Arise Yin Yoga Studio, Pacific Heights: Candlelit Mondays

Arise Yoga's San Francisco studio is at 2799 California St in Pacific Heights, and its yin night is Candlelit Yin to Restore, a 55-minute class every Monday from 8:05 to 9 pm in the dimly lit downstairs room. A drop-in is $28, the room holds just 15 people for this class, and there are no walk-ins, so anyone searching for a yin yoga studio for a Monday wind-down needs to book before leaving work.

The class description splits the hour in two. First comes yin, with long passive holds that work into the hips, spine and connective tissue. Then the class shifts to restorative poses, fully supported by props so the body can stop working altogether. The downstairs studio is kept dim, and the candles make 8:05 pm feel later than it is, which is the point on a Monday. Expect the yin half to include shapes like a long butterfly or a supported dragon, and the restorative half to end with you lying under a blanket with almost nothing to do but breathe.

Berenice Leung teaches the Monday class on the current WellnessLiving schedule. With only 15 spots and every student needing a bolster, blanket and blocks, the room fills quickly, and an honest piece of advice is to skip this class if you want a full hour of strict yin. Half of it is restorative, so purists who want five-minute hips and nothing else should look elsewhere in the city.

Arise calls its San Francisco location a new studio, and the about page names Jillian Schiavi as the founder. Her mark is literally on the walls: the main non-heated studio, big enough for 25 mats, has a living wall of pothos plants spilling over a mural she painted herself. Arise also runs a studio in Brooklyn, so the San Francisco room is the brand's West Coast outpost rather than a one-off.

The plants and the mural give the space a softer feel than the white-walled rooms many studios favor, and the downstairs room used for yin is darker still. The studio does not have showers, so come dressed for class and plan to head home or to dinner in the same clothes. Yin barely makes you sweat, so this rarely matters.

First-timers should start with the First Week Unlimited for $32, which costs only $4 more than a single class and lets you add the studio's restorative evenings to the Monday yin. After that, a drop-in is $28 and a 10 Class Pack is $250, which brings each class to $25. Memberships include four classes a month for $90 and eight classes a month for $165.

Unlimited is $175 a month with a three-month commitment, a single month of unlimited without commitment is $200, and an annual membership is $2000. For a once-a-week yin habit, the four-classes plan at $90 is the cheapest way in, at $22.50 a class, and it covers every Monday of a normal month without forcing you into the longer commitment. Anyone planning to add a Sunday or Wednesday restorative class on top of Monday yin should price the eight-class plan at $165, which works out to just over twenty dollars a class and keeps both slow nights affordable.

Arise is strict about three things. It does not allow walk-ins, so every spot must be booked in advance. It does not have the capacity to let in latecomers, and once the door closes you will be turned away. And it asks students to keep the room a phone, smart watch and pager free space, which suits a candlelit yin class better than any other.

Cancel at least two hours before class, or you will be charged a $5 no-show fee. Five dollars is a modest penalty, but on a 15-spot class an empty mat means someone else missed out. If you know your Monday is slipping, release the spot early so someone else can take it.

This catches first-timers. Arise has no rental mat system, and its page asks students to bring their own mat. Blocks, blankets, straps and bolsters are provided, so the mat is the one thing you must carry. If you are walking from Fillmore Street or coming straight from an office downtown, roll a travel mat into your bag that morning. A thin travel mat works fine here, since the bolsters and blankets do the cushioning in both halves of the class.

If Monday is full, the studio's other slow nights are restorative rather than yin: Candlelit Restorative on Sunday and Wednesday, and Restorative and Yoga Nidra on Tuesday. They are gentler, with no long active stretches, but they share the same downstairs mood and make a reasonable fallback for anyone who mainly wants to lie still under a blanket.

The parking rule is specific. The spaces along the studio on California Street are reserved for school vehicles until 5 pm, which does not affect an 8:05 pm class but does matter if you come to a daytime session. In the evening, street parking around the corner is usually the simplest option, and the 1 California bus runs along the same street.

After class, Fillmore Street is a few blocks east, the nearest strip for a late bite on a Monday. Alta Plaza Park sits up the hill nearby, but at that hour a slow walk along California Street, past the Victorian and Edwardian houses that define Pacific Heights, is the gentler choice after an hour on the floor.

Address: 2799 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115, in Pacific Heights. Candlelit Yin to Restore: Monday 8:05 to 9 pm with Berenice Leung, downstairs studio, 15 spots. First Week Unlimited $32, drop-in $28, 10 Class Pack $250, four classes a month $90. No walk-ins, no latecomers, $5 no-show fee within two hours. Bring your own mat, props provided, no showers.