SURROUNDED BYsnow-swathed mountains,
I’m doing the Downward Dog atop Ajax
Mountain above the beautiful mountain
town of Aspen, Colorado, and I’m feeling
the love.
“Open your heart and relish this pose,”
drawls Jaime Hartrich, our 66-year-old,
ultra-fit instructor, demonstrating the
moves in his ski gear.
It’s a treat to be partaking in a morning
yoga class reached by gondola, 3263 metres
above sea level, with heavenly views of this
famous mountain we’re soon to ski down.
“Aspen is definitely getting more into
yoga—so is the whole world!” says Jaime, a
former architect.
By his own admission, Jaime was once
an inflexible chap who could barely touch
his own knees; “too much wild living”.
Then one day, ten years ago, “I went to a
yoga class within a small store in Aspen,
and I was hooked. It changed my life.”
The next day, he and his then-wife
Caroline started their own yoga business.
Their studio Arjuna Yoga (517 East Hopkins
Ave), in the heart of Aspen, specialises in
Bikram Yoga.
“I’m much more loving, much more
spiritual, and much healthier,” says Jaime,
who’s studied extensively in India and
around the world.
“You’ll ski so much better for having
done this class,” nods Jaime. “It makes you
better at everything!”
He’s right. An hour later, I feel like a
champ as I glide down the mountain, my
muscles already stretched and ready for
action.
For decades, Aspen, on the roof of the
Rocky Mountains, has been a magnet for
skiers, movie stars, and trendsetters. The
former mining town was reinvented as a ski
destination in the 70s, and quickly attracted
the jetset, lured by the four mountainswithin close proximity, plus the fabulous
nightlife.
But now Aspen is also becoming
something of a mecca for yoga-lovers;
skiers wanting to lift their game with
greater flexibility, plus those mountain
dwellers and tourists longing to feel more
balanced. Wander around the glittering
little town, and nestled among the upscale
boutiques and art galleries, you’ll see yoga
studios that have managed to flourish
despite the hefty rates.
“I used to have a fast life in New York
but now Aspen’s home, and I live for my
yoga here,” a 62-year-old woman tells me.
She’s just emerged from a class at Shakti
Shali (422 East Cooper Avenue) one of the
town’s most popular yoga centres.
Established by dynamic yoga/meditation
teacher Jayne Gottlieb, Shakti Shali hosts a
variety of classes every day which are
popular with locals and tourists alike.
The studio also sports a small boutique
with alluring items produced by local
artisans and designers, including vintage
cowboy boots feminised with exquisite
fabrics, crystal feather pendants and other
goodies.
Soon after flying in to Aspen, an hour’s
flight east of LA, I wander in to attend a
class at Shakti Shali and find the deep
breathing and stretching really help me
to overcome the jetlag.
My instructor here is dynamic
20-something Courtney Smith. “I first fell
in love with yoga when I lived in Sydney and
injured my ankle, so I turned to yoga and it
changed my life!” she explains.
She now teaches yoga every day and in
doing so, has got to know many of the ski
and snowboard champs who flock here
during the year. Courtney calls her
particular style of yoga Thug Yoga, and it’s
taken off around Aspen. She plays groovy 87april 2016yogajournal.com.auJacqui Lang finds new heights of yogic
bliss in the luxurious ski town of Aspen.
Rocky
MOUNTAIN
HIGH