The Yoga Room Astoria Yin Yoga Studio: Tuesday 8 pm Holds

The Yoga Room's Yin Yoga class runs on Tuesday from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the Lavender Room, upstairs at 38-01 35th Ave in Astoria, and a single class costs $30. New students who live in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut can start with two weeks of unlimited classes for $49, which is the cheapest way to test whether a full hour of slow floor holds suits you. For anyone in western Queens looking for a yin yoga studio within walking distance, this is the neighborhood's long-running option.

The studio's history page dates it to 2003, when The Yoga Room opened at its original Steinway Street location. In 2008 it expanded into two larger spaces, one in Astoria and one in Long Island City, and the Long Island City branch has since closed permanently. What remains is the 35th Avenue studio, up on the second floor, a few blocks from Kaufman Astoria Studios and the Museum of the Moving Image.

That longevity shows in small ways. Seniors over 65 get a 20 percent discount, lockers and showers are available, and the props wall is stocked with blocks, bolsters and blankets for every mat in the room.

The studio's own definition of yin is practical: familiar Hatha shapes used to cool the body and deepen the breath, each held for three to five minutes. In a 60-minute class that means roughly ten or twelve postures, often including a long sphinx, a supported child's pose, a dragonfly straddle and a reclined twist, with a long final rest. Frank teaches the Tuesday 8 pm class on the current schedule.

Finding the class takes one tip. On the online schedule it is filed under the category Yin/Restorative Classes, with the session title Yin Yoga, so filtering by that category pulls up every slow class of the week at once, including the restorative-leaning ones. Props are shared from the studio's shelves, so the booking only needs to secure floor space; tell the teacher about a cranky knee or lower back before the first long hold, so a blanket or block can go under it from the start.

The Lavender Room is the smaller, quieter of the studio's rooms, and the late start means most people arrive straight from work or after dinner. That timing is the honest drawback: if you get up at 6 am, a class that ends at 9 pm and leaves you deeply relaxed can make the walk home feel long. For an earlier option, Flow and Yin Yoga on Wednesday at 10:45 am with Chandler mixes a short vinyasa warm-up with a yin second half.

Stretch and Restore is the third choice on the schedule, offered on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 7:45 pm and Tuesday mornings at 10:45 am. It is slower than a flow class but not as still as yin, and it suits anyone who finds long holds uncomfortable at first. A balanced week could look like this: restore on Monday, long holds on Tuesday, and a flow class later in the week once the hips have opened up.

A single class is $30 and expires after 60 days, a 5 Class Card is $140, or $28 per class with a six-month expiration, and a 10 Class Card is $260, or $26 per class with the same six months. Unlimited classes on monthly autopay cost $169. The New Student Special at $49 for two weeks is restricted to residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, so out-of-state visitors should go straight to the single class.

Which to pick: if yin on Tuesday is your only class, the 10 Class Card wins, because ten Tuesdays fit well inside six months and you avoid the monthly commitment. If you add Stretch and Restore or a weekday flow, unlimited pays for itself after six classes a month. The 20 percent senior discount applies across the price list, so anyone over 65 should ask the front desk before buying anything.

Arrive 10 to 20 minutes before class to sign in and set up. Late entry is allowed for up to five minutes after class has begun, at the front desk's discretion, which is more generous than many Manhattan studios but still means a delayed train can cost you the slot. Cancel at least four hours before class; inside that window, a class package loses the class and an unlimited member is charged a $10 late cancel fee.

Mat rentals are $5, so bring your own if you plan to come weekly, and take a pair of socks and a layer for the final rest. Props are part of yin rather than an extra, and the studio supplies them, but return blankets folded the way you found them. Showers are available if you are heading out to dinner afterward rather than straight home.

The closest subway is the M and R at Steinway Street, a short walk south and east, and the N and W at 36th Avenue are also in reach for anyone coming from the Ditmars side of Astoria. Plan B if the Tuesday class is full: join the waitlist and book Stretch and Restore on Wednesday at 7:45 pm as a backup, since the two share the same slow pace and you will still get an evening of floor work if the waitlist does not clear.

Before an evening class, walk west on 35th Avenue to the Museum of the Moving Image, two blocks from the studio, which runs film screenings and a permanent exhibition on how movies and television are made. After class, Steinway Street is the place to eat, with Egyptian and Lebanese cafes and hookah lounges along the stretch known as Little Egypt, a lively contrast after an hour of stillness. If you want something quieter, a slow loop back along 35th Avenue past the old Kaufman Astoria Studios lot is enough of a cooldown.