6 best Mumbai yoga studios

Over the last two years, yoga has slotted itself neatly Mumbai's daily life.

Private instructors have been coming into homes for sessions for Rs 500-800.

Lower Parel Iyengar classes have three-month waiting lists.

Fitness centers are incorporating Ashtanga in their membership packages and schools are making space for it in their curriculums. 

One Mumbai yoga Bandra class even alternates Hatha yoga with a South Indian martial art called Kalaripayattu. 

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor achieves her so-called zero-digit figure with a rigorous yoga routine, while copies of Shilpa Shetty's yoga DVD sell like ... a Shilpa Shetty yoga video. 

But if you're new to Mumbai yoga, where do you begin? 

A yoga studio is a good introductory step. They're cheaper than private sessions and a few have some hard-to-ignore fringe benefits.    

The Yoga House

Ajit Tapaswi and Maud Chuffart's The Yoga House is set in an an antique bungalow in Bandra West's cozy Chimbai Village, around the corner from St. Andrew's Church.

In this seaside enclave the couple has created a destination for the health-conscious -- a  studio, boutique and health food café offering more than 35 yoga classes every week.

The staff includes 10 instructors. Students are a mix of Mumbai hipsters.

"We developed the concept of The Yoga House to share our passion and commitment to natural and healthy living," the couple says.

"Our aim is to create a stylish and elegant destination space in Mumbai, for those who share this ideal."

Visit The Yoga House Facebook group for details on seasonal classes.

53 Chimbai Road, Bandra (W); +91 (0)22 6554 5001

YogaSutra

While there are numerous reasons to join the YogaSutra studio, the primary one is that Shaleen Parekh has made good yoga an anytime, any day offering. 

Deviating from the usual scheduled format, YogaSutra allows guests to purchase either a single class or multiple classes (for example, a 16-pack) which they can attend at their convenience.

Small groups of 10-12 focus on everything from Hatha yoga to Ashtanga in a lovely little Breach Candy studio with hardwood floors. 

The studio also has “Yoga Kids” for under-fours and an in-house physiotherapist who combines principles of alignment, anatomy and yoga therapy.

Look out for the Quantum Yoga series conducted by Lara Baumann in January. These are a Vinyasa-based series that use Ayurvedic concepts and asana practices to identify and balance your body type.

C-4, Chinoy Mansion, B. Desai Road; +91 (0) 22 3210 7067; www.yogasutra.co.in

Yogacara

Located in an old bungalow near Mahalaxmi Mandir, Radhika Vachani's Yogacara is a little piece of paradise in Mumbai. 

Quiet, with a view of the sea, this is a beautiful studio.

Vachani, whose classes have a strong bent towards Hatha yoga, wants to promote an "authentic and traditional approach" toward healing the mind, body and energies. 

Yoga sessions are limited to 10 people.

The studio offers various massage therapy methods from Shiatsu to Balinese and foot reflexology. 

Rewa House Bungalow, Bhulabhai Desai Road, opposite National Garage and next to Mahalaxmi temple; +91 98331 98371; www.yogacara.in

Bharat Thakur's Artistic Yoga

Renowned for developing an unconventional new yoga style, Bharat Thakuris responsible for a unique brand of yoga that has taken off with die-hard yogis in Cuffe Parade.

Accommodating up to 20 people, this South Mumbai yoga studio located in a posh residential building has wood floors, mirrors on one wall and a garden view. 

Thakur, who has studied the practice intensively, ensures that while the basic format of Artistic Yoga is followed at his classes, the sequence of postures is different every day.

The idea is to constantly surprise the body by working on different muscle groups and pushing the body in different ways.

Call +91 99302 21420; www.artisticyoga.com

Bikram Hot Yoga Studio at True Fitness

Mumbai's big daddy of Bikram Yoga -- a fashionable style practiced mainly in the West -- is located in Andheri. 

The swanky health and fitness brand of the suburbs, True Fitness is home to the city’s first “Hot Yoga Studio."

Here, yogis practice a fixed sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises lasting 90 minutes in a studio heated to a minimum of 41 C.

The heat from the workout is meant to promote detoxification through sweating and supposedly limits the effects of ageing.

Guetsts enjoy 370 square meters of space, choice of 35 classes a week, one hot yoga studio and one personal training studio, a relaxation lounge, day lockers, steam, sauna and shower facilities for men and women. 

The True Spa offers services such as face and body treatments, body massages, body polish. There's even a hair-salon from the legendary Hakim’s Aalim.

Crystal Point Mall 3-4/F, CTS No.834, Plot C, off Village Ambivali, New Andheri Link Road, Andheri (W); +91 (0) 22 6784 6784; www.truefitness.in

Cosmic Fusion

From the complimentary green tea and medicated wet wipes to the spacious kriya room and steam room, Payal and Manish Tiwari wanted to create "a space that was more than just a place to go and exercise."

Their Mumbai yoga studio, which opened in January 2010, has a maximum in-studio capacity of 12 students.

Yin and Yang yoga for couples, pre- and post-natal yoga and kids' yoga make this a great place for families.

The Tiwaris believe that one can change the shape of ones body through yoga. They've managed to convince Bollywood yoga advocates like actress Kareena Kapoor of the same.

A/2 Wing, 101 Lok Nirman Towers, Ambedkar Road, Khar (West); +91 22 2648 8055/56; www.cosmicfusion.in