The Best Yoga in Paris

Yoga in Paris is a booming enterprise these days. Recently the clothing shop Yoga Concept opened its doors in the Marais, offering the perfect venue for visitors to get educated, expert advice on where to pursue their yoga practice in France. The owner, Pam, is a real insider and will point you to studios, workshops and events that are simply not to be missed when searching out yoga in Paris.After one visit, she sent me off to the Grand Palais, where an übercool yoga teacher, Mika, and his DJ partner, Marco, were giving classes under the turn-of-the-century glass-and-steel Nef. It was an outstanding yoga class: physical, serious and fun. And the even better news is that they now offer Yogalab classes in the funky 19th Arrondissement, near the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, for a young, hip yoga practice that will have you leaving on an upbeat.

Yoga in the Grand Palais.

For a more traditional practice, with an equally enthusiastic and professional team, Olivier, at Trini Yoga, welcomes you into his charming neighborhood studio that is oh so Paris, nestled in a rustic courtyard, with a fireplace and decorative moldings, for a low-key Ashtanga practice that has the perfect flow.
Traveling south, to the left bank, Rasa is the city’s ne plus ultra yoga address, winning awards for being one of the nicest in the world. The studio is large and airy, with lots of natural light streaming down on yogis, many of whom have traveled from across the city for any of the dozen yoga classes offered per day, including a Mysore program for early risers.
Many, if not all, of the teachers at these studios speak English, and even if they don’t, they’re still thrilled to have you in their classes. If you’d like an Anglophone teacher, especially one who is precise and encouraging, you might want to consider Chris Laurion. I recently took a class at Rituel with Chris, and I left a much better, stronger yogi in just one session. Chris offers classes all week at various locations across the city.

The gorgeous space at Rituel.

To keep up with the local scene from afar, all the “cool” people follow Laurence Gay’s blog, yogaenmouvement. Her blogs are so informative and helpful that even the Eurostar magazine is writing about her in an article on yoga in Paris, and she just taught me how to get free tickets to see David Guetta in concert, so I’ll be heading off now, with a rockin’ namasté to all.
Related Links
Yoga Concept
Yogalab
Trini Yoga
Rasa
Chris Laurion
Rituel Studio
yogaenmouvement
Editor’s note: Another way to lose those holiday pounds is by buying our brand-new Paris sightseeing and shopping iPhone app. This basket of five trips will have you walking all over the city, shedding pounds while seeing the sites and checking out loads of unique boutiques.