Om Holiday - nirvana on a Sardinian yoga retreat

Is it pretentious to wear sunglasses to do yoga?’ asks the woman next to me. We are in Sardinia, preparing for our morning class on a wooden deck overlooking the lazy Mediterranean. The morning sun filters gently through the makeshift shade above us. It’s early but, in happy comparison with other yoga trips, this holiday doesn’t take itself too seriously. Instead of hemp shirts and green juice, we are treated to spirit-lifting daily practice but also the good living for which the Sardinian coast is famous.

One of the Mediterranean’s largest islands, Sardinia sits roughly between Rome and Tunisia, with African influences colouring its food and architecture. Inland, it is sparse and wild: soaring mountains, wild flowers, ancient olive trees — very much a place of libidinous gods and romantic shepherds. For visitors, the main attraction is the coastline, whose grey and pink granite outcrops curve into myriad seductive coves, bays and beaches.

An hour’s drive north from Olbia airport is the Grand Hotel Porto Cervo. It’s a welcoming place, close to the eponymous port town. In search of lunch, I wander down to a table set close to the sea, and order a glass of chilled Friuli. A plate of chargrilled aubergine and peppers rubs out the morning’s journey, the sweet, smoky flavours offset by salty pecorino.

Porto Cervo is known for attracting the party crowd, but I have come for the yoga. Specifically for Sardinia Yoga’s Maria Santangelo. Maria, 34, teaches at The Third Space in London, drawing from hatha, ashtanga and sivananda forms to design yoga that is challenging while also liable to induce extraordinary mental calm. You walk into her Soho class with a frenetic mind, and leave feeling serene and strong in mind and body.

It’s rather easier to step into the zone here, on the edge of a crescent of white-sand beach. After two hours, in which Maria leads a class with variations suitable for every level, there is an air of happy zen as we fall into the vast brunch. While the hotel is not a dazzling, seven-star edifice, the food is fresh and stylishly prepared. Beneath the restaurant sits a large pool, and tennis courts and day beds with gentle shading are laid out on garden terraces from the bar all the way down to the beach.

By day the other yogis drive out to explore the local towns, coming back having triumphantly discovered street markets, waterfalls, or some crazy local with a gift for barbecuing swordfish. I prefer to do my best starfish impression on a lounger. I have a heap of books to get through, and the negroni sbagliatos (literally a ‘wrong negroni’, made with added prosecco) are addictive.

Loath as I am to move, it seems a shame not even to venture as far as Porto Cervo. The wide marina packed with superyachts points the way, and soon the typical local houses — all soft arches and pastel sandstone — are decked with discreet signs: Pucci, Gucci, Hermès, Cartier… At first I’m surprised by the lack of a town centre, until I remember that Porto Cervo was only created in the 1960s, when a consortium led by the Aga Khan bought a 50km stretch of coast, and it is in fact simply a seriously glorified yacht stop. Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell are regulars; Berlusconi used to host his bunga bunga parties in one of the mega-houses in the hills. I sit in the Ferrari bar in the piazzetta and enjoy the early evening parade of tight white jeans, big hair and bigger jewels.

It’s a relief to head back to the Grand Hotel. By the end of the week, my shoulders have dropped, my body is tighter, taller, and I feel at peace. Melissa, one of my fellow yogis, sums it up nicely: ‘Maria enables you to take your practice as far as you want. And I love the fact that everyone is on the same wavelength — no intense hippy types or annoyingly hardcore yoga babes.’

CHECK IN

Where to stay Three nights and four days with Sardinia Yoga at the Grand Hotel Porto Cervo in September costs from £335, including accommodation, daily yoga and brunch (sardiniayoga.com).

EasyJet flies from Gatwick to Olbia, from £71.49 one-way (easyJet.com)