The UAE isn’t exactly short of yoga teachers or studios but seemingly there’s always room, not to mention demand, for one more. And in August, Dubai’s Business Bay area saw the soft opening of the Kintsugi Yoga Studio, a Japanese-themed studio for yoga, meditation and mindfulness, with nearly 200 people attending on August 31, all of whom received free classes for a fortnight.
If you missed out, do not fret. Because Kintsugi, situated in Aspect Tower, is offering free classes until September 15, and all are welcome to attend, meet the teachers and try out the various sessions on offer. Traditional yoga practices, such as hatha, ashtanga and vinyasa, are taught, and there are dedicated classes for mothers and children, as well as dance yoga, acro yoga and swing yoga. Fittingly, there are speciality classes, too, covering zazen meditation, tai chi and others.
Kintsugi is literally translated as “golden joinery”, and is the Japanese art of lining broken ceramics with gold in order to make it more beautiful. Its philosophy treats an object’s history, including its breakages and repairs, as something to be treasured rather than disguised. “Kintsugi yoga studio is built on the ideology that if something is broken or perceived as flawed it should be seen as beautiful. We help our students to find the strength in vulnerabilities and the beauty in brokenness,” says general manager Anjaan.
The studio features a number of separate rooms, one of which features entire walls constructed from bricks of pink Himalayan salt. Here, salt therapy takes place using unrefined rock salt derived from ancient lake beds and deep subterranean caverns, and which promote healthy skin, wellness and sound sleep.
If you like the idea of Kintsugi, but can’t get down to Business Bay, yogis at the other end of Dubai are still catered for. The studio has joined forces with Lululemon, the apparel store in Mall of the Emirates, where free classes will be held every Wednesday at 8:30am.
For more information, visit kintsugidubai.com or call 04 425 8482.
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