08 Jul Spiritual Hipsters
Yoga Heaven
Just driving around L.A. one would surely assume we have more yoga studios per capita than anywhere else, but no, that crown goes to … ready? Alaska! Believe it or not, California only ranks sixth amongst the most yoga-obsessed states. Nevertheless, L.A. has a plethora of yoga studios offering classes of all persuasions, from the gentlest and most relaxing to the athletically extreme. L.A. yoga teachers often reach movie-star status.
Yoga first began in L.A. with the arrival of Yogananda in 1925, followed by Indra Devi opening the first yoga studio in Hollywood on the Sunset Strip in the late 1940s. B.K. S.Iyengar Yoga Institute came to L.A. from India in 1984 and is still holding classes today. Yoga Works birthed in Santa Monica in 1987 and has since expanded to a national chain including 23 studios in Southern California.
Check out a full list of L.A.’s current and popular yoga studios online or on an app such as Mindbody.
Devi Yoga Institute (no longer there)
8806 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood 90069
Original Yoga Works
2215 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Kirtan Paradise
Almost as popular as yoga in this city (and often to the same people) is Kirtan – the group singing of mantras as call-and-response. This repeating the names of god is believed to raise the consciousness of listeners, and indeed, one can get quite high and happy listening and singing along.
Traditional kirtan has been going on at the Hare Krishna Temple in Culver City since the 70s. Contemporary Western kirtan, however, had its beginnings in the 90s with Krishna Das, Wah!, Jai Uttal, and our home town hero, Dave Stringer. In 2009 Bhakti Yoga Shala opened, and the hipster kirtan scene evolved spreading out to yoga studios, private homes, and festivals here and across the world.
To find kirtan happenings check events calendars, yoga studios listings, and Meetup.com. You can also plan to attend the two local “Coachellas of Kirtan” – Bhakti Fest, held in the fall, and Shakti Fest, held in the spring.
© 2020 Catherine Auman
This is an excerpt from Catherine Auman’s book Guide to Spiritual L.A.: The Irreverent, the Awake, and the True
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