Yoga in Tokyo

Hey,

I'm looking to start doing yoga in tokyo (beginner, never done it before!) and I'd love if somebody could recommend somewhere good? I'm currently living in Gotanda area.
Also I'm wondering what price range people pay for yoga? I saw on one site walk-in lesson is 3000 and then is a bit cheaper if you buy a few lessons. Is this the normal price?

Thanks

A good studio with classes in English not far from you is Sun and Moon Yoga in Meguro. I know a lot of the teachers there and they are very good. Have a look at www.lezalowitz.com (Leza is the studio's founder, you can go to the studio's site from Leza's main menu).

You might also want to check out www.yogajaya.com- they have classes in English in various yoga styles at their studio in Daikanyama. Patrick Oancia is the head teacher there.

Be Yoga in Hiroo also has classes in English- I'm not sure of their exact web address.

All of these places have different level classes. Ashtanga yoga is a popular style that you might want to try once you have been practicing yoga for a few months, but unless you are very fit I recommend avoiding Ashtanga to start with and going for basic Hatha yoga classes or any beginner or level 1 class. If you feel tired Leza has a good class called "Restorative yoga"
on Friday nights which is passive stretching.

3000 yen for drop in, 10,500 for 4 classes, 21,000 for 10 classes etc. is pretty much standard for yoga studios in Tokyo, although some very upmarket ones are even more expensive!

I am actually a yoga teacher, but I teach out in west Tokyo which is probably a bit far from where you are.

If you find you don't like the first class you go to, try another style with a different teacher- classes vary hugely and what suits one person may not suit another.

Expect to feel it in your muscles the next day- that's how you know it's working! The muscle strain goes away after a few weeks of consistent practice. Have fun!

Thanks Sira, that was a really helpful responce! Just another note though, I'm actually learning Japanese at the moment and
wouldn't mind doing the classes in Japanese so I could practice that at the same time. But considering I've never done yoga before
is it something you need to start off doing in the language you know? are all of the studios mentioned mostly english speaking?

I recommend that you go to English/ bilingual classes to start with as there are points regarding the breathing, how to do poses safely etc that you wouldn't want to miss.

Once you are a bit more confident, and have got used to some of the vocab (I'll start you off- sutte means inhale, haite means exhale- you'll hear that a lot!) then by all means attend classes run in Japanese, it will be great for your listening skills.

The studios I mentioned have both Japanese and foreign teachers- the classes run by Japanese teachers are likely to be either bilingual or in Japanese only. I know that some of the foreign teachers at Sun and Moon don't speak Japanese and teach entirely in English, but Leza herself is married to a Japanese guy and speaks very good Japanese, so does her classes bilingually.