This week I went to experience something new!

I love a good experience – they are the basis of all we do at Mode for… – so I love getting out and trying new things, being inspired and motivated.

Whilst scrolling social media I was targeted with an advert for ‘Glow Yoga’ from a business account called ‘The Dopamine Project’.

What’s Glow Yoga you ask? Well, according to the organisers it’s “an immersive experience in an illuminated and inspiring space!”
It’s a 60-minute instructor led yoga session to a curated soundtrack that you listen to through wireless headphones to deliver, according to the organisers “an undisrupted wellness journey allowing you to disconnect from the world and reconnect with yourself.”

Aimed at yogis of all standards I was up for this experience and the UK Tour was kicking off in Bradford Cathedral. Now, I know Bradford Cathedral very well as I’ve been a part of numerous concerts and school presentation evenings in this amazing building… but I’ve never experienced it like this and done yoga!

The greeting was friendly, the Cathedral looked fabulous with its atmospheric lighting and as I set-up it all felt nice and relaxed. I grabbed my supplied headphones – think silent disco for yoga! – laid my mat down, said ‘hi’ to my yoga neighbour Emily and settled in for the session with instructor Charlie…

Let’s cut to the chase now…

I’m fairly proficient at yoga and the session was a good level for beginners / intermediates, even if some people did get a little confused by the instructor along the way as to which side they should be doing the poses on – it’s not easy to remember to mirror yourself as an instructor and remember to say or move to the opposite direction of what your class does – the reality is people don’t always listen to the words you say as a leader – they follow your moves – so if you’re facing them and saying stretch to the right, they’re likely to just follow you and actually move to the left… apart from the ones who did listen and go the opposite way! Potential chaos!

The Yoga sequence itself was enjoyable; a nice flow for the hour and it allowed you to push yourself as much or little as was within your comfort and practice and the venue and lighting was spot on – nice and relaxing.
I love the concept of Glow Yoga and the use of headphones allowed you to really turn your attention inwards into your own mind and body – something we rarely do – so it felt good. However, whilst
the principle was fantastic, the logistics of the headphones was not without issue. It was quite frustrating when the music and instruction from the leader kept dropping out or was crackling – which happened a lot – and ultimately it really distracted from the wellness journey and
experience as you had to adjust your headphones, breaking your concentration on your practise and mindfulness.

Also, it’s in no way comfortable to do moves that require your head or side of your face on a mat when you have big headphones on. There were also clearly logistics when you lower your head in standing poses; you can feel your headphones slipping off so instinctively go to save them which again distracts from your practise, and for some people, they slipped right off with a bang on the floor – equally distracting! My wellness journey was not ‘undisrupted’ as the information led me to
believe it would be!

So, all-in-all, a great concept with amazing potential and I enjoyed the session, but it wasn’t without its glitches, be they technical or logistical which were quite distracting and at £20 for the hour session, a little pricey for my personal experience.

That said, as experiences go, I’d definitely recommend you give anything a try that allows you to focus on you, forget the world and get in tune with your mind and body and there are some fantastic group yoga and mindfulness classes around the country that allow for that and maybe you even fancy giving Glow Yoga a try yourself. We all have different experiences of things so this is worth the try and see how you go.

You can find out more at www.thedopamineproject.co.uk or follow on Insta @the.dopamineproject

Why not let us know any great experiences you’ve tried. We’d love to hear them!

Much love
Tabby x