So you came to Bondi Beach and want to do some yoga? No surprise there, this beachside town is a…read morehot spot for health, fitness and good looking flexible hotties from the young to the, well, less young (but still arguably fitter than a lot of people in the thirties elsewhere). Having mentioned my yoga tendencies to our air bnb host, we're staying in Bondi for a month during our twelve month working holiday, she keenly handed over two free class passes to BodyMindLife Yoga. Having walked past the studio a few times and enquired about their starter offer for $48 which to me is great value for unlimited 30days yoga, considering you've all the time in the world when on holiday here, I was keen to see what it was like inside. They have a range of classes to choose from and if you ask you can find out which teachers are suitable to your level of experience. We started with a essentials at 28degrees practice, there's also the open practice which is available at 28 or 30 degrees and yin yoga, meditation is also available. Being that in England I found practicing flow yoga in a church hall during winter too hot, I wasn't sure what to expect when you turned the temperature up to what is essentially a heatwave in England, I bought a towel and large bottle of water in anticipation. (I can tell you now, I sweat my arse off, so I'd advise you do the same.) The women were lovely, a quick tour of the place, a few guidelines on etiquette, which I always appreciate - there's nothing worse than someone distracting your meditation with a phone going off of whispering. Though two women didn't fully embody this attitude at the start of the lesson and I did feel distracted from settling into my space. Essentials class is there to introduce the key poses to those newer to yoga and fully emphasise the posture and alignment of poses to those who practice. For myself I found this really helpful, there was both an instructor and assistant who would come and adjust your pose to the correct alignment and my god do you feel it in certain positions. For others I think the basic process of movement into the pose was really beneficial. I am used to vinyasa or flow yoga, this class actually holds poses for a lot longer so the focus on core muscle strength is intense but really I found it helpful to come back to basics and recognise the muscles that need to be engaged and focus on my alignment. I would advise this for anyone at any level to refresh and refine your key poses. This class for me didn't hold much mental relief as I was holding so much concentration on extended poses and my alignments that I actually forgot to breathe at times and at other times my breath ran away from me, occasionally we were encouraged to bring it back with deep inhales and exhales in between, I would just say if your looking for a mental stretch and relax then a different choice of class would be more beneficial - I haven't tried the others as of yet so I can't advise on those, but as a company they seem friendly, capable and clean. I definitely feel like I've had a good work out and found myself a few new muscles to engage! Namaste.

I recently got an intro pass to check out their pilates reformer class. A few notes:…read more Pros: -they offer many reformer classes daily with varying levels (Align, Flow, Dynamic) -clean studio -variety of instructors -intro pass was a great deal ($48/4 reformer classes) Cons: -Difficult to reach via phone, I called several times and left a message but never got a return call. I had to actually go in person to have my questions answered -They do require you to take a basic reformer class (Align) prior to advancing to their more difficult classes. This is great if you are a newbie, however, if you have any basic understanding of the reformer, you will find this unnecessary and a waste of an hour as you may not get much of a workout -they are super strict about their late policy. I was only 3 minutes late and was told I could not join the reformer class. I understand 10-15 min late, but under 5 minutes...really? A bit unnecessary given it only takes 30 seconds to adjust the reformer bed to your height, meh :/

If you leave a Yoga by the Sea session feeling anything less than amazing, I'd be surprised!…read more I'm in two minds about the quality of the actual yoga instruction. You really need to go pretty regularly to understand the movements/poses and classes are quite big so knowing if you're on track regarding technique is tricky... it's a bit like chinese whispers... the confident front-row-dweller is watched by the next row, the people on the edges watch the middle and I'm the twisted knot of a human up the back corner wondering "is my hip supposed to dislocate?". Having said that, I've never been to a class where I haven't improved... I'm all over the downward dog now... and can do the "happy baby" like a pro... Yoga by the Sea is a fantastic way to take an hour to get downright cheesy with yourself..... meditate, be "at one" with the earth, breath in the ocean air, stretch, feel happy to be alive... all the stuff I put off too often and appreciate too little. You might even see a dolphin :)

Being by the beach and the ocean is always motivation for me to live a healthier life, so I thought…read moreI would give 'Yoga by the Sea' at Bondi Icebergs a try. 'Yin' or 'Yang' yoga is on offer - 'Yin' is gentle and 'Yang' is stronger. I choose 'Yin' at 6:30AM on Wednesdays to start with. 6:30AM isn't my usual waking hour so getting there is a challenge but there is something so stirring about yoga by the ocean as the sun comes up. The sounds and the breeze add to the experience and it is hard to leave at the end of the class. Classes are drop-in so no bookings are required. Class is $18 but for an extra $2 you can get entry to the pool and the sauna! Highly recommended.

Can you get your legs all the way over your head until your feet are standing on the floor in front…read moreof your face, If not, why not? It's easy anyone can do it, just a bit of Yoga should sort it out for you. Okay it might be a little more complicated than that, I should know, being one of the most uncoordinated members of the species. That's why Jois Yoga exists. Jois is like Yoga for the Yoga connoisseur, teaching techniques developed by Sri K Pattabhi Jois who was a Ashtanga Yoga expert. Jois opened a Yoga school in 1948 and also taught in universities, he lived until age 93, so the Yoga must have done him some good. What I like about Jois, is they offer beginners classes in two levels so you can get the hang of it and build your confidence and that way when starting to practice it properly you have a better idea of what you're doing. Come on bend your legs over your head.

You wouldn't think it would be hard to find Ashtanga Yoga in Bondi Beach but turns out it's harder…read morethan finding a Snickers bar in Whole Foods. I know. Ridiculous, huh? Yet here, sitting unobtrusively on notoriously rowdy Hall Street, is Jois Ashtanga Yoga Shala. And it's exactly what I was hoping to find. The shop downstairs is simple enough, but it's upstairs where the magic lays. Entering through a back staircase that is warmly lit with candles smelling of amber and Eucalyptus, you walk though a set of dark wooden doors into the warm, light-filled studio space. From 6:00am - 11:00 am you'll find half the room filled with heavily-breathing, far-too-flexible people practicing Mysore style with a roving instructor giving one-on-one instruction. The other half is filled with an introduction to Ashtanga class - the reason I'm there. The month long introduction course meets 3-days a week at either 6:30am or 7pm, costs $100 and comes with a yoga mat and instruction booklet. The teacher is exceptionally patient and calming, but good lord, I've never sweat more in a yoga class. It's obvious that the goal of the class is to get people to the point where they are able to go through the sequence on their own, or Mysore style. (I know, the unintentional imagery of the name isn't lost on me either.) Jois also offers a weekly led primary series class in place of the regular Mysore style practice to reinforce that each vinyasa is being practiced correctly. Listen to me - already talking like a Yogi. Perhaps after my month long course I'll be able to smugly strut around Bondi in my yoga pants, mat tucked under my arm, en route to my next spirulina and microalga-infused green juice, looking down at all the less flexible and spiritually connected than I. Dream big Laura, dream big.

The best Yoga class in Sydney. I absolutely love it. The instructor is the BESTread more

From the owner: We specialize in safe, fun, effective traditional yoga for the modern body…read more Yoga Synergy is a unique method designed by advanced yoga practitioners and teachers Bianca Machliss and Simon Borg Olivier, who both studied physiotherapy in order to further their knowledge of the human body and their understanding of yoga. The Yoga Synergy method teaches 5 sequences throughout the year, each progressively taught over 9 weeks. Its fine to join any time, just arrive 10-15mins before class time. Classes are held at our Newtown studio: 196 Australia St and at Elixr Health Club in Bondi Junction. We also run Online courses, Online classes and Teacher Training both online and live. Visit our website www.yogasynergy.com for more information

If you're looking to give yourself a serious body-image issue, move to Bondi immediately. Everyone…read morehere is fit, (and beautiful, and tan, and happy - but more on that in other reviews) so I'd highly recommend finding a gym and finding one fast. And if you're looking for some low-key, no pretense, hot 'n' sweaty gym action, this is your spot. Not only is this gym as humble and anti-GloboGym as you can get, but it's a complete mixed bag of clientele - from the dirty hipsters who clearly come to the gym strictly for ironic purposes, to Bondi beefcakes of both sexes, to surfers, to yummy mummies, to Hugh Jackman. A few treadmills, a few cycles, a few ellipticals and enough strength training equipment that would all fit inside of one of the mega-gym's group exercise rooms. And this is exactly why I love it. Speaking of group exercise, they have a few classes a week of boxing, TRX and beach bootcamps. Monthly rates depending on your commitment range from $150 to $80ish.