Interview with Annemarie Sanoner of the ADLER Spa Resorts
Annemarie Sanoner, responsible for the yoga and Ayurveda activities at ADLER Spa Resorts, got in touch with yoga in the early 1990s while travelling around India, she immediately felt its effect on body and spirit. So, she decided to quit her career as a receptionist and started to explore her newly acquire area of interest yoga and Ayurveda, and eventually turned it into a new career.
In autumn, all ADLER Resorts offer specific Yoga offers, but it is basically possible to practice yoga at the ADLER hotels all year round. Why has yoga become a permanent component of the ADLER Spa Resorts?
Nowadays, the desire for peace and quiet, balance and regeneration from the daily hustle and bustle is very strong. There is almost no other practice than yoga, with such holistic benefits and which unites physical health aspects, like movement, breathing and nutrition, with philosophical elements. Especially on holiday, people have more time for themselves and the distance to the everyday life makes it easier to step back and relax, to dissociate from external impulses and internal pressure, to feel the own body and perceive its signals and to have some peace of mind. Indeed, performance plays no role in yoga, what counts is to feel and be attentive.
In addition, people are simply more relaxed when they are on holiday, they are much more open and ready to embark on new experiences and discover inner processes.
At the seasons’ changing like in fall in particular, yoga supports body and spirit to adapt to the changes more easily.
Why do ADLER Spa Resorts believe in this trend and follow it?
I wouldn’t define yoga as a trend because yogis have been practising it since more than 200 years, maybe even more. Just in the western countries this practice has been spread to the masses only in the 20th century; so we could talk more precisely about a real long-term trend.
One of the reasons why so much importance is placed on yoga in our resorts is because it completes and enriches our existing spa, fitness and health programmes in the most ideal way. Yoga represents a valuable tool to reach personal objectives, be it as a preventive measure, as a method to reduce back and joint problems, as a support to physical purification processes, as a help for the spiritual relaxation or the improvement of vitality, concentration and physical prowess.
Yoga and Ayurveda present a similar philosophical background and this is why these practices are the ideal combination to obtain a holistic sensation of well-being. Special yoga breathing techniques (Pranayama) and positions (Asana) support and form a key aspect in our medically assisted detox-programmes. Specific relaxation exercises reduce the amount of the body’s stress hormone Cortisol and lead to inner peace and balance. Even hikers, bikers or skiers experience the positive effect of yoga: muscle and joints litheness, an improved sense of balance and more concentration.
Why are the ADLER Resorts the perfect location to practice yoga and why do they provide the ideal surroundings to practice it?
Our resorts are located within unique natural surroundings and, indeed, yoga teaches us to refine our senses to absorb the beauty of the moment and so to experience nature more intensively. In addition, yoga tries to re-establish the balance of body and spirit, of inner and outer world, which is particularly possible where the natural environment itself is well-balanced. The gentle hills of the Tuscan Val d’Orcia invite you to self-reflect and meditate; the refreshing alpine air and charming beauty of the Dolomites present the ideal framework to recharge with revitalizing breathing exercises or flowing yoga poses. Meditative hiking – in silence and with our own breathing rhythm – allows us to connect and feel the nature more consciously. The mere presence in the middle of unspoilt nature leads to relaxation, increases the regeneration of body and spirit and this effect is further intensified with specific yoga exercises.
As healthy nutrition is a key element of yoga, we spoil our guests with meals rich in vital substances and, on request, even vegetarian menus.
How are your yoga offers organized specifically?
Next to our year-round yoga programme and special topic-oriented yoga stays, we also offer special events with external yoga teachers in specific periods.
This allows our guests to get familiar with different yoga styles: the classic Hatha yoga, the powerful Ashtanga-Vinyasa and energizing Kundalini Yoga as well as the softer Yin Yoga.