neill discovers on a trip to its Marrakech hideaway

I love a yoga retreat as much as the next committed (but love my alcohol too much to practise regularly) yogi.

But there’s something about kale juice and the all-consuming panic that takes hold as you watch your looser-limbed companions ease into their sun salutations, that fails to strike that holiday mood.

(Healthy Options)
(Healthy Options)



Having the flexibility of a Russian gymnast isn’t the point of yoga, and a diet of liquified greens certainly isn’t the point of a holiday. So searching for a slightly more fun alternative to get my yoga retreat fix, I discovered Healthy Options, who, for the past decade, have been running yoga and pilates trips to Greece, aimed at both absolute beginners and those with a bit more experience.

Unlike yoga retreats, which typically adopt a holistic approach, the emphasis here is on old-school relaxation. Classes are non-competitive, and food is the only thing not included in the price, so if deep-fried calamari and a couple of ice-cold beers helps expedite your wellbeing journey, you’re free to head to one of the local restaurants after evening asanas.

(Healthy Options)
(Healthy Options)



Recently, Healthy Options took its winning formula to Marrakech. It was there I spent four days last November, indulging in meditation and sugary mint tea. I’d moved flat the previous week and was juggling a hectic workload, which ironically made it the worst possible timing for a holiday. Plus, the sonorant souks of the Moroccan capital seemed an incongruous choice for a yoga haven.

But when I was greeted at the airport by Carly, the laid-back Marrakech team leader, my stress-ometer went from ‘Where's all the wine gone?’ to ‘Tall Americano, extra shot, please’. (Hey, small steps, people.)

Our driver dropped us off outside the walls of the medina and Carly led me through the winding streets of the Mouassine quarter to an unassuming 15th-century building. Inside, the frenzied pace of the old town dissipated in a haze of orange blossom oil, and the reassuring splash of souk-trodden feet cooling in the riad’s courtyard plunge pool.

I was given a timetable of optional classes and events for the week and informed the welcome dinner was at 8pm, but otherwise, the city and riad were mine to explore. The stress-ometer dial shot down to a ‘Weak latte’.

(Healthy Options)
(Healthy Options)



Limbering Up
There was no shortage of things to do on my trip. Pilates and yoga classes are held throughout the day, with different styles of yoga on offer, from dynamic practices for those who like to break a sweat, to the more meditative, on-trend yin yoga. There are also classes focusing on technique, and a basic introduction to yogic philosophy.

The morning classes are a great way to start the day. It was refreshing to wake up to the sound of the muzzein calling the faithful to prayer instead of my iPhone alarm, and an invigorating flow class burnt sufficient calories to justify an ambrosial breakfast of sweetened yoghurt with pomegranates and marbled madeira cake topped with coconut.



Haggling and Hammams
Should you tire of all that stretching and sugar, Marrakech has plenty of diversions. Hit the souks, being careful to dodge old men on bicycles precariously balanced with dead chickens, and haggle over some leather goods (though have a good sniff of your intended purchase first: five months later, strangers still make that ‘Is there a dirty nappy in the vicinity’ face when I’m out with my goatskin bag). Or head to the magnetic Jemaa el-Fnaa, the medina’s main square, to watch snake charmers, storytellers and Bedouin musicians in action.

Fans of Sex And The City II, (hang your heads in shame) should visit Aziz, a local jeweller, who played the guy who sold those slipper-type shoes to Carrie in the film. His real-life shop is an Aladdin’s cave of gorgeous handmade pieces.

Tour and activities are included the Healthy Option’s itinerary, though these are subject to change, so check before booking. The free hammam was an interesting experience, and not one for the modest. Expect vigorous scrubbing of intimate body parts before being left on a stone slab for 20 minutes wearing nothing but paper pants.

With the help of my handsy hammam, my four-day break succeeded in taking the stress-ometer right down to ‘Camomile tea’. You can’t ask for a healthier option than that.

Healthy Options will be running spring and autumn itineraries to Morocco (dates TBC). Summer yoga and pilates breaks to the beautiful island of Lefkas in Greece start from £645pp (two sharing), incl. flights from London, transfers, seven nights' beachfront accommodation, unlimited yoga & pilates classes, other fitness classes and stand-up paddle boarding and sailing taster sessions. Departures from May to September.

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