Larchmont Vinyasa Yoga Studio Since 1969: $40 First Week

Center for Yoga, at 230 ½ N Larchmont Blvd, has taught yoga in the same building since 1969, and first-time local students can buy seven days of unlimited classes for $40. A single class costs $35 and never expires. Two house rules surprise newcomers: phones stay out of the practice room entirely, and there are no showers, so plan to head home or to the office still warm from class.

The building came first. Masons of Grand Lodge #614 put up the three-story hall in 1925, with shops at street level and a temple upstairs that the studio now calls the Big Room. The raised stages, the ceremonial balcony and the high windows are original. From 1961 to 1979 the same floors held the Fred Astaire Dance Studio, and the studio still calls its home a creaky old building with pride.

Ganga White founded the Center for Yoga in 1967 and moved it into this building in 1969. Yoga Journal has called him one of the architects of American yoga, and the studio credits him with creating flow yoga. Jake Jacobson bought it in 1988, Lisa Haase in 2001, and YogaWorks ran it from 2004 until the pandemic closure. In spring 2021 a coalition of long-time students and neighbors reopened it under community ownership.

The schedule uses a numbering system that is worth decoding before you book. CFY-1 teaches alignment and modifications for people starting out. CFY 1-2 introduces linking breath with movement across a wider range of poses. Vinyasa Flow 1-2 moves faster through sun salutations, and Vinyasa Flow 2-3 adds advanced, dynamic and demanding poses. Pick the lower number on your first visit, because the 2-3 teachers assume you already know a chaturanga.

Heat is optional here. The Infrared Hot Flow classes run vinyasa in an infrared-heated room, with modifications offered for every level, while the regular flows stay unheated. The studio does not publish a room temperature, so expect warmth rather than a scheduled number. Most classes last 60 or 75 minutes, and a few weekend flows stretch to 90. A Candlelight Flow closes out two weeknights, and Vin Yin pairs breath-linked vinyasa with long yin holds.

On the current week's schedule, Nicole Knutson teaches an all-levels Vinyasa Flow at 7 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Joe Kara leads Vinyasa Flow 2/3 at 6:30 pm on Monday and Wednesday, and at 9:15 am on Tuesday and Thursday. Every weekday at 12:15 pm there is a 75-minute Vinyasa Flow 2/3, taught by Jeanne Heileman, Heather Kampf or Cristi Christensen depending on the day.

Weekends lean longer. Jeanne Heileman teaches a 90-minute Vinyasa Flow 2/3 at 10:05 am on Saturday, and Joe Kara takes the same 90-minute slot on Sunday. Kimberlee Soo has an all-levels flow at 2 pm on Sunday, and Ekaette Ekong leads the Candlelight Flow at 7:30 pm on Tuesday and Thursday. The site lists opening hours as Mon, Wed and Fri 7 am–8 pm, Tue and Thu 7:30 am–8:30 pm, and Sat and Sun 8:30 am–6 pm.

For a newcomer the math is simple. The $40 seven-day pass covers more than 100 in-studio and livestream classes a week, so two flows already beat buying two $35 drop-ins. The studio pitches its $180 monthly membership at people practicing twice a week or more, and it requires a three-month commitment and includes 14 guest passes a year. The annual membership is $2,040, and packs of 5, 10, 15 or 20 classes lower the per-class rate as they grow.

Skip the $300 no-commitment month unless you truly cannot sign up for three months. It does fold in mat and towel rentals, but you are paying $120 more than the committed rate for that freedom. Skip the Iyengar classes too if what you want is flow. They are excellent, and Lisa Walford directs the curriculum, but they hold poses for precision rather than moving with the breath, which is a different practice entirely.

Booking runs through the Center for Yoga app, which is powered by Momence and available on iOS and Android. Bring your own mat if you can, since rentals cost $4 at the front desk, and the retail shelf sells Jade, Manduka and B Yoga mats. Shoes come off before the practice room, cell phones are not allowed inside it, and the studio asks for clothing that allows a full range of motion without being overly loose.

Many of the people on the mats have been coming for years, and some of them own the place. The ownership coalition lists Diana Buckhantz as a 20-year student and includes Lisa Walford, who still teaches. A large remote community books the livestream classes too, and a Thursday Mat Pilates stream drew 29 sign-ups this week. The studio says it serves students from Hollywood, Koreatown, Silver Lake, Culver City, USC and UCLA.

Capacity tells you what fills first. Most vinyasa classes are listed with 75 spots, while the infrared classes cap at 36 or 37, so the heated flows are the ones to reserve ahead. The strength-focused Hybrid 60 in the small fitness room holds only eight people, and the Saturday session was already full days out. Most weekday vinyasa classes showed only a handful of bookings two days ahead, so a same-day reservation is realistic.

If the infrared class you wanted is full, ASTRO.GONG.YOGA, at 145 N La Brea Ave in Mid-City, is a short drive west along Beverly Boulevard. It teaches vinyasa that links breath with continuous movement alongside yin and kundalini, and it keeps a dedicated sound healing room with 32 gongs. It calls itself a sound healing and yoga studio with an astrology-informed approach, a gentler fit for a rest-leaning day.

The walk after class is half the point of practicing on Larchmont. Go Get Em Tiger, at 230 N Larchmont Blvd, shares the studio's building number and opened its first cafe here in 2013, serving coffee and a short breakfast and lunch menu at a bar. Salt & Straw, at 240 N Larchmont Blvd, was the Portland ice cream company's first-ever shop outside Portland, and it sits a few doors north along the same tree-lined block.

Metro Line 14 runs along Beverly Boulevard and stops at Beverly and Larchmont, a short walk from the door. Drivers will find two-hour free parking on Gower, Arden and Lucerne within a block, and those side streets are typically free all day on weekends. A paid lot sits by the nearest crosswalk, and Larchmont has meters.