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Sébastien Carincotte, born in Paris although
with a remarkable Uruguayan accent, always wanted to
live in Ibiza. He spent a few childhood summers on the
island, and in 2004 he decided to give it a go. He worked
during the summer season and then, encouraged by friends,
decided to stay on indefinitely. His interest in yoga
comes from way back, since during his student years
he started to become familiar with its practice as part
of his love of theatre. His new life in Ibiza made him
think of going to yoga classes regularly, and he started
to take it very seriously. Discovering ‘hot’
or Bikram yoga was a trigger for him, and he felt he
should follow that direction. And so he did. Thanks
to the constant practice of yoga, he felt a general
wellbeing that was new to him. He felt “relaxed,
happy”, and learnt to live the present, to “enjoy
what you have and not what you want to have”.
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There
was no going back, and in September 2006 he went to the United
States to deepen his knowledge of ‘hot yoga’. During
nine intense and exhausting weeks he studies with Bikram Choudhury,
a leading figure in the subject. Programmed activities took
up most of the day: participantes were up at 6am and never went
to bed before 2 or 3am. But the effort was worth it, because
obtaining an official instructor title that qualifies him to
teach others changed his life completely. His selfesteem improved
and he developed his more social side. Back in Ibiza, he was
offered to replace a teacher in a yoga centre and he accepted,
“more than anything else to discover whether I liked teaching,
passing on what I have learnt”. In fact, he liked it so
much that he decided to dedicate himself completely to it. For
this he travelled also to Costa Rica to continue expanding his
knowledge, although this time he went for ‘Ashtanga yoga’,
“more dynamic, less static”. For him, Bikram and
Ashtanga are two sides of the same coin, “both lead to
the same end: knowing oneself”.
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Ibiza,
perhaps his place in the world, seemed ideal for him
to create a new ‘hot yoga’ centre. Here
he has met many people from different cultures who,
like him, have come to live on the island looking to
reconnect with nature, tranquility, light and the therapeutic
effect of the sea, basically to improve their quality
of life and find themselves. With the experience he
has gained, Sébastien feels ready to contribute
in that sense. “Yoga is a very comprehensive discipline
because you are working on the body and the mind. Learning
to move, to activate the body, is essential for a healthy
life, especially for people whose work is sedentary.
Practicing yoga is cleansing the body.”
In his new centre, ‘Hot Yoga Ibiza’ (centre
for yoga and massage), Sébastien offers classes
at affordable prices, with a prior consultancy for all
those who are interested in starting up with yoga. With
the Bikram discipline, work is carried out at 40ºC,
with 40-60% humidity. In each class, participants practice
a total of 26 positions or asanas (always following
the same order) and two breathing exercises, one at
the beginning and another at the end. “It is essential
to listen to your body and concentrate on the breathing”.
A session lasting 1h30 has two phases: the first is
carried out standing and is like a warmup. The second
is carried out on the floor and is the most important
because the spinal column is exercised. By working in
damp heat, the results are more immediately perceived
and are perhaps better adapted to the mentality and
rhythm of European lifestyles, although the centre also
offers Ashtanga yoga classes. It is advisable to assist
at least twice a week in order to really feel the benefits.
At his well-located centre, in Calle de Corona (with
free parking by the Multicines), some students give
each other a friendly goodbye after an intense session.
Seeing people share their emotions, hug and leave with
a smile is his best reward.
Text:
Jordi Canut Martin
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