Class Review: Sexhale

5th August

You’ve probably seen Sexhale advertised around your local club – but what is it exactly? Well, the concept of this yoga based class is to untap your inner goddess and reconnect with your sexuality. Not your average workout, sure. But it’s not half as creepy as your imagination may be picturing either, don’t you worry. In fact, this unique experience is all about learning how to love yourself, feel strong and oh-oh-ohhh-so powerful – as resident blogger Hayley found out…

Yogic philosophy preaches that certain poses can increase your libido and in fact, previous newspaper reports have claimed that women can even have an orgasm - or ‘yogasm’ - during a particularly erm, energetic session. So with Sexhale, who knew what to expect? Would it be really mortifying? Really erotic? Really... messy?

The studio was nice and dark so you could totally get into your own little zone and it was quite easy to ignore everyone else in the room. The instructor, Tara, clarified to the class straightaway that it was going to be a fairly fast flowing yoga experience and also explained some of the teachings behind sexuality and yoga.

We began with some tantric breathing and sitting in Butterfly Pose, starting off nice and easy. And if we all do it together, you can’t feel self-conscious, right?

As someone who is relatively new to yoga, the more you do it, the more comfortable it becomes (like anything), whether that be the language, the behaviour, the rituals or the energy in the room.

The class progressed to Vinyasa flow, quite challenging, but as Tara said: ‘If your body needs a rest, honour that request!’ There seemed to be quite a focus on opening the hips so there was a lot of wriggling and grinding on the mat and it got pretty sweaty.

Tara was wonderfully liberated and didn’t bat an eyelid talking about sex, breathing and opening your heart to invite love in then give it back. It was all very positive. The class was building to some sort of crescendo though and Tara did say a few times it was building up for something quite special, so I was a bit worried.

But I needn’t have been, the ‘climax’ of the class was just the intensity of the poses. Warrior 1, 2 and 3, Arabesque, Downward Dog - all flowing quite rapidly.

What was also pleasing about Sexhale was the music. It wasn't the typical chimey, chanty church melodies you normally get... Tara picked some really offbeat pop remixes that were both relaxing and stimulating. It definitely made a difference to the vibe of the class.

Afterwards, once we had relaxed and focused on some more breathing techniques, it was time to go home.

Energised, hyper-aware of my body and just a little flushed in the face, I thought I’ll certainly be returning. Self-love, I’m converted!