NOTE: This article was updated in November, 2022. Many of the yoga schools in Madrid did not survive covid; even some of the biggest ones closed their doors. This article reflects the current situation with yoga schools in Madrid.
Madrid has a thriving yoga community. There are a few large studios, and scores of individual yoga teachers offering classes in parks, in their homes or in rented spaces (such as physical therapy offices and dance studios). However, due to cultural differences, yoga in Madrid can be a little different than yoga in cities such as New York, London or Paris. This guide tells you everything you need to know to get you practicing yoga in Madrid as soon as your plane touches the ground.
Our favorite yoga studios in Madrid
As mentioned above, there are countless yoga teachers offering classes in parks and private spaces. The benefit of these classes is that they are cheap- you can go on Meetup and find classes for free, or at a very low prices. If you are new to yoga, or also looking to make friends, you can find a class that you really like. However, if you have an intermediate to advanced practice (or don’t like having bugs crawl all over you and listening to kids yelling during savasana), you will likely get more out of practicing in one of the bigger yoga studios. This is because the majority of the yoga teachers that are holding classes in parks and part-time spaces do not have a lot of training. The average instructor has practiced less than five years; very few have more training than a basic 200 hour teacher training course.
The Garden
This is a beautiful space in the neighborhood of Salamanca, by the Diego de Leòn Metro station. They offer a wide variety of in person yoga classes, including aerial yoga, yin yoga, hatha, vinyasa, Iyengar, rocket yoga (an Ashtanga variation) and awakening yoga. In addition, they offer courses of Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis, all of which are taught by professional dancers. They also offer barre classes and an afro dance class. In addition to classes, The Garden offers a variety of workshops, including Cacao Ceremonies and some forms of sound healing. Finally, they offer a variety of massages, some of which are hard to find in Madrid, such as Lomi Lomi and Japanese facials.
Zentro Urban Yoga
Zentro Urban Yoga, or ZUY as they call themselves, has two locations: one in Retiro and another in Chamartín. The Retiro studio, which is the original one, is a beautiful space. It looks and feels like an upscale studio you would find in London, which isn’t surprising as the founder is from the UK and started practicing yoga in London. Classes are offered both in person and online.
The instructors are more international than other yoga studios in Madrid and they have a very interesting selection of classes, including inversions workshops, a “Rocket Yoga” class that focuses on arm balances and classes focusing on advanced asanas. The prices are slightly above average for a Madrid yoga studio: 25€ for a single class.
GONG
GONG has two studios: one in Chamberí and one in La Moraleja (the suburbs). Classes are offered both in person and online. They offer classes in yoga, Pilates, barre and meditation. They do not, however, offer gong and sound baths, which is a little confusing. They also offer a small number of workshops, yoga teacher training courses and a small selection of bodywork. GONG has a plant based restaurant that offers an excellent Sunday brunch and a nutritionist on site, as they believe in a total body approach to well being.
Things you should know about yoga in Madrid
Abonos
These are what we refer to as “class cards.” It is a popular way of pricing yoga in Madrid. If you buy a pack of classes (4, 5, 10, etc.), you can usually get the price per class under 10€. Note that if you purchase an abono and don’t use your classes in the required time, they rarely let you carry those classes over; even in such situations as a death in one’s family. It is shocking, but is a common practice in Spain.
Adjustments
These are rarely given in Spain. The only exception is if you don’t do an asana the way the instructor deems to be correct. Then, they will often verbally tell you what to change, even if you are doing an advanced variation. There aren’t any Duncan Wong style adjustments to help you deepen your poses so don’t expect them!
Covid-19
All of the yoga studios in Madrid have put measures in place to prevent the spread of covid-19. Almost all of them have online class offerings. What was once one of the biggest yoga centers in Madrid has now gone entirely online.
English classes
Very few yoga instructors in Madrid speak English. In over seven years of living in Madrid, the author of this post has never seen a class taught in English. If you want an English speaking teacher, there are a number of expats that teach yoga to the expat community. Many of them will teach private classes for very reasonable fees. This could be a good introduction to get you started as the studios often do not use the Sanskrit names for asanas. Rather, they use Spanish names which can be very different than English names. This can be confusing if you started practicing yoga outside of Spain, even if your Spanish is decent.
Mats
Mats are called esterillas in Spanish. Like in other countries, some studios provide mats free of charge, some require you to bring your own mats and some rent them for a small fee. Make sure to check in advance.
Morning classes
Many yoga studios, and gyms, offer morning memberships, or abonos, at reduced price points. It’s also important to note that in Spain, morning means before lunchtime. Many so called “morning memberships” are valid until 3:00 pm; that’s when the morning ends in Spain. The best time to take a class is around 2:00 or 2:30 pm because most Spaniards are eating lunch at that time, and the classes are not very crowded.
Variations
Very few Spanish yoga teachers encourage, or even approve of, students doing different variations during the class. They prefer everyone to do the same asana, the way they teach it. Yoga in Madrid is much less about doing your own thing than it is in other places.
Yoga supplies
If you want to purchase yoga clothes, mats or basic supplies, you can go to Decathlon. They are a number of them throughout the city and they have very reasonable prices. You can also find an excellent selection of yoga clothes at Oysho. If you are used to lululemon or Alo Yoga prices, you are in for a very pleasant surprise.
Ecocentro, which is a large health food store, has an excellent selection of yoga props (but no clothes). They also carry items like crystals, books on spirituality (in Spanish), pendulums, incense, candles and organic beauty products. Their Tibetan bowls are very high quality and reasonably priced. They also have an excellent organic restaurant with an outdoor terraza.
The grocery store Lidl frequently has yoga props and clothes.
