Strike a Pose

Yoga’s popularity is showing no signs of waning. But with a studio on almost every corner, how do you find the one that’s right for you? We did the research to uncover the city’s best places to roll out your yoga mat.

Flash-in-the-pan fitness fads may come and go (remember pole-dancing workouts?), but if the ubiquity of Seattle yoga studios says anything, it’s that this ancient tradition clearly has staying power. Hailed by fans as the shortest route to inner wellness—as well as to biceps like Madonna’s—sometimes a downward-facing dog or two can be as rejuvenating as a pricey beauty treatment. So after taking a deep breath and centering our chi, we contacted local studio owners in search of the very best Seattle has to offer. Maybe it’s their laidback nature or all that chanting, but our experts had plenty of praise for their competitors, gracefully pointing us to the studios and teachers who make up the city’s cream of the crop


Best Therapeutic Yoga:
Whole Life Yoga, Greenwood;
Planet Earth Yoga Center, Fremont
For ailments ranging from nagging sports injuries to serious back problems, teachers recommend these Greenwood and Fremont studios dedicated to viniyoga—a gentle style in which poses are carefully modified for each student. Both are helmed by owners with sports and fitness backgrounds and tout classes as “user-friendly yoga,” which means nobody will snicker if you aren’t as flexible as Gumby.


Best Hot Yoga:
Bikram Yoga College of India, Fremont; Sweatbox Yoga, Capitol Hill
Some experts caution that this style of yoga—a 90-minute series of poses performed in a 105-degree heated room—can lead to injuries, while others insist the sauna-like temperature is actually safer for your muscles. When it comes to detoxifying, however, none question the power of the puddle of sweat you’ll produce. And all recommend heading to Fremont’s 10-year-old Bikram College of India or Capitol Hill’s aptly named Sweatbox, a neighborhood staple since 2001.


Best Power Yoga:
Shakti Vinyasa Yoga, Ballard and Bellevue
One glance at Shakti yoga’s sinewy student base and we understood why Lisa Black and Peter Avolio’s Ballard and Bellevue studios were the unanimous pick for Seattle’s best power yoga. The only West Coast studio affiliated with renowned yoga innovator Baron Baptiste, Shakti offers challenging flow classes in toasty 88-degree heated studios—making it your best bet for a lean, mean physique that rivals Christy Turlington’s.


Best Iyengar Yoga:
Yoga Centers, Bellevue
For this style of yoga classes—which emphasize anatomically correct poses and proper alignment—we hear Bellevue’s Yoga Centers can’t be beat, since teachers must complete 2,000 hours of training with internationally recognized senior teacher Aadil Palkhivala. A former lawyer who began practicing yoga at age 7, Palkhivala opened the studio 16 years ago (it was Bellevue’s first) and now teaches purna yoga—his unique, Iyengar-based style—throughout the Puget Sound area and beyond.


Best Prenatal and
Postnatal Yoga: Colette Crawford
Seattle Holistic Center, North Seattle and Wallingford
After a severe car accident while eight months pregnant in 1991, registered nurse Colette Crawford used yoga as a drug-free way to deal with pain. Thrilled with the results, she and her husband, Bruce, founded the postnatal program (prenatal was founded earlier) at Seattle Holistic Center and the Good Shepherd Center—where her gentle, meditative classes are now widely considered to be the best in the city.


Did we miss something? Please leave us a comment about your favorite yoga studio. We're gathering up your responses for a list of readers' picks. Be sure to explain WHY you love your studio and we'll consider your nomination for our list!