Article
Yoga Spaces in Leeds
Chapter 81
Yoga is great exercise for body and spirit, and over the past decade or so national interest in yoga has skyrocketed!
From gym class-style yoga based on Vinyasa where the aim is flexibility and connected, fluid movement routines, to Ashtanga styles focussing on connecting movement and breath, to Bikram hot yoga, to the peace and calm of Yin yoga, yoga has many arms and styles. Leeds is a great place to explore some of them, whether through specialist yoga studios or through tutors and classes held at gyms. Here are some of our favourite yoga specialists.
Yoga Kula
Chapel Allerton’s Yoga Kula studio is run by teacher Angela Sykes, as well as her large team of yoga professionals with different strengths and styles. Angela herself is a wonderful and calm force, who will gently guide you toward correct form and improved practice. They also offer several teaching styles, from Ashtanga to Deep Yin to Hatha and Nidra, across their classes, workshops and retreats.
Web:yogakulaleeds.co.uk
Image credit: Yoga Hero
Yoga Hero
Down by Leeds Dock, the spacious unit where Yoga Hero is based is one open space devoted to yoga practice. They have treatments and therapies on offer as well as their timetable of classes, which include Tibetan Heart Yoga, Rise and Shine Yoga, Yoga for Runners and Cyclists and Power Flow classes. They even have prenatal-specific classes to help you prepare for a child’s birth with a toolbox of breathing techniques and stress-release methods.
Web:yogahero.co.ukThe Hot Room: Bikram Yoga
The Bikram Yoga studio upstairs in The Core provides Bikram yoga classes - ‘hot’ yoga, devised and named after its inventor, Bikram Choudhury. Offering Hot Yoga and Hot Pilates classes, the purpose-built hot room uses blower (forced air) technology to create a stable 40 degrees and 40% humidity environment, said to help you see results quickly in your practice. It is fully equipped with changing rooms and showers (it might be a rather sweaty experience)!
Web:thehotroom.co.ukThe Yoga Space
Located on Meanwood Road in the beautiful red brick Baptist School building, The Yoga Space opened in 2004 and is a traditional yoga teaching facility, bucking ‘trendiness’ to create an open, welcoming space for all. All you need is some comfy clothing you can move easily in - and your yoga journey is ready to commence. For more practiced yogis, the focus is on the breath here. Teaching draws from Krishnamacharya and Iyengar, and classes include everything from pregnancy yoga, mum & baby yoga and kids yoga to Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga Mysore Style and Yamuna Body Rolling - with many beginners options for each in between.
Web:theyogaspace.co.uk
We are Wellness
This yoga, fitness and therapy studio up in Headingley is located in a grand and stylist 18th century mansion. With plenty of yoga options to choose from, from beginners to Hatha to Ashtanga to Power to Yin to Restorative, you can also choose to add some extra activities to your class routine here - why not try Barre Pilates, or HIIT and Stretch, for example?
Web:wearewellness.co.ukLeeds Aerial Arts
Leeds Aerial Arts offers a new challenge - yoga using trapeze/hammock! Don’t shy away from this if you worry you aren’t strong enough; contrary to what you might think, the beginners level classes actually mean that you can use the hammock to take your body weight rather than having to 100% support yourself, so it can be a really great way to learn the techniques of yoga and become slowly stronger and more flexible. How could exercise feel any more playful than when dangling from the ceiling?! It’s a must-try.
Web:leedsaerialarts.co.uk