If you are experiencing neck and back pains, it is time to roll out your yoga mats and increase your body mobility. The beauty of yoga is that it will provide a combination of physical and mental exercises that greatly benefit your body. So whether you are overweight or fit, young or old, yoga has the power to strengthen your body and calm your mind.
Needless to say, the benefits of yoga are countless, and it offers lasting health benefits. To help you find the right studio for your needs, we have compiled some of the best yoga studios in Houston.
1. YogaWorks The Heights
YogaWorks The Height is a studio that provides high-end services that range from Hot Core Cardio to Hot Yoga, Sonic Hot 60 to Cool 60 and Restore to Flow. This studio was founded by trained yoga practitioners Alan Finger, Maty Ezraty, and Chuck Miller. Initially, the YogaWorks The Height was known as YogaOne, and it was popularly known for hot yoga sessions.
The amazing bit is that this studio caters to people of all sizes, shapes, ages and fitness levels. They also offer workshops for non-members and classes for beginners. Additionally, the studio has a room set to 100 -104 degrees and a humidity of between 50 -60 %, which speeds up the detoxification process.
Location: 548 W 19th St, Houston, TX 77008
Phone: (832) 649-5640
2. Hot Yoga Houston
Hot Yoga Houston is another great studio conducting over 35 classes in Houston. Hot yoga Houston’s first studio was founded in 1995, and since then, its studios have pioneered hot yoga, pilates and other deviations of the hot yoga.
This yoga studio offers classes every day for anybody, including people who are visiting Houston. They offer pilate, 90-minute hot yoga, 60-minute hot yoga and yin.
Location: 2438 South Blvd, Houston, TX 77098
Phone: (713) 664-5333
3. The Good Space Pilates and Yoga Studio
The Good Space Pilates and Yoga Studio is one of the best Yoga studios in Houston founded by Melody Morton. The studio is well known for offering top-of-the-line Pilates, and it is well equipped, guaranteeing you an intense burn.
The studio offers reformer classes, stretch classes, and ballet barre sculpt. It also provides ample parking for all its clients and small class sizes, so you need to reserve your spot online. In addition, the studio provides yoga mats, towels and water at no additional cost, so all you need to bring is yourself.
Location: 5757 Woodway Dr. Suite 150, Houston
Phone: +1 713 784 8555
4. Aerial Yoga Houston
Aerial Yoga Houston is a perfect studio for more advanced yogis looking to improve the ante on their workout. This appealing style will provide you with serious Cirque du Soleil feelings, so if you want to try out something more different and daring, this would be the best yoga studio.
This yoga studio offers one-on-one classes and assistance for the weekly packages. If you are a novice or just visiting Houston, you could easily book your spot online or even go to the studio early enough to get a spot up front.
Location: 2500 Summer St. Suite 3217
Phone: +1 281 660 9478
5. Big Power Yoga
Big Power Yoga is another great yoga studio that you coud go to if you are looking for a place that provides both heated and non-heated yoga classes. The amazing bib about the Big Power Yogastudio is that it has been providing its services to the residents of Houston and the surrounding areas for over 8 years.
Its yoga services include Yin, powerful flow, big beats and devotional flow. This yoga studio also offers kids’ and teens’ yoga classes, so you could take your kid or tween along as you go for your yoga classes. Again the studio has teacher training programs for anyone looking to be a yoga instructor.
Location: 3115 Allen Parkway, Houston
Phone: (832) 291-0977
6. Joy Yoga Center
The joy yoga center is one of the best yoga studios in Houston, and it is well known for having top teachers and a varied schedule. They offer a wide variety of services, including traditional flow classes, power Pilates, insanity yoga, yoga for runners, prenatal yoga, and acro-yoga.
The amazing bit is that this studio gives you the flexibility to try new styles and improve the skills you already have. In addition, the Joy yoga center has candlelight classes that provide their clients with an extremely relaxing experience.
Location: 4500 Washington Ave Suite 900, Houston
Phone: +1 713 868 9642
7. Yogaleena Studios
Yogaleena studio is located in the central part of Houston. The studio has a fancy interior that allows yogis to feel relaxed before starting their exercises. It also offers daily yoga classes. Amazingly the Yogaleena studio offers several programs that most other yoga studios do not offer.
One amazing service is Prenatal Yoga which helps pregnant mothers connect with themselves. The other unique service is yoga for seniors, a specific program that helps strengthen stiff and weak muscles. They also have a therapeutic program that is ideal for people with sleeping problems.
Location:2621 S Shepherd Dr #230, Houston
Phone: (832) 767-3843
8. The Atrium Yoga Studio
The Atrium Yoga Studio in Houston is another great studio that offers courses and workshops to its clients. In addition, it has beginner and power vinyasa group classes and offers other prenatal, semi-private therapeutic, and teacher coaching programs.
The amazing bit is that the facility acknowledges appeals for private classes and parties. It also uses music and sequencing to encourage creativity and intelligence while teaching practices and principles. The Atrium Yoga Studio’s core values are creativity, contribution, correction, brilliance, devotion and sustainability.
Location: 3733 Westheimer Road
Phone: (713) 364-3106
9. Black Swan Yoga Houston
Black Swan Yoga Houston is a donation-based facility in Houston that allows anyone to attend training programs for free by donating $10 to $20. The studio has great interiors, art pieces, music, a 90-degree temperature setting, and competent teachers or trainers.
They offer different services that include flow, hot Onnit, beginner, power, prenatal/postnatal, chill and Ashtanga. Additionally, they are open to everyone at o additional cost.
Location:5310 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77005
Phone: (832) 831-6462
10. Cherry Blossom Yoga
Cherry Blossom Yoga studio is another great facility that has been active since 2010. The main intent of this studio is to improve its client’s quality of life, health and peace of mind.
They offer services that include Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Restorative, and Yin. The best bit is that they offer foundational Vinyasa Teacher training. In addition to that, this facility also sells handmade soaps, scented candles, books and massage oils to their clients.
Location: Houston, TX 77379
Phone: (281) 257-4245
Top Reasons Why You Should Give Yoga A Try
Chances are high that you know someone who practices yoga. You’ve heard them talk about how great they feel, you’ve heard them use strange-sounding words, and you’ve managed to successfully dodge all of their invitations to join them for that supposed “free introductory” class in one of the best Yoga studios in Houston.
But why haven’t you tried it yet?
Research shows that among the many dozens of health benefits attributed to regular yoga practice, included in that long list are lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, increased flexibility and muscle tone, posture perfection, and better bone density. However, if that is not enough to convince you, we’ve listed the most compelling reasons we keep showing up and unrolling that mat.
1. Yoga Will Give You Long, Lean Muscles
The difference between building strength through yoga and weight training is significant. Resistance training constricts and shortens the muscles while building strength. On the other hand, Yoga lengthens the muscle tissue, building functional strength, which we use daily.
Picking up our children, carrying groceries, and sitting at our desks with proper posture are all examples of the types of functional strength that begin to decline as early as our thirties. However, regular yoga practice can help maintain those abilities and even increase them.
2. Can Stave Off Osteoporosis and Arthritis
Regular weight-bearing exercise has been proven to increase bone density and prevent osteoporosis. Yoga takes this benefit one step further by lowering the cortisol level (the stress hormone) in your bloodstream, depleting calcium in the bones.
Yoga is also an aid in keeping the spine’s bones supple and preventing degenerative cartilage diseases, such as arthritis, through “squeezing and soaking.” Cartilage needs to be used (squeezed out) regularly to then “soak up” fresh nutrients. When these areas are left unused, they do not have a chance to squeeze out and therefore do not soak up fresh nutrients and energy. This can lead to arthritis and other joint pain.
3. Good For Your Heart and Helps Prevent Cancer
We all know the benefits of cardiovascular exercise on the heart, but few realize that yoga can be just as beneficial. While some yoga poses and practices can get your heart into the cardio zone, even the slower moves are beneficial in some other ways. For example, yoga practice lowers your resting heart rate by concentrating on breathing, increasing the oxygen uptake, and increasing endurance, which is all part of cardiovascular health.
Additionally, your body’s blood supply gets physically moved around during headstands, handstands, twisting and inverted poses, which helps decrease blood pressure. These same moves twist and contract muscle groups, causing the lymph nodes to drain, disposing of toxic waste and fighting cancer at the cellular level.
4. It Helps Control Hunger (Which can Lead to Weight Loss)
Cortisol is the hormone released into the bloodstream by the adrenal glands when we are in an acute state of stress, and it can be very beneficial to us if in a crisis. But unfortunately, most Americans reach that level of stress regularly and live in a state of constant heightened cortisol. This can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, insulin resistance, osteoporosis, and depression.
High cortisol levels trigger food-seeking behavior, which causes you to eat for reasons other than hunger, such as anger or stress. Your body then takes extra calories and stores them as belly fat. Regular yoga practice reduces cortisol in the bloodstream, which alters this behavior and reduces hunger, leading to a decrease in weight. This reduction reduces the risk for all of the above weight-related disorders, including heart disease.
5. It Makes You Happy
Serotonin is one of the body’s best weapons against cortisol. As we discussed above, sustained high cortisol levels can damage our physical health, but one thing we have not discussed yet is our mental and emotional health. Consistent practitioners of yoga have shown to have much higher serotonin levels. These higher serotonin levels result in lower reported levels of depression, higher reported levels of general happiness, and even greater immune function.
The practice of breath awareness teaches maintained focus and relaxation techniques, known for their mental benefits throughout psychology. At the same time, yoga has the added benefit of increased blood flow to all body parts, including the brain, the intestines, and the nervous system, which helps all of these systems relax physically and promotes deeper, healthier sleep.
You can begin practicing yoga at any time and at any fitness level. Houston is home to some of the most cutting-edge yoga instructors. There is a studio from small boutiques to multi-location home-grown chains. Class prices range from pay-what-you-can per class to full-service monthly memberships.
Find a class near you and start the road to better mind and body health today.
Image credit: squarespace.com
