Shape up and shake down on this Greek island
WE ALL like a dollop of indulgence in the sunshine, but no one wants to return with a flabby reminder. Here’s a solution. On the Greek island of Lefkas, a friendly team of instructors offers a beach holiday that will help you inch towards the body beautiful.
Based at Vassiliki Bay, it teaches yoga, Pilates and higher-energy exercise classes, such as body sculpt, in a cool tent when the sun’s calmed down. There are also guided bike rides, paddle-boarding sessions — trying to stand upright on a surfboard, long paddle in hand — and more.
But the programme, Healthy Options, is no Spartan regime. You can do as much or as little as you choose. For me, that means early morning yoga before breakfast by the still empty beach, then another class or two — allowing plenty of time for afternoon dozing on a sun lounger.
Lefkas is known for its sailing, so as the wind picks up later in the day, the long, pebbled beach, flanked by green mountains, fills with windsurfers and sailors (swimmers have their own protected patch). The crowd — mostly women, but men are welcome — can join in.
An introductory windsurfing class is gloriously exhilarating, even though I spend more time in the water than on the board. And a
snorkelling trip, where we’re dropped off by boat at an outcrop of rocks, has us drifting gently in perfectly clear waters — nature’s own meditation lesson.
As evening falls, most people head to Vassiliki village at the end of the beach for huge prawns, fresh fish and salty Greek salads, before turning in early to our family-run apartments by the waterfront.
Like anything, there’s an art to tuning out. While the programme caters for a range of abilities, you’d certainly feel the benefits of a few yoga classes before arriving.
To begin with, I’m rusty — and distracted. A pesky wasp holds my attention during a group meditation session and letting my hair down at a midweek barbecue means I fail to make the next morning’s first class. But by the end of the week, I am bending like the best of them and feeling far more relaxed than I do after a booze and snooze break.
And, even if I can’t quite manage a headstand on a paddleboard like a fellow guest (a repeat visitor, I sniff), at least I don’t fall off.