About Inés
Fifteen
years
on
the
mat,
eight
mats
in
the
room
Sora is one teacher, one bright room in Ruzafa and a small group of regulars. This is how it started and how the classes work.
Inés Varela
Teaching since 2014 · 500h RYT
Inés
I still teach every class myself. That is the whole idea.
2011
Lisbon
First classes
A desk job and a stiff lower back sent me to a small studio in Graça. I went twice a week for the back and kept going for the quiet. Three years later I was teaching friends in my living room.
2014
Lisbon and Barcelona
Teacher training
A 200-hour training in Lisbon, then four years of teaching in gyms and borrowed rooms. In 2018 I trained again in Barcelona, 300 hours on anatomy, restorative work and teaching people with injuries.
2020
Valencia
Opening Sora
I found an old shoe workshop in Ruzafa with two tall windows and an oak floor. It fits eight mats, so the groups stay at eight. Online classes started the same winter and never stopped.
20:00
Lights down, candles on. Breath and Meditation closes the day with forty-five minutes of slow breathing and a long rest.
07:30
Mats out, windows open, the kettle on. Morning Hatha starts at 07:15 on weekdays, so the first group is already breathing.
The same corner of the studio, twelve and a half hours apart.
07:15
Morning Hatha
09:30
Private sessions
13:00
Tea, notes and home routines
18:30
Slow Flow or Strong Flow
20:00
Breath and Meditation
01
Breath first, shape second
If the breath gets short, we ease off. Every sequence is paced to an easy four-count inhale, so the nervous system settles while the body works. You will hear the count more often than the name of the pose.
See it in
Breath and Meditation
where the breath is the whole class
02
Props in every pose
Blocks bring the floor closer and straps lengthen your arms. You get the benefit of the pose without forcing the range, and the props stay out for strong classes too.
See it in
Restore and Yin
with a bolster under every long hold
03
Hands-on, with consent
Adjustments are optional and you choose them with a card on your mat: face up for yes, face down for no. Change it whenever you like. Verbal cues work just as well.
See it in
Morning Hatha
where the shapes are held long enough to adjust
04
Progress you can feel
Every four weeks we check a few simple markers: forward fold, balance time and how you slept. Small numbers, written down, so you can see real change over a season.
See it in
Strong Flow
where strength gains show first
9,400
hours taught
640
hours of training
12
years teaching
1,300
students since 2014
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
Hours taught per year, 2014 to 2026
2014
200h Yoga Teacher Training
Hatha and vinyasa, Lisbon
2018
300h Advanced Training
Anatomy, restorative and injuries, Barcelona
2019
Restorative Yoga
50 hours, props and long holds
2021
Yoga for Back Care
30 hours, working with physiotherapists
2023
Pranayama and Meditation
60 hours, breath-led teaching
2025
First Aid and CPR
Renewed every two years
“
People
stay
with
yoga
when
it
feels
So
every
class
starts
with
how
you
arrived
today,
not
with
how
you
looked
last
week.
Inés Varela
Founder and teacher, Sora Yoga
