My first summer in Paris, I was awed and flabbergasted with the number of restaurants, bakeries, butchers, cheese shops and liquor shops closed the entire month of August.  I even wrote a blog post about it back when I was blogging about food and traveling and back when my wrist was still broken and I couldn't do yoga.  I've since realized that in addition to having to walk a few extra blocks for a good baguette, you really have to search for yoga classes in the summertime in Paris.  If you eventually find a class, you might show up to find it has been cancelled last minute.  It has happened to me, in July!  Since many of my friends are out of town during vacation time, I often find myself idle, and need of some human interaction and what better way to get that than a great yoga class.  Unfortunately, I often find myself S.O.L. (look it up) because like everyone else in Paris, my favorite teachers are also on vacation or having retreats in some sunny beautiful lush local.  I have the option to teach myself a yoga class, but many of you aren't quite familiar enough to do so for yourselves, and I often get requests around this time from students for online classes they can take.  Usually, it's to get them through a week or two, so I've compiled a couple of recommended links for all you Paris yogis who will be around in dire need of yoga this summer, or just anytime you're looking to do some yoga at home.  If you have a favorite online home for yoga classes, free or not, let me know.  I'll check it out and perhaps add it to the list!  

Updated:  I had a couple of websites for free yoga, but they are no longer useable.  

Subscription services (monthly) that are low cost compared to Paris yoga classes and have free trial periods (as of last check):

http://www.yogaglo.com
Has an almost overwhelming selection of well curated well filmed classes in all genres and styles.  I've taken classes with a few of these teachers in real life, and they're quite good.  Jason Crandell is one of my favorites.

 http://www.yogavibes.com
Also has a good selection of well filmed classes.  I've taken many a classes with Pete Guinosso in San Francisco in real life, and he has a few here that are very good.  I also saw a press release that they were now offering prenatal/postnatal classes too.  And it looks like Yoga Journal has snatched them up recently.  They do have a few very short free classes (5 minutes).  

https://movementformodernlife.com
I've never taken a full class with Aiofe, but she's a fantastic spark of a woman, and a kick ass yogi.  And I recognize quite a few of the names of the teachers, so let me know if you enjoy it.

https://yogainternational.com/​
This website is pretty geeky, but they have a good selection of all different kinds of yoga for all different kinds of people.  

I must have really good luck, because when I (finally) took my first yoga class in Paris at Rasa yoga, I took it with the best teacher in Paris.  Wisely chosen?  Or just luck?  I guess we'll never know.  I got a 10 class pass that day, it was an investment, but it had no expiration date, so I thought why not, and it was a smart move.  The pass lasted me almost 2 years, and I took 8 of the 10 classes with the same person, Sharon Jacobs.  

I've been wanting to share this information with you, my loyal readers, since the very beginning, but despite my best efforts, I couldn't get any other information on Sharon.  Rasa's website has only her first name, and even when I found out her last name, I still couldn't find any information about her online.  It sort of reminds me of my favorite teacher in SF.  No one but her loyal students knew her.  Her website was basic, she didn't market herself, but despite all that, her classes were full.  What conclusion can you draw from that ladies and gentlemen?  Awesomeness!  

Sharon's classes are Alignment based, but flow magnificently.  Her attention to detail is exquisite, and the -one in a million- time she can't get you into the perfect pose with her words, her hands are like magic!  Don't expect a vinyasa paced class, but do expect to  be taught by one of the most experienced and trained teachers, to sweat, to breathe heavily, and to be sore in all the right places the next day.  And don't even consider worrying about belonging.  Even with a (formerly) broken wrist and a weak body after not having done yoga while recovering, her classes were always accessible.

She is perfectly bilingual and teaches at Rasa and at the Gasquet Institute.  Lucky for you, she's teaching a donation based class this Saturday at 11:00 at the American Church of Paris, so you can actually take a class with her during non-office hours.


Teacher:  Sharon Jacobs
Studio:  Rasa Yoga
Class:  Alignment/Anusara 
Language:  Perfectly Bilingual in English and French

Direction:             ★★★★★
Experience:          ★★★★★
Alignment:           ★★★★★
Flow:                        ★★★★★
Feel Good Vibe:  ★★★★★
Adjustments:       ★★★★★
Sweaty-ness:       ★★★★

Spiritual Lesson:  Short, thoughtful, attainable and always uplifting.  
Would I pay 20€ to take a class with her?  Yes, yes, yes!  


Bonus, if you'd like to take a private class, or know more about her schedule:  
Email : shazjac@hotmail.com
Tel : 0660147486

Big Apple is only a 20 minute metro ride from me and it's small enough that the ambiance is neighborhood-y and not stuffy.   It's really nice to have a great studio so close and convenient, you know, on those days that I just don't want to practice alone at home.   But since I do have a home practice, I can't bring myself to pay full price for a class and lucky for me, they have 10€ classes at 10am, two of which are in English!  They are taught by beginner teachers, but I've taken classes with both Jo (English) and Julia (French) and they're both very competent, so if you're available at 10 am I highly recommend these classes, they're way better than some of the full priced classes I've taken in Paris!


**Please check their schedule for community classes** to verify the days and times!  

You know how people  take the best photos of themselves and post them online, the ones where you can see the joy radiating from their smile and you can just tell they are loving life in that very moment?  Sometimes you don't even recognize them when you see them in real life.  I may be guilty of this very thing.  I've often had people tell me I had 'the bitch look' on my face, usually when I'm trying to concentrate on something, and I certainly don't post those photos online.  Anyway, I took a class with Anne today, it was actually, kind of my second class with Anne, since she co-taught a superbly fun class with Marc Holzman at the yoga festival a few weekends ago.  Well, she's not one of those people.  Her smile, demeanor, aura, whatever you want to call it, is just as beautiful and joyful and welcoming as it is in the photos.  

She is French and she taught in French.  And it was an Anusara class with lots of words, directions and alignment and it was all very scientific, as they usually are, but she managed to make it light, comfortable, welcoming and accepting.  Not at all like the classes I've taken with other French teachers that seem to have been trained in military school before learning to teach yoga.  For a while there, I thought it was just because it was in French and it wasn't my native tongue, and I didn't get the jokes, but now I know that's not the case.  Thanks Anne! 

She showed up on the mat today at Big Apple Yoga with colorful wrist warmers and a few tinctures of smelly good rose something or other that made the whole room smell like a garden.  Mmmm.  She taught with clarity and ease, encouraging us all to go further, but to listen and to wait for our bodies to give us the green light before bending more deeply.  She was like a loving accepting mother to all her students, and as many good Anusara teachers do, she gives excellent adjustments.  What's that, you say, adjustments?!  Yes ladies and gentlemen, she gives masterful adjustments with warm and kind hands.  What's not to love!? 

Well... I realized today, that I have a totally different experience when class is French instead of English.  I spend a lot of my brainpower repeating the French in my head... 'oh, that's left, and what did she just say about hips and pelvis, and what does basculer mean, and what am I supposed to do with the muscles in the what?'  This is especially true of an Anusara class since there are so many specific instructions and micromovements involved, and it's why I love Anusara classes.  The teachers are generally extremely knowledgeable and they are masters at getting students to refine the movements in poses.  Spending brainpower translating the French means that I don't get to turn off the world around me and just breathe and move.  It means I don't get that buzz.  It also means that I probably missed a few of those refined movements.  Normally when I take an Anusara class, despite not moving quickly, nor resting in the poses for a very long time (either of which will make me work my tail off and sweat like a monkey) I feel like I get a great workout.  I feel like I've found a new muscles, and learned a little more about alignment.  But sadly, I didn't feel that way after today's class.  It was really lovely being in her presence, and it was really nice to have masterful adjustments, but it just wasn't the same as having an Anusara class in my mother tongue.  So here's the skinny, classes with Anne are highly recommended, especially if your French is better than mine, and you're faster at figuring out left and right.  Even if it's not, and you're not and you just want some motherly love, she's pretty awesome!  And when I get that buzz from a French class, I'll know that I've finally mastered the language.  



Teacher:  Anne Vandewalle
Studio:  Big Apple Yoga
Class:  Anusara (all levels)
Language:  French

Direction:             ★★★★★
Experience:          ★★★★★
Alignment:           ★★★★★
Flow:                        ★★★★
Feel Good Vibe:  ★★★★★
Adjustments:       ★★★★★
Sweaty-ness:       ★

Spiritual Lesson:  Short and sweet and not wishywashy.  Just the way I like it.
Would I pay 20€ to take a class with her again? 
Yes, on a day I need a little healing love.

Paris' indian summer has begun and it's agreeably warm and sunny today, so I ventured out to Big Apple Yoga for a Bhakti Flow yoga class.  It's been, what, 6 years since I took a Bhakti class with the man himself, Rusty Wells and phew, today was sweatier than I remember.  More on that in another post.  Since the husband is gone early next week, I decided to sign up for their introductory special, 10 days of unlimited yoga for 35€, and I plan on taking a class every day for the next 10 days.  Now, all at once, send a little healing love because I think my husband has also shared his cold with me...

Their tagline is "Made in New York", and, well, it does feel very anglo.  There was a lovely airy American woman working the front desk, and despite it being in a central neighborhood, they've managed to secure some ground floor space for the studio.  No key codes and trying to find the right stairs = A+! They have top notch cushy sticky manduka mats (rental comes with your 10 day trial) and they even, sort of, have managed to have 2 yoga rooms, either one big L shaped room, or 2 littler rooms with a thick separator, but still not near soundproof.  Plus they have a good number of the well known Paris teachers on their schedule.  That's about it, though, in terms of perks.  There is one toilet and an unmarked shower room, but the only 'changing room' is a teeny curtained off corridor, so prepare to bare all, possibly in front of the opposite sex, or show up geared up.  There was one guy in class today, and he was super duper respectful and courteous.  He showed up early, changed before the ladies needed to, and just as class finished, grabbed his gear from the corridor and changed back to his streetwear in the studio.  Props dude. Props.  Despite the crowded changing room, they've done a good job of efficiently using a small-ish ground floor space.  

Big Apple Yoga
20 Rue DUSSOUBS
75002 Paris
+33 1 42 36 76 11
Metro:  Réamur-Sébastopol  / Etienne Marcel (Ligne 4) or Réamur-Sébastopol / Sentier (Ligne 3)

Price:  20€ a class (excellent 10 day trial offer -35€ and reduced 10 and 20 class passes available)
Yoga Styles:   Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Anusara, Jivamukti, Prenatal, Bhakti
Languages:  English and French (check schedule for availability)
Changing Rooms:  1 but it's more like a corridor
Secure Lockers:  none
Mats:  1€
Toilets:  1
Showers:  1
Water: dispenser with glasses 



SUMMARY:
Pros - They have lots of options if you like your yoga in English.  They have only flowy fast paced classes (no Yin/Hatha)  ***as of Dec 2013, one Yin -community- class has been added at 10am Thursday***.  And they have some of the better known French teachers on the rosters.  Plus, they have 10€ community classes in the mornings! (Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri)
Cons - They only have flowy fast paced classes (no Yin/Hatha).  They have a corridor instead of a changing room, and it gets crowded.  

The day after I arrived in France, I decided to skip a movie with friends, and take a juicy yoga class.  Who needs to see a movie in your native tongue after being immersed in 10 different languages in 6 months.  I just wanted to lay down my mat on a clean floor and breathe.  I found a studio in central Paris that was English friendly, and I was on my way!  It happened to be in July, the 15th, so I looked up the schedule online, chose a class and showed up, only to be told that that class was cancelled, there was no replacement teacher, and there was certainly no apology.  It was the summer time.  And though it took me another year to fully comprehend, I now get it (I think).  It was vacation time, and during vacation time, Paris is a wasteland, schedules are reduced, restaurants are closed, flower shops are shuttered possibly all of July and probably all of August.  It's a phenomenon, and I know your French isn't great, but call anyway, just to make sure.  Just say "parlez-vous anglais" they speak English.


Months and months later, after a broken arm, many too many surgeries, and lots of pain, I finally took my first yoga class at Rasa.  It was great, the teacher was kind and understanding, and spoke perfect English and French.  The studio is in a beautiful space, and according to reviews, one of the best in the world.  It's hidden behind a huge old French wooden door that opens to a secluded courtyard.  Tranquility is part of the experience.  But it's also 'one of the best yoga studios in the world' and it knows it.  Once you get buzzed in and make your way to the studio, you're greeted by a serenely decorated space, with antique-y hindu deity statues, a rattan floor, a tastefully integrated yoga gear shop, a no shoe policy (didn't you know) and a Parisian at the front desk.  The 2 yoga rooms are nicely sized, (one being larger than the other) clean, have lovely wooden floors, and lots of natural light.  There are proper bathrooms, large changing rooms with lockers and keys, and even a couple of massage rooms for your after yoga 'detente'.  It is not 'populaire' by any means, and I might expect to see a celebrity one day, if I didn't know they took private classes.  But I'm certainly not complaining that I'm not next to 'that' guy/gal who forgot his/her deodorant (bath) today (this week).  

Rasa Yoga (rive gauche)
21 rue Saint Jacques
Paris 75005
+33 (0)1 43 54 14 59
Metro: St Michel (Ligne 4) or Cluny La Sorbonne (Ligne 10)

Price:  22€ a class (reduced 10 and 20 class passes available)
Yoga Styles:  Hatha, Mysore, Ashtanga, Yin, Vinyasa, Iyengar, Alignment (formerly Anusara), Mommy and Me
Languages:  English and French (check schedule for availability)
Changing Rooms:  2 (not separated by sex)
Secure Lockers:  included in class fee
Mats:  included in class fee
Toilets:  yes
Showers: yes (towels for hire or bring your own)
Water: (bottled, room temp) - $$
Massages available


SUMMARY:
Pros - Two practice rooms, clean, bright, amply sized changing rooms, showers.
Cons - A little musty after a sweaty class, changing rooms not separated by sex, website has teacher first name only with no bio's or links.