This year’s celebration of all things healthy and yogary had a lot to live up to after spotting this dude having a bit too much fun at the Kundalini class last year:

#YogaJunkie

We arrived at Ally Pally for the Om Yoga Show just in time for ‘face yoga’ with John Bruno. Yep, you heard me. Yoga with your face.

Essentially a face massage, we sat there pinching our cheeks, duck-facing and looking very silly. Apparently it keeps you looking young and healthy – and I’d choose that any day over expensive creams and lotions.

After slapping ourselves awake, we had a wander around the 250 different stalls selling everything from yoga pants and paraphernalia to teas and coconut treats. Check out my haul:

That coconut oil by Coconoil in the middle is amazing – you can moisturise with it, use it as chap stick, put it in your hair, cook with it, eat it on an oat cake…the list is actually endless. And if you’re a yogi and you haven’t tried Yogi Tea, please leave.

Just kidding.

Then on to the first proper (sorry John Bruno) yoga class of the day, in the form of Jivamukti Yoga with Nicola Muir. We downward dogged and cobra-d in a playful yet challenging vinyasa sequence as Nicola came round and rubbed us with fragrant oils.

After lunch we tried out Yoga Bou with Chaco (can’t find a link as they’re based in Japan). Just like regular yoga, but with your own lightsaber! Okay – a ‘bou’, which is Japanese for staff.

I’d never used to stick for yoga before, but it really helped to improve my posture with it hooked over my shoulders and it added an extra dimension to core poses.

HELLO ABS!

Felt like I was training to be a warrior.

We then stumbled upon some impromptu acroyoga. I’d only ever seen this on Instagram, so to see people do it in the flesh was pretty damn cool:

How to you actually do that?

Bloody hell…

We ended the day by taking part in a little photo shoot to be in with a chance of becoming the next cover star for Om Yoga magazine. Fat chance. But why not…

It may not have been as good as last year. But how can you beat this?!

Sam 🙂