Looking for a good, non-nonsense yoga studio in san francisco

February 23, 2007 3:48 PM

YogaFilter: Looking for a cheap(ish), no-nonsense yoga studio in san francisco.

i've been doing yoga about once a week at work and i'd like to increase that. i'm looking for a studio (the closer to lower haight or hayes valley the better) that has the following (in roughly decreasing order of importance):

- evening (after 7) classes
- co-ed classes
- not insanely expensive (averaging $10 a class or less would be great)
- focused on the physical aspects of yoga (i.e. getting more flexible and stronger), i have no interest in 'getting in touch with my spiritual side' or any such nonsense :)
- attendees in the 20 - 40 age range

note: i've seen this question, but it only had east bay answers and one sf studio that seems to be about the opposite of what i'm looking for.

Thanks!

posted by christy to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

I used to go to pretzel's yoga over in potrero hill and I really liked it -- her yoga is more of a workout than the spiritual thing, and it always would kick my arse. But.. I moved to hayes valley now, so it's not as near, so I've been thinking about trying out Yoga Tree, which is right here in the hood.. I might just go back over to Pretzel though, cuz I really liked her classes.
posted by dennis at 4:18 PM on February 23, 2007

Try your local recreation center/park authority...if those all suck, try a local community college (down side: you may have to sign up for a semester or block of classes...but then again, you'll be in good shape because you'll be going to every freakin' one if you're paying weather you go or not!--and make sure they let you do a drop in before you actually sign up). Where I live, these are practically the only places you can find a teacher who doesn't drone on about spiritual stuff the whole time, AND reasonably priced.

Also if you're comfortable with the basic poses, try looking for something called "power yoga" or "vinyasa yoga"--yoga that's flowing basically (Sun Salutations, if you've done that)--it's more exercise without unnecessary strain/stress.
posted by anaelith at 4:31 PM on February 23, 2007

If it's physical-only you want, you could do Bikram. (Eg, at Funky Door yoga studios, ~$15, or free unlimited if you work 4 hours/week). After you're fairly flexible and in-shape, try another style and see what you're missing.

Studios for non-Bikram yoga: Yoga Tree is good, but I don't know any one teacher to recommend. There is a Hayes Valley studio that has later classes, but I think their drop-in rate is $15-18). Every other place I like is in the East Bay (Yoga Mandala, 7th Heaven, and Monkey Yoga Shala).

Styles likely to be physically challenging: Ashtanga, Vinyasa, sometimes Hatha and Hatha Flow (but not the beginner 1-2 level on either of those). Avoid (I might be wrong about this, but--) Kundalini, Anusara, and think twice about Iyengar.
posted by salvia at 4:57 PM on February 23, 2007

Anusara and Jivamukti are both pretty heavily spiritual (they're my favorites!). The Hayes Yoga Tree studio is moving pretty heavily toward anusara; they've got a bunch of good teachers and are starting to get a community together.

Which would lead me to counsel you against the Hayes Valley Yoga Tree, for the most part.

I've taken a couple Vinyasa classes at the Yoga Tree Stanyan studio (just south of Haight), and they're probably pretty close to what you're looking for.
posted by occhiblu at 5:16 PM on February 23, 2007

Also, the Stanyan studio seems to have more guys than I'm used to in classes, at least for the vinyasa classes, which ends up making them more gender-mixed than other classes I've been in. (And they have 10 classes for $120 if you're a student, which is probably about as cheap as you're going to get. I think it's $140 for non-students; drop in is $16.)
posted by occhiblu at 5:19 PM on February 23, 2007

I was the suggester on the opposite-of-what-you're-looking-for class, but on the kick-your-ass side, I'd suggest the yoga classes at Mission Cliffs gym. Drop in classes are $12, it's all strength & flexibility, it's hard work, and the teachers are great.
posted by judith at 12:37 AM on February 24, 2007

I second trying out the yoga classes at Mission Cliffs Gym. I have a membership at the Berkeley branch of Touchstone Climbing, and for about $50 a month membership, you can attend all the yoga classes you want. When I had time I was attending usually one class a day, and two on Wednesdays several years ago, so the price cannot be beat.
The teachers are usually quite good; most at Berkeley seem to be affiliated with Rodney Yee's studio, Piedmont Yoga.
posted by AArtaud at 9:56 AM on February 24, 2007

Response by poster: thanks for all the suggestions everyone! i'll have to sift through these now :)
posted by christy at 11:45 AM on February 25, 2007