Our Seminyak Teacher Is a World Yogasana Champion: Take Her Class in Bali

Yes, a world Yogasana champion teaches hot yoga in Seminyak. Ms. Ivara Candra Kartika won gold and bronze for Indonesia at the first World Yogasana Championship in Ahmedabad, India, in June 2026. She’s a regular teacher at the YogaFX Seminyak studio, and first-time visitors can try a class free with the Free Guest Pass.

This page tells her story, explains what a world Yogasana champion actually does on the mat, and shows what that means for you as a visitor. It draws on the experience of Mr. Ian Terry, E-RYT 500, founder of YogaFX Bali. He trained Ivara and coached Indonesia’s team in Ahmedabad.

Meet the World Yogasana Champion on Our Seminyak Timetable

Ivara isn’t a name on a results sheet far away. She’s on the weekly class schedule in Seminyak. She teaches the same Original Hot 26&2 sequence to regulars, expats and travellers who walk in for their very first hot class.

Her medals are well documented, too. India’s cultural office in Jakarta, ICCR Jakarta, confirmed Indonesia’s results in public. In total, the team won seven medals: one gold, two silver and four bronze.

Her season, step by step

• 2023: completed the YogaFX Bikram Hot 26&2 teacher training with Mr. Ian in Bali.
• July 2025: gold at FORNAS VIII, Indonesia’s national sports festival.
• August 2025: silver at the Asian Yogasana Championships in the UAE.
• June 2026: gold and bronze at the World Yogasana Championship in Ahmedabad.

That’s three podiums in under a year, at national, Asian and world level. Yet she still teaches regular classes in Seminyak between events, and she leads the posture demonstrations in the YogaFX online course.

From a Wobbly Standing Bow to a World Medal

Here’s the part of the story Mr. Ian tells most often. Just three years before Ahmedabad, Ivara was still struggling with Dandayamana Dhanurasana, or Standing Bow Pulling Pose. If you’ve done a 26&2 class, you know that one. You kick back, reach forward, and try not to fall over.

So she wasn’t a gymnast or a child prodigy. Instead, she was a student who kept showing up. Mr. Ian’s rule for students and athletes is the same: consistency beats intensity. Regular practice changes the body more than the odd heroic class.

That’s why her story matters if you’re new. Most people who walk into a hot room for the first time feel stiff, shaky and a bit lost. A world Yogasana champion once felt the same way, in the same sequence, in a Bali hot room.

What Does a World Yogasana Champion Actually Do?

Yogasana is yoga postures done as a judged sport. Athletes perform set poses or routines, and a panel scores them for form and control. It’s closer to gymnastics or diving than to a normal class.

Judges in Ahmedabad looked for the same five qualities in every event:

• Strength, so a posture doesn’t sag or collapse.
• Flexibility, to reach the full shape of the pose.
• Balance, with no wobble on one leg.
• Endurance, to hold the pose for the full count.
• Precision, so every joint sits where it should.

The first World Yogasana Championship ran from 4 to 8 June 2026, and more than 500 athletes from 78 countries took part, according to The Bridge’s report on the opening day. Host nation India topped the medal table, while Indonesia’s seven medals all came from YogaFX graduates.

The other YogaFX medallist

Ivara wasn’t the only one. Mr. Arkan Fauzan Riyanto, a 2022 graduate, came home with two silver and three bronze. The Tangerang City Government reported his five medals when he returned. He had also won FORNAS three times, in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

What a Champion Teacher Means for Your First Class

You might wonder if a class with a world Yogasana champion is only for advanced students. It isn’t. In fact, the opposite is true. The skills that win medals are the same ones that help a nervous beginner.

• A sharp eye for alignment. Judges mark down a knee that drifts or a hip that turns. Ivara spots those same small errors in your posture, and she tells you how to fix them.
• Clear, exact cues. Every YogaFX teacher learned the dialogue word for word under Mr. Ian. So you hear the same precise instructions, class after class.
• Real patience. She knows what it feels like to fall out of Standing Bow again and again. That makes her a calm, kind guide when you wobble.

Mr. Ian also gives every beginner the same permission: sit down when you need to. Resting in the hot room is part of learning, not failing. As he puts it, the heat is a tool, not a test.

What to Expect in a YogaFX Hot Class

Whoever leads your class, the format stays the same. That’s the point of the Original Hot 26&2 method. Here’s what you can expect:

• 90 minutes of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises, always in the same order.
• About 40°C and 40% humidity, from Bali’s natural tropical heat rather than electric heaters.
• A spoken dialogue instead of music or a teacher demonstrating, so you can focus on your own body.
• Two studios, in Seminyak and Canggu, open every day from 06:00 to 22:00.

Want the full picture first? Our guide to how long a Bikram yoga class is walks through the 90 minutes, posture by posture. And if you’d like to know the sequence before you arrive, see all 26 Bikram yoga poses in order.

Tips for your first class

1. Drink water through the day, not just right before class.
2. Eat lightly, at least two hours ahead, so you don’t feel heavy in the heat.
3. Arrive 15 minutes early and tell your teacher it’s your first time.
4. Stay in the room, even if you need to sit or lie down for a while.

Is Hot Yoga Worth It? What the Research Says

You don’t need to want a medal to benefit from the practice. Studies on heated yoga point to real gains for everyday students:

• Mood. A Harvard-affiliated trial at Massachusetts General Hospital (Nyer et al., 2023) found 59% of people in the heated yoga group had their depression symptoms cut by half or more, against 6% on the waitlist, over 8 weeks.
• Stress. Hui et al. (2022) reported that hot yoga reduced state anxiety.
• Effort. Porcari et al. (2014) measured about 333 calories for women and 460 for men in a 90-minute class.

Results vary from person to person, and yoga isn’t a substitute for medical care. If you’re pregnant, or have a heart condition or blood pressure concerns, consult a healthcare professional before you practise in a heated room.

The Coach Behind Indonesia’s Seven Medals

Both medallists trained under Mr. Ian Terry. He served as Indonesia’s National Coach in Ahmedabad, and in June 2026 the Republic of Indonesia Yogasana Sports Federation appointed him Master Trainer.

• Lineage: five years, from 2014 to 2019, training directly with Bikram Choudhury, the founder of the Bikram Hot 26&2 method.
• Experience: more than 12,000 teaching hours, and 1,500+ teachers certified from over 80 countries since 2017.
• Medal record: YogaFX graduates have won 12 medals across national, Asian and world events: 5 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze.

He still teaches at the Seminyak and Canggu studios too. You can read more in our profile of Mr. Ian Terry, Bikram yoga instructor in Bali, or meet the whole YogaFX Bali teaching team.

Could you train like Ivara?

Some visitors fall in love with the practice and want to go further. Ivara started exactly there, as a student who chose teacher training. If that’s you, the YogaFX 200-hour teacher training in Bali explains the six-day MasterClass. The next one runs from 24 to 29 January 2027 in Seminyak.

Why the 26&2 Sequence Builds Champions

People often ask how a hot yoga studio in Bali produced a world Yogasana champion. The answer is in the method itself. Because the 26&2 sequence never changes, you can measure your progress in each posture, week after week.

That repetition is what competition rewards. For example, a judge watching a balancing pose wants to see stillness, a straight standing leg and steady breath. Those are the exact things the dialogue asks for in every class, in the same words.

• Same postures, same order. You get thousands of repetitions of each pose over a few years.
• Balance first. The standing series trains one-leg balance early, while you’re fresh.
• Strength and stretch together. Most postures ask you to contract one side of the body while you lengthen the other.
• Calm under heat. Learning to breathe slowly in a hot room is good practice for staying calm with judges watching.

Of course, most students will never compete. Still, the same benefits apply to everyone. You get stronger, more flexible and steadier on your feet, whether or not there’s a medal at the end.

What First-Time Students Tell Us

Nearly every first-timer arrives a little nervous. Here are three experiences students describe again and again in their Google reviews, in our own words:

• Dread, then relief. One student, Kevin, said he dreaded his first class and felt sure he’d give up. By the end, he said he felt incredible.
• Stiff to fully stretched. Chris arrived unable to reach the floor. A few days of classes later, he was moving through every posture fully.
• Past the comfort zone. A drop-in visitor, Jason, described four days of long, hot classes that took him well past what he thought he could do.

None of them were athletes. That’s the real lesson from Ivara’s story, too. Champions and beginners start in the same place: on the mat, in the heat, trying again.

A Champion in the Room vs a Video at Home

Plenty of travellers keep up yoga with an app or a video. That’s better than nothing. But a class led by a world Yogasana champion gives you things a screen can’t.

• Someone watching you. A video can’t see that your standing knee is bent. A teacher in the room can, and she’ll tell you.
• Real heat. Bali’s natural warmth softens your muscles in a way a cool hotel room won’t.
• A group to work with. It’s easier to hold a posture for the full count when the whole room is holding it too.

So if you’ve practised alone for a while, a few classes in Seminyak can reset your form. One session of clear feedback can fix a habit you’ve carried for years. As a result, your home practice often feels better when you get back.

And if you’ve never done hot yoga at all, that’s fine too. A world Yogasana champion teaching your first class doesn’t mean the class is harder. It simply means the person guiding you knows every posture inside out.

Fitting Hot Yoga Into Your Bali Trip

Whether you’re here for a week or living in Bali for months, it’s easy to make hot yoga part of your routine. The studios open early and close late, so you can plan classes around the beach, work or a day trip.

• Short stay (under a week). Try two or three classes. Your body adapts to the heat quickly, and the third class usually feels much easier than the first.
• Two to four weeks. Aim for three to five classes a week. That’s enough to see real change in your flexibility before you fly home.
• Expats and digital nomads. A regular weekly rhythm works best. Ask the team about class packs or monthly options when you message us.

Morning classes suit early risers who want the day free, while evening classes help many people sleep well. If you can’t decide, try one of each during your first week and see which one leaves you feeling better.

How to Take a Class With a World Yogasana Champion

Booking a class with our world Yogasana champion is simple, and your first class is free. Here’s how it works:

1. Message the team on WhatsApp at +628113888330 with your travel dates.
2. Ask which classes Ivara is teaching that week, so we can match a class to your dates.
3. Claim your Free Guest Pass for the Seminyak or Canggu studio.
4. Bring a towel, water and light clothes, and arrive a little early.

Not sure which studio suits your stay? Our guide to yoga classes in Seminyak compares the options, so you can choose before you go.

FAQ

What is Yogasana?

Yogasana is yoga postures done as a competitive sport. Athletes perform set poses or routines in front of judges, who score strength, flexibility, balance, endurance and precision. India formally recognised it as a sport in 2020, and the first World Yogasana Championship took place in Ahmedabad in June 2026.

What is the World Yogasana Championship?

The World Yogasana Championship is the first global championship for Yogasana as a sport. The first edition ran from 4 to 8 June 2026 in Ahmedabad, India, with more than 500 athletes from 78 countries. Indonesia won seven medals there, all by graduates of the YogaFX teacher training in Bali.

Who won the World Yogasana Championship 2026?

India topped the medal table as host nation. For Indonesia, Ivara Candra Kartika won gold and bronze, and Arkan Fauzan Riyanto won two silver and three bronze. Ivara now teaches regular hot yoga classes at the YogaFX studio in Seminyak, Bali, where visitors can try a class free.

Are there yoga competitions?

Yes. Yogasana competitions run at national, regional and world level. In Indonesia, athletes compete at events such as FORNAS, then at the Asian Yogasana Championships and the World Yogasana Championship. Most students never compete, though. They practise for strength, flexibility and a calmer mind, not for medals.

Is yoga in the Olympics?

Not yet. The World Yogasana Sports Federation aims for an Olympic test event by 2032 and full inclusion by 2036, subject to IOC recognition. In 2024, the Olympic Council of Asia also approved Yogasana as a demonstration sport for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.

Still have questions? Message Mr. Ian and the YogaFX team on WhatsApp and we’ll answer them personally. While you’re there, claim your Free Guest Pass for the Seminyak or Canggu studio. Tell us your dates, and we’ll help you find a class with Ivara during your stay in Bali.