Yoga In Bangkok

If you want to start practising yoga or learn more about it, there are numerous yoga schools in Bangkok where you can find classes for whatever level you require

Last December I visited my friend Kiera, who is a yoga instructor and scuba diving instructor based on the island of Koh Phi Phi. I wrote a story about her – Scuba Diving Is The New Yoga – for Fah Thai magazine, explaining how scuba and yoga are actually quite similar because they’re all about breathing.

Kiera invited me to try yoga for the first time and with some misgivings I duly gave it a go – and discovered that I really enjoyed it. She was a great teacher for an absolute beginner like me, explaining the different positions as we went along and some of the philosophy behind yoga.

I left Koh Phi Phi the next day to head to Koh Lanta, but I was intrigued enough about yoga to want to a bit more. As such, I recently started researching Bangkok Yoga schools, and here’s what I found:

Yoga Elements – nearest BTS: Chidlom
This is the yoga school I signed up with, mainly because they had a very good value promotion on and because in the morning classes there aren’t too many people attending. The school is located on the 23rd floor so there are big windows and views out over Bangkok from the yoga studio.

Absolute Yoga – nearest BTS: Thong Lor
I did one trial lesson at Absolute Yoga and found it quite crowded and the room to be small. I think Absolute Yoga positions itself as a bit trendy etc. It wasn’t really to my taste, but the tuition was very good.

I haven’t been to them, but I found several other yoga schools as well, as recommended some kind folks on Couchsurfing – you might want to check these out too

Futaba Yoga – nearest BTS: Ploenchit
All Seasons Place 3rd Floor

Harmony Yoga – most of the site is in Thai (besides the page I’ve linked which is in English) so a bit difficult to figure out

Iyengar Yoga – nearest BTS: Thong Lor
This is a small school located in the same building as Absolute Yoga, on a different floor.

I’m sure there are some other yoga schools in Bangkok, so if you have any first hand experience of them, please let me know in the comments below.

The main thing I found with the two schools I tried – Yoga Elements and Absolute Yoga – is that even when you go to a Beginner’s Class, you get thrown in the deep end a little. The first couple of sessions I did there was a group of regular students present so there was little explanation or baby steps for yoga n00bs like me.

It was only after a few sessions that I encountered a teacher who started from the very beginning, talking about breathing and explaining how it works and why it’s so important etc. My point is that if I’d not had that first lesson with Keira where I got a bit familiar with some basic yoga positions, I think I would have felt pretty intimidated by my first yoga lesson in Bangkok.

I’ll be continuing to do yoga here in Bangkok and then I’m hoping to spend some time down on Koh Lanta early next year where there are several yoga teachers – I definitely preferred doing yoga outside so I’m looking forward to trying yoga on Lanta. Hopefully by that point I might be a bit more fit and flexible too.

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