Sunrise Yoga at 2,200m — A Mountain Platform Above the Mont Blanc Massif

The first gondola from Verbier runs at 7:30am. I book it for small groups, we ride up to Plan Mayens at 2,200m, and we walk 10 minutes to a flat rock platform above the tree line with an unobstructed view of the Mont Blanc massif, the Grand Combin, and the full arc of the Val de Bagnes below. At that altitude, at that light, the 90-minute yoga practice is something different from what happens in a studio. The air is colder and cleaner. The body warms slowly. The silence is complete except for the alpine choughs. I teach a slow Hatha flow that works with the thin air rather than against it — no aggressive inversions, deep hip openers, long holds in poses that let the view become part of the practice. After, I have a thermos of Swiss mountain herb tea and we sit in silence for 10 minutes before the gondola back. This is available year-round: in summer the platform is grass and wildflowers, in winter it is snow-covered and we bring extra layers.