Lounging Away on Coco Cay

Today we spent the day at the beach on Coco Cay. Coco Cay is Royal Caribbean's private island. My day began with yoga on the beach! There were six of us from our group that were taking the class. After an excellent French toast breakfast, we headed for the fitness center to catch the tender together. We got our yoga mats and headed for Deck 1 to get on the boat that would take us to the island (the ship dropped anchor). When we arrived at the stairs, we found a huge line waiting to board the tender. Our instructor looked surprised to see a line. After waiting for probably 30 minutes, we were finally able to board the boat. Our group sat on the top level of the tender. We had a great view! As we were looking around, we noticed that our boat was right outside the window of one of our staterooms! My cousin and my mom were in the porthole waving to us!
The class was Ashtangi yoga. The instructor described this as a more athletic style of yoga and less meditative. Not exactly the definition I was looking for this trip. I figured if nothing else, it would feel good to stretch. Well, this class was a bit rigorous. It was somewhat relaxing, but rather painful at the same time. I was hoping for poses that would stretch my low back, but instead, we did a lot of sun salutations which actually crunch the low back. Some of the poses made my body shake. It was a little embarrassing. I've always been pretty strong and in good shape when it comes to holding strenuous poses. The clincher was the chair pose. OUCH! It hurt my back, knees, and hips. My conclusion is that Ashtangi yoga is not for me! Thankfully, the class did end with meditation. I can't explain it, but when we began that process, my low back was in a lot of pain and lying on my back was making it feel worse. By the end of the meditation, I felt no pain in my low back. It wasn't numb, just no more pain. I was comfortable. I don't know if the breathing was helping it or what. I'm just relieved that pain left me. It was a hot hot class--in the sun on the beach! Thank goodness it was overcast at that point. I think I would've died in direct sunlight!
Once class was over, the six of us from the group looked for the others who did not take the class. It didn't take us long. We got reunited and applied more sunblock and headed to the beach! We found some lounge chairs under some palm trees. The rest of the day was cooling off in the Caribbean, soaking up some sun, and discovering the local wildlife!