How many people feels right?
Big yoga classes in Uluwatu
Feel the energy of a full class breathing together.
Lively classes are full: many people, mats close together, everyone moving and breathing in time. The energy of the group carries you along. Think popular flow and power classes, community classes and big special events.
99 classes coming up at 1 studio.
What Lively does for you
You get carried by the group: when everyone exhales together, it is easier to keep going. Blending in can be a relief, since nobody is watching you and you just follow along. The sound of many breaths, music and the warmth of a full class make it feel more like an event than a lesson. Many people leave buzzing.
It suits you if
- you love the feeling of a group moving together
- you prefer to blend in
- you know the basics and can follow verbal cues
- you like music and momentum
- you want a class that feels like an event
Read the full guide to LivelyWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Mats sit closer together, often in neat rows, so your hand may brush a neighbor's in wide poses. The facilitator leads from the front, sometimes with a headset microphone, music and clear verbal cues; there is less individual attention, though an assistant may walk around. The air warms up quickly with so many people breathing. Sequences tend to be steady and accessible enough for a mixed group to follow. Popular classes fill early, so book ahead or arrive in good time.
Your first time
- Arrive about 15 minutes early to pick a spot: near the front to see and hear well, near the back to watch others.
- Line your mat up with the others, leave a small gap and be ready to shift for latecomers.
- Tell the facilitator about injuries before class, since they will not be able to check in with everyone during it.
Good to know
- There is little time for individual corrections, so if you are brand new or working around an injury, a smaller class may suit you better to start.
- Full classes get warm and close, so bring water and a towel.
- Popular classes book out, and waitlists do not always move.
Where it comes from
Moving together in large groups has a long history in physical culture, and Berlin is part of it. In 1811, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn opened the first open-air gymnastics ground in the Hasenheide park, the start of the German Turnen movement, with groups exercising together in the open. In India, yoga demonstrations with many practitioners became part of public life in the 20th century.
The yoga boom in Western cities from the 1990s onward made full classes ordinary: popular studios packed rows of mats for flow and power classes, often to music. Since 2015, the International Day of Yoga on 21 June, declared by the United Nations in December 2014, has brought mass classes to cities around the world; the first main event in New Delhi drew nearly 36,000 people.
In Berlin, lively classes show up as busy evening flows in larger studios, community and donation-based classes, and summer events in parks. People who love them rarely talk about the space. They talk about the moment the whole group settles into the same breath.
Words you will hear
- Ujjayi
- Sanskrit for victorious; a breath with a soft ocean sound in the throat that you hear all around you in a full class.
- Vinyasa
- Sanskrit for placing in a special way; linking each movement to a breath.
- Om
- A syllable some classes chant together at the start or end.
- Waitlist
- The queue for a full class; you get a spot if someone cancels.