My Weekend: Outdoor yoga is a great start to the day

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

Hi, my name is Fabi. I'm Mexican and happy to be 46 years old. And I am Ghislain, from France. We have lived in Ireland for the past 16 years and love it. We met here in Cork and are both qualified Personal Trainers, Fitness, Pilates and Yoga instructors. We have a Yoga studio and school here in Cork, "Sacred Body Studio". We are lucky and grateful to have the opportunity to help people gain or regain mobility and strength, as we see it as freedom. “A healthy mind in a healthy body"

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night? 

Fabi, on Friday, is taking the time to mind herself and slow down. She loves to have long walks.

Ghislain is at the studio teaching his Power Flow Yoga class, encouraging, training and helping our clients to develop their strength and mobility. After that, he comes home, and we have a nice dinner. We go to bed early to rest and recharge to prepare for the weekend.

Lie ins or up with the lark.. which is it for you?

Fabi is an early bird, and Ghislain is a night howl. But we love to lie in when we are off.

Does work creep into your weekend at all?

During the weekends, we run Yoga Teacher Training courses and other workshops from September to June, which we greatly enjoy. 

Also, we teach beach Yoga classes from March to November, every Saturday in Fountainstown and Sunday in Roberts Cove, and during the summer Saturday at Douglas Park. 

It's a great way to be outdoors and an excellent start to the weekend. 

When we don't have courses, we stay at the beach after our yoga class for a sea swim or dips, followed by a fantastic sauna session at Swede Sauna and Happy Place Sauna.

If money was no object where would you head to on a weekend city break? And who would you bring with you?

Any lovely beach in the Mediterranean or Caribbean will do. We will take each other! We are more about nature, small villages and communities.

Closer to home, is there some place you like to head to recharge the batteries? 

We are grateful to live in Crosshaven. It is our favourite place as there are so many walks around the coast. It's peaceful. We are 100% Sea people. 

The sound of the sea, the breeze, watching the horizon, and meditating are our best ways to recharge. We love to swim only when it gets warmer and kayaking.

We feel so blessed to live by the sea in Crosshaven. We have Saunas at our local beaches, coffee docks, markets, pubs, and restaurants.

Do you like to catch up with family/friends at the weekend?

We are BBQ fanatics. When possible, we love having friends over and having a lovely meal cooked over the fire, chatting, enjoying being together, staying out until late and keeping the fire on.

As our family are away, we connect virtually with them over the weekend to catch up.

Do you get to indulge any hobbies? Even as a spectator?

Recently, we started to learn the piano. We are still practising Happy Birthday and Twinkle Twinkle little star, making progress nonetheless. And we love to dance Latin and Caribbean rhythms.

Entertain or be entertained? If it's the latter do you have a signature dish?

We love to be entertained, anything that makes us laugh.

Fabi's signature dish is ceviche, and Ghislain is the BBQ adventurer.

We have so many places to eat out in Cork - where are your go to spots for coffee/ lunch/ special meal?

AROI in Carrigaline, Pine Lodge in Myrtleville, Cronin's, and The River's End Cafe in Crosshaven.

Sunday night comes around too fast.. how do you normally spend it?

We prefer to stay chill, relax, watch a movie, read a book, practice music and get ready for the week ahead, which will pass in a blink.

What time does your alarm clock go off on Monday morning?

6 am, Fabi's alarm.

For more see https://www.sacredbodystudio.ie/

Sacred Body Studio will be doing workshops as part of the Cork Life Long Learning Festival. For a full programme see 

https://corklearningcity.ie/lifelong-learning-festival/