Kovalam's busy season runs roughly from November to March, once the heavy monsoon months are over. The sea settles, the beach road fills up, and a good share of the people walking along it have the same idea at some point in their stay: they would like to do some yoga while they are here. The school has taught on Kovalam Beach Road since 2014, so this is a question it answers most days of the season.
Start with one class
Every student at Avadhuta begins the same way, whether they live in Thiruvananthapuram or flew in yesterday: with one trial class. It is the only reliable way to find out whether the room and the pace suit you, and it commits you to nothing.
If you are only in Kovalam for a week or two, say so in your first message. The courses run from two to six months, which suits people who live here better than people passing through, and the school would rather tell you honestly what fits the days you have than sign you up for something you will leave halfway through.
Come early if you can
The first class of the day starts at 5.30 in the morning, and the last one finishes by 7.30 in the evening, Monday to Saturday. If you can manage the early slot, take it. It is the one the school recommends, and the one that fills first.
The reasons are practical. Before sunrise the air is still cool, the road outside is quiet, and you have not eaten yet, so forward bends and twists are comfortable rather than a negotiation with breakfast. There is a less practical reason too: an hour of breath and movement before anything else happens changes the shape of the whole day, holiday or not.
Which class to ask for
You do not need to pick a course before you write, but it helps to know how the school thinks about it. If you have never practised, or practised years ago and stopped, you belong in Classical Hatha Yoga, the basic level course that assumes nothing at all. Roughly half of every intake arrives having never been on a mat.
If you already practise regularly at home, Daily Yoga moves through the postures without stopping to teach each one from scratch. And if you are working around an injury, a surgery or anything a doctor has told you to be careful with, say so: the custom class is built around exactly that, and the teacher needs to know before the first posture, not after it.
What a class here is like
Classes at Avadhuta are classical hatha yoga: posture, breath and stillness, taught together rather than one at a time. A session starts with the breath rather than with movement, warms the body up gently, works through the asana sequence, then pranayama, and ends in savasana, the lying relaxation that the school treats as part of the practice rather than the bit at the end.
Corrections are made out loud, in the room. If you are used to music and a teacher demonstrating at the front, this can feel unusual for about ten minutes. After that most people find it is the reason they came. You are being watched closely, which is the point of having a teacher at all.
The teacher is Abhilash Soman, who founded the school and has practised since 2007. You can read how he trained and how he teaches. The school is run by one teacher, so the person who replies to your message is the person who will teach you.
What to bring
Bring a mat if you have one, though not having one is no reason to stay away; ask when you book. Wear clothes you can fold forward in, that will not ride up when you lie down or turn upside down. Anything you would exercise in will do.
Come on an empty stomach. The school asks students not to eat in the two hours before a class, which is easy at 5.30 am and much harder at six in the evening after a long lunch by the sea. Bring water for afterwards.
How to book
There is no booking system. You send a WhatsApp message, and it helps if it covers three things: how much yoga you have done before, which days you are in Kovalam, and anything about your health the teacher should know. You will get back a suggested class and a time inside the Monday to Saturday window.
Fees are not published on the website because they depend on the course and the batch. You will be told before you commit to anything. If you would rather not travel to the school at all, Yoga at Your Place is taught in your own room or garden in and around Kovalam and Thiruvananthapuram; ask whether it fits the length of your stay.
When you go home
A good number of visitors keep practising with the school after they leave. The online class is the same class, taught live at the same hour by the same teacher, with corrections called out as he sees them. Students join from seven countries, among them France, the United Kingdom and Denmark. Going home does not mean stopping, and coming back to Kerala next season does not mean starting again.
If this is your first time on a mat anywhere, read how to start yoga when you have never done it before you come. It answers most of the worries people bring to a first class, including the one that matters. And if a few mornings are not enough, the school also runs retreats in and around Kovalam.
Find the school
Avadhuta School of Yoga is at Vilasini Bhavan, on Kovalam Beach Road in Thiruvananthapuram, at the heart of Kovalam beach. Classes run Monday to Saturday between 5.30 am and 7.30 pm, and the same classes are taught live online. To book a first class, message +91 98951 02539 on WhatsApp and say where you are starting from.
