I’ve been practicing yoga on and off for years – since college more or less, though I’d occasionally taken classes before that. When I moved to Mexico City, I found a Bikram Yoga studio near my office, and would take an hour and a half class at 6:15 there every morning, regardless of how late I’d made it to bed the night before. That lasted about 2 years before I stopped going because of chronic tonsillitis – eventually, my tonsils had to be removed. After that, I started doing yoga in my tiny bedroom before work – a favorite were Tara Stiles’ podcasts. Then when I moved, I discovered Uno Yoga right around the corner from my new apartment, and I started taking vinyasa classes at least a couple of times a week, when I managed to get off work early. Now that I’ve moved back I’ve found another studio just a few blocks away – I think proximity is the key to continuity, at least for me – and manage to get a class in most mornings.
Mexico City has an active health and wellness scene – it’s grown and evolved even in the year and a half I was away in D.C. – and you’ll find that there are yoga studios and gyms all over the city offering different types of classes, from Vinyasa to Hatha to Bikram. I have yet to explore them all, and literally keep a list of new places I’d like to visit, but in the meantime I thought I’d share some of the places I know and can recommend.
Uno Yoga, Cuauhtémoc
Uno Yoga has a studio on Río Nazas, just a few blocks from Reforma on the corner with Río Sena. I generally attended the evening classes, from 8:30 to 10 pm, but they offer classes throughout the day, starting at 8 am. I suppose their schedule has changed since I last attended class, but the evening classes used to alternate between a rigorous Ashtanga practice and a more mellow Hatha based class, with some restorative postures mixed in.
Yoga Espacio, Coyoacan, Del Valle, Satélite
Yoga Espacio has three different studios in different parts of the city – in Coyoacan, Del Valle and Satélite. They offer classes throughout the day starting at 7 am until about 9 pm, depending on the studio. The schedule offers plenty of what they call fundamentos (basics) classes. These are designed to be accessible for newcomers to yoga, though if you’re experienced they’ll still challenge you – I pretty much always break a sweat during class. There are also a few Vinyasa classes scattered through the schedule, which are generally not as aerobic as some of the Ashtanga flow classes I’ve attended elsewhere, but the teachers do take the class up a notch and you might be sore the next day – I know I usually am. In particular, the Tuesday morning classes with Maitreya at the Del Valle studio are intense.
Agora Lucis, Polanco
Agora Lucis is more than just a yoga studio – it’s part of a wellness center located in the middle of Polanco, which includes a cafe with indoor and garden seating, a boutique, a spa offering services from facials to massages, and multiple studio spaces. I walked by a couple of times before dropping in for a class a couple of weeks ago. It was a flow class, though not ashtanga based, and I got lucky since it was the start of a holiday weekend and a lot of the regular attendees were out – I was one of only 2 students in the class and we got a lot of personalized corrections from the instructor. Overall, the center offers a wide variety of classes including everything from yoga to martial arts, classes for children and pregnancy, and specific styles of yoga like Kundalini, Strala (Tara Stiles’ yoga style), and restorative. In general the prices per class are higher here than what I’ve seen at other places around the city, though they’re still lower than what you’ll pay in New York or Los Angeles. If you’re looking for a quiet space to get in a yoga class, grab a healthy meal, and maybe catch up on some reading in the garden, this is a great spot for it. The cafe is part of a local healthy eating chain called Ojo de Agua – they serve fresh juice, açai bowls, salads and sandwiches. The boutique also sells ingredients for Indian cooking – think a mix for making kitchari at home and prepared ghee – and is so far the only place I’ve found around town that sells herbs like ashwagandha and asafoetida.
In addition to the studios I’ve mentioned above, I’ve heard good things about Green Yoga in Polanco – a good friend and yoga instructor recommended it – and Blanco Yoga, located in a new development in Colonia Juarez, is another one I’ve got on my list to try. If you make it before I do, post a comment and let me know what you think!
Locations: Uno Yoga: Río Nazas 55 esquina con Río Sena Col. Cuauhtémoc México DF // Yoga Espacio: Miguel Ánguel de Quevedo 969, Coyoacán. Entre Ohio y García Torres / Patricio Sanz 1011, Del Valle. Entre San Borja y Eje 6 / Josué Mirlo 2, Circuito Poetas, Cd. Satélite, Naucalpan de Juárez, Edo. de México // Agora Lucis: La Fontaine 78 Col. Polanco. CP 11550. Del. Miguel Hidalgo