Help me find a yoga class in DC.

June 22, 2007 5:37 AM

What's your favorite yoga class in DC?

Is there a particularly good yoga studio in DC? Do any of the gyms have classes worth joining the gym for?

(Feel free to comment on your favorite gym in DC as well, yoga aside.)

And by "DC" I mean DC, NoVa and Takoma/Silver Spring/Bethesda generally.

posted by Amizu to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 comments total)

Hmm...If you don't get enough info here, I know they've talked about yoga in Got Plans on washingtonpost.com. Not the easiest thing to search through, but it could be worth a shot.
posted by inigo2 at 6:16 AM on June 22, 2007

I did some Bikram classes in NE DC on H Street, right near Union Station. It was great, with small classes and nice atmos and I am going to go again despite what all my friends say about Bikram.
posted by parmanparman at 7:42 AM on June 22, 2007

I belong to the Arlington YMCA and go to their yoga classes about twice a week. They have different instructors on different days, and I enjoy the different approaches each one takes. And the rest of the gym is good too - good cardio classes and machines, weight machines, sauna, etc. As part of my gym membership it's great to have access to yoga at all.
posted by Nathanial Hörnblowér at 7:46 AM on June 22, 2007

I went to Tranquil Space a few times when I lived in Washington. It was crowded, but I liked the instructors and remember enjoying the class a great deal. (Looks like it's only vinyasa, though, so you'd have to be into that style.)
posted by occhiblu at 7:50 AM on June 22, 2007

I go to Thrive Yoga in Rockville, MD--its along Rockville Pike. Nice class size and in a really cool building. My only complaint is that the only Hot Yoga classes are during a time when I'm at work.

I usually go to the Vinyasa or Basic Flow classes. They kick my butt--apparently literally. My boyfriend recently commented that my butt has migrated significantly upward since I started doing yoga twice a week.

They also have a nice "Fundamentals" class if you're a beginner--as I was. It was really helpful for me.
posted by divka at 7:56 AM on June 22, 2007

Willow Street Yoga in a huge operation in Silver Spring and Tacoma Park. I've never taken there but my favorite instructors were trained there so I tend to think highly of it.

If you think you'd use the other components that a gym offers, look into a gym. If yoga is your main objective and you wouldn't really use a gym, just go to a studio. Do you know what style you like? I've seen a few places that will let you try out a class or two for free to see if you like it.

I took through my gym and found the instructors really varied, which is probably less likely to occur at a studio. If there was a bad instructor, I was less likely to go to class. And sadly the good instructors didn't stick around as long as I would have liked. Also, if you join a gym, make sure they don't charge extra for yoga classes. Mine did and it drove me nuts.
posted by ml98tu at 7:58 AM on June 22, 2007

In Fairfax County (NoVA) the park services offer yoga classes (and, you know, a bunch of other stuff). The catalog is here. They tend to be a little cheaper then, e.g., studio classes and the teachers that I've met have all been pretty good. The downsides are that non-county residents have to pay slightly more, and almost none of the locations are convenient to metro.
posted by anaelith at 8:01 AM on June 22, 2007

I have no knowledge of DC or yoga; however, Alex Tydings (probably best known as Aphrodite on Xena) teaches classes in something called "Rock and Roll Yoga" in the DC area, FWIW.
posted by worldswalker at 8:53 AM on June 22, 2007

Willow Street in Takoma was my studio when I lived in the area. I particulary like the Anasara approach that they teach there. Joe is my absolute favorite yoga teacher.
posted by mimo at 8:56 AM on June 22, 2007