A week in the Waldhaus Sils Maria: mountains, yoga and wine

Never before had I packed a suitcase for the mountains, let alone one that I had great difficulty dragging to the main train station. There was no room for my full leather hiking shoes, but my best Claudia Bertini dress, my hand steamer and a pair of yoga pants.

There was a slightly different number in front of me than hiking with a bivouac and stove on the mountain. Usually this was my way of experiencing the mountains, if not as a panorama from the roof terrace in Zurich. This time I was on my way to Sils Maria to spend a week at the five-star Hotel Waldhaus and learn the basics of Forest Yoga from the former top cross-country athlete Ursina Badiletti.

Are you allowed to walk through the hallways of the old box in yoga leggings, popularly known as the hide-away of the intellectual elite? Would the spirits of Nietzsche and Hesse inspire or irritate one’s own spirit when practicing yoga? And would it even be possible to get into the yoga mood in such a large hotel?

Arrival in another time

When the suitcase is unpacked in room 108, I get the feeling that I might have forgotten something. The five-door wardrobe swallows the contents of my suitcase like a gourmet’s amuse bouche. Only he will have to be content with it. The big corridors do not follow.

I remember the fact that my room has been preserved in its original condition from yesteryear and a wardrobe like this could hardly have been considered oversized at the time. Two fine gentlemen would have quickly filled the volume with hats and corsages and changing clothes for every appearance in the public rooms of the hotel.

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The question of the morning cloakroom does not arise for me. Yoga pants, done. The informal clothing doesn’t bother anyone in the hallways. No matter how many stars, sporty outfits seem to be part of everyday life in the mountains. Ski gear in winter. Hiking and cycling outfits in summer. The yoga group is even allowed to appear in sports dress for breakfast.

You get a few furtive glances from other guests. Should it be their inspiration to loll around a little more, I think to myself. In any case, the staff doesn’t show anything and courteously serves tea and porridge.

Yoga days and gourmet buffet

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The buffet leaves nothing to be desired, except for the one, finding the right amount. How can you choose between Bircher muesli, apple sauce, pickled pears, nuts and seeds, yoghurts, baked goods, honey from the honeycomb, homemade jams, mountain cheeses,. . . decide? Not at all! And then there is the à la carte menu with variations from the egg from poached to Benedict. Yoga days and gourmet buffet? Where is that supposed to lead?

Grace the strict self

On the third day, I stop asking myself this question. It is what it is. And it is good! Who says yoga has to be connected with asceticism? Yoga practice is not just about an Ayurvedic diet. Despite a cappuccino in bed, a hearty breakfast and a four-course meal in the evening and a glass or two of wine, the program with Ursina Badiletti is a rich experience for me.

On the way to the yoga deck on Lake Sils, a platform where classical concerts usually take place, you can experience nature in the quiet of the morning. The cool forest, lush flower meadows, the wind that messes up the tops of the trees on the lake shore, and little boats sloshing around peacefully.

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After this leisurely mindfulness exercise, the morning relaxation is over. In Ursina Badiletti’s yoga classes, you can’t help but be physically and mentally present. No trace of Nietzsche. Meanwhile, it is buzzing around the library and foyer, where teacups are steaming at croissants and hairs sticking out from behind open newspapers.

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In Forrest Yoga, a yoga practice coined by Ana Forrest in the USA in 1982, the focus is on a strong core. So you suffer, if you don’t train every day, in every lesson with nasty abdominal exercises, which Badiletti instructs with bell-bright friendliness after you have already let yourself be shone by golden rays of Engadine sunshine during the initial meditation.

Holding the positions (asanas) for a long time in Forrest Yoga brings you into moments of absolute enjoyment and endurance. It’s dripping from my forehead.

Forrest yoga with Ursina Badiletti in the “Waldhaus Sils”

Ursina Badiletti

As a former professional athlete, Badiletti discovered Forrest Yoga a few years ago and has been teaching in the Engadin ever since.

ursina.ch

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Contact Waldhaus

For the next dates of the forest and yoga days, contact the «Waldhaus» directly.

waldhaus-sils.ch

[email protected]

+41 81 838 51 00

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Nature studies and chilled rosé

A cool drop is waiting for us one afternoon at the Lägh da Cavloc. The team from the “Waldhaus” put rosé there and prepared a picnic with a sandwich and salsiz. On the way there, a forest warden tells us about forest stories and explains the peculiarities of the Swiss stone pine to us.

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Goes relaxed’s there too on the mountain. No backpack, no heavy mountain boots. The pulse not from the long rise at the stop. I call it alpine strolling. A new way of getting around in the alpine region. But why not? Enjoy without having worked hard beforehand. It works!

Why be strict with yourself?

Yoga is also possible after a glass of wine. «Don’t take everything so seriously», definitely yogic. The rosé was fine, and the gentler yin practice in the early evening is sweet.

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Before dinner, the muscles in the sauna and on the massage bench of the spa, which was redesigned a few years ago with the Austrian Susanne Kaufmann, are loosened up again. After the focused yoga class, thoughts are dispersed in the stone pine bath under the passing clouds. Let loose. Always let it go. Why the strictness with yourself? Everyday life forces you back into shape soon enough.

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All that matters is dedication in the moment. In the bivouac, I experience them preparing a simple meal. In the forest house while straightening my dinner dress and the next day when ordering a poached egg after the morning yoga class.