Knowing Your Asana from Your Tittibhasana: Yoga in Berlin
"My God! Berliners and their yoga! Yoga this, yoga that. It's like their lives are nothing without it," ranted an exasperated but astute visitor after a mere week in the hauptstadt. In some districts (Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg, guilty as charged), you learn to give cyclists an extra wide berth because however slim and wiry the bike and the rider, the rolled-up yoga mat strapped to the back will whomp you in the solar plexus if you don't take a quick sidestep. This is a city where locals talk about yoga varieties like oenophiles comparing vintages or rival church sects disputing doctrine. Most schools are happy to let you take one-off lessons if you're overwhelmed by the need to do tree pose in company during your stay, but pick your yoga cult wisely, grasshopper, as there are many.
Carpe Diem Urban Yoga
Stralauer Allee 1
10245 Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany
Carpe Diem health drinks organizes "Guerrilla Yoga" in unusual locations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Last summer in Berlin, they were downward-facing …
dogging on the roof of the Universal Music building, down by the Spree in Friedrichshain with an awesome view west over the city. Sign up to find out what's in store next year. Sun salutations in Knut's pen, perhaps? [link]
Thai Yoga Massage
Bötzowstraße 10
10407 Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany
Nicole Briel is an alternative healthcare practitioner who specializes in what's been called "yoga for the lazy." In Thai Yoga Massage or Nuat Phaen Boran, you lie prone while the masseur folds and stretches and kneads your body into various yogic positions and applies acupressure at strategic points. Briel doesn't have a website but can … be contacted via Bodywalk. [link]
Spirit Yoga
Rosenthaler Straße 36
10178 Mitte, Berlin, Germany
The big mama of Berlin yoga has just opened a branch in Charlottenburg to match the Mitte outfit: The glamorous interior looks like something out of Sex and the City, … and it's offering spa services too. A wide variety of classes includes troubleshooting sessions for basic moves like headstands and back bends. Many of the teachers are American or taught in the US for years. [link]
Yoga Shala
Kastanienallee 7
10435 Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany
A hub of all things yogic in Kastanianallee, with classes, workshops, talks by visiting lecturers, and a café selling super healthy salads and Bionade soda. This writer … found the atmosphere in her class a little solemn, but then again they also offer naked yoga, and anything less than po-faced gravity would be fatal when attempting yoganidrasana. [link]
Moveo Yoga Studio
Am Tempelhofer Berg 7
10965 Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
Truly inspiring location up in the loft of an old 19th-century brewery in Kreuzberg; as you hold a standing pose, you can gaze at the view from the skylights set in the … sloping ceiling. Moveo are well established and offer a gamut of classes, including specialist slots for breast cancer survivors and HIV+ women. [link]
Bewegung in Balance
Prenzlauer Promenade 20
13086 Weißensee, Berlin, Germany
"The littlest fitness studio in Berlin" is also the one with the nicest atmosphere and the friendliest clientele. Rebecca Dombach runs a one-woman show, teaching …
all the classes -- which cost a mere €3 a pop -- and specializes in Ashtanga. If you hate pretentious yoga and saying "om" makes you feel silly, this is the place for you. [link]
Bikram Yoga Berlin-Mitte
Neue Schönhauser Straße 19
10178 Mitte, Berlin, Germany
Bikram divides the yoga world: dangerous sell-out or revelation? This writer had the most miserable hour and a half of her life at Bikram Yoga Berlin-Mitte in a sealed, … overheated room full of copiously sweating, near-naked people staring fixedly at themselves in a giant mirror while an instructor strode round barking out commands. But hey, different strokes for different folks, right? [link]
Yoga Klub Berlin
Schönhauser Allee 26
10435 Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany
New yoga center tucked away in a courtyard near Kollwitzplatz offering Iyengar exclusively. Iyengar emphasizes accuracy in postures, even if you have to use a prop like a … band or block to achieve it -- it's not for the slapdash, but it's especially good if you have a back problem you need to unravel slowly and patiently. [link]
