Climbing the urine-stained stairwell of a car park in South London one Saturday morning, it's hard to believe I'm about to attend a rooftop yoga class designed to wash away the stress of modern living.

But, ever open-minded, I try to stay optimistic. I've been to the Peckham car park before to visit Frank's Cafe (also located on the rooftop) but that was on a Friday night and after countless gin and tonics stairwell piss is somewhat less offensive.

When I reach the top, the setting - with a clear view of London's skyline - is pretty breathtaking.

It's the hottest day of the year (so far) and the desolate top storey car park in the blistering heat makes me feel like I'm in the Spice Girls' 'Say You'll Be There' video.

But while the venue - with its view and the juxtaposition of brightly-coloured yoga mats against the concrete car park floor, is incredible (how often can you use The Shard as your focal point to help you balance?) - the yoga leaves a lot to be desired.

The class follows Dru Yoga, which is set firmly in ancient yogic traditions and draws emphasis on soft, flowing movements. This teamed with the mixed ability of the class and heat, meant that the class isn't dynamic enough for my taste - I much prefer the strong Hatha-based postures in Bikram and the speed of Vinyasa flow.

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But while Dru yoga may not be for me, the benefits are said to include increasing energy levels, easing back pain and reducing stress.

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Can Rooftop Yoga Ease Back Pain And Reduce Stress?

The bendy move, also down as the Upward Bow, helps to stretch out the chest and lungs, increase energy levels and strengthens the arms, legs, bum and abs.

Well, as Bar herself captioned, 'Can you think of a better way to start the day?? #SpiderWoman'

But before you attempt to do awkward crab versions at home, this move is not for beginners and should only be attempted when properly warmed up and within a sequence yoga workout. Another reason to get down to a yoga class then.

Another of Bar's workout 'healthie' Instagram snaps

The model keeps her trim frame by focusing on working out instead of obsessing about her diet. 'I work out a lot. I like to look good and feel good. I do Pilates and TRX four times a week for an hour each time,' she told Cosmopolitan.

'I'm not very careful with my diet but when you work out a lot you want to keep healthy. Eating healthily makes you want to work out more because your body is more alive. If I'm craving something I'll have it, but I don't really crave bad things,' she added.

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Bar Refaeli shows her flexible side with 'the wheel' yoga pose

MIAMI -

Through the centuries, yoga has proven to be an important exercise for both mind and body. It is also becoming a promising form of therapy for children with autistic spectrum disorder.

Twice a week, Matthew Lopez meets with his yoga teacher, Maraike Harten. They stretch muscles, practice breathing techniques and work on postures.

"It's a fun way of learning relaxation skills, body awareness and self control without it being another therapy that they have to go through," said Harten.

The boy was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder when he was 4 years old.

"Having a child with autism is not easy. It presents a lot of challenges," said Cristina Lopez, Matthew's mother.

Lopez said yoga helps Matthew relax. She said it used to be a battle to keep her calm for more than a few minutes.

"The breathing techniques and the poses that he learns calm him down and makes life more enjoyable for him," added Lopez.

Other children are also benefiting from yoga therapy. Author and yoga guru Louise Goldberg has worked with children with autism for the last 10 years at Miami Children's Hospital's Dan Marino Center.

"Yoga is very different from other therapies," she said. "There are lots of opportunities for play. It helps kids get stronger and more flexible. It also improves their balance and creates social interaction."

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Children with autism show improvements in behavior with yoga therapy

Few Windows hybrids highlighted the compromises inherent in straddling device genres as thoroughly as the original Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11. Physically designed as a notebook first hybrid, yet sporting a tablet-oriented ARM processor and the neutered Windows RT operating system, it was nothing short of an elegant piece of convertible hardware crippled by its slate-friendly software.

Someone at Lenovo must have been listening to our complaints, because just a few months later were reviewing the IdeaPad Yoga 11S, a follow-up that ditches its predecessors mobile processor in favor of a full-blown Intel Core i5 chip. More important, this Yoga runs the full-blown version of Windows 8.

So does this dreamed-of refresh cure what ailed the original IdeaPad Yoga 11? Largely, though the $999 Yoga 11S introduces a few new compromises of its own.

Considering its Intel Core i5-3339Y processor and 8GB of RAM, no one will confuse the Yoga 11S with a slate; of course, no one will mistake it for a graphics powerhouse, either. Its reliance on the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 hardware caused the laptop to chug through our graphics-focused tests, while the merely passable 1.5GHz clock on the Ultrabook-class processor kept the Yoga 11S firmly in the middle of the pack (at best) in the rest of PCWorlds battery of benchmarks. On the plus side, the Yoga 11Ss solid-state drive delivers lickety-split boot and wake times.

But dont let the blah benchmark scores fool you: The Yoga 11S offered enough oomph to get me through my average workday, which is filled with documents, spreadsheets, Spotify, the occasional video, and scads of open browser tabs.

The processor choice does create a few worrisome issues unrelated to performance, though. The Core i5-3339Y is an older Ivy Bridge processor rather than a newer, power-efficient Haswell chip, and Ivy Bridge wasnt designed with superthin hybrid systems in mind. The underside of theYoga 11S becomes noticeably warm when youre doing anything but basic Web browsingnot enough to make you scream in pain, but enough to make you notice and to ponder the wisdom of leaving it on your lap. The machine is remarkably whisper-silent; a heftier fan may have been a smart compromise.

Also, like virtually all Ivy Bridge laptops with touchscreens, the Yoga 11S struggles to stay alive for an extended period, giving up the ghost after 4 hours, 33 minutes in our battery test. Everyday use at full brightness drained the battery even faster than that. Say what you will about the original ARM-powered Yoga 11, at least it lasted around 9 hours.

The Yoga 11S is definitely a winner in the design department. If youve never encountered a Yoga laptop before, rest assured that the series lives up to its name, with each machine sporting a flexible hinge that allows you to flip the display back a full 360 degrees so that the screen rests against the bottom of the keyboard deck when youre using the device in tablet mode. Aside from the tablet and traditional-laptop configurations, Lenovo actively promotes using Yoga laptops in tent mode (basically an upside-down V) and in stand mode (in which you flip the screen around so that the form resembles the typical 90-degree clamshell, but with the keys facing down). Both tent mode and stand mode are great for watching movies, and despite the Yoga 11Ss bendable nature, you wont find any flex in its lid or keyboard.

The 11.6-inch IPS display impresses with its vivid colors, and dark scenes greatly benefit from the Yoga 11Ss deep blacks. The 1366 by 768 resolution is a bit of a bummer in tablet mode, but it holds up well during laptop usage on account of the systems small screen. An overactive ambient-light sensor proved annoying, though easy to disable.

The audio lacks bass and pure punch-you-in-the-ear volume levels, even with its Dolby Home Theater v4 certification, but its decent enough for such a diminutive machine.

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Review: Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 11S strikes a compelling pose