This has been one of my favorite discoveries in London, so much so that I regularly travel about 45…read moreminutes each way to get here. I'm horribly inflexible, so my sister turned me on to Bikram yoga. I dug it, but it didn't fit me perfectly. Then I found Yogahaven. Wooden floors (don't get smelly), varied classes, good teachers, good vibes. I still think it's funny that I do yoga at all, let alone enjoy it, but this place has been amazing. Especially in winter.

I really do like how hot yoga places are slowly starting to evolve to avoid carpet in the studios…read more(leaves that permanent funk in the room) and moving away from open showers to individual cubbies. This is one of the best, modern hot yoga studios I've been to in London. Remember to bring a pound coin with you for the lockers (you'll get it back afterwards). So far I've taken the hot flow class (tough!) - it is a hot vinyasa class. If you haven't done it before, definitely take it easy. Now for the hot yoga class - It's slowly growing on me but if you're someone who's been going to bikram yoga classes for a while, this version will throw you off a little bit. It feels like a bikram yoga class but with small variations (and didn't really like the pilates exercises in the heat!). I'd like to take some of the non-hot yoga classes. Yoga with weights anyone??

Sweaty yoga, mmm lovely. I actually enjoyed this class a lot more than I thought I would. I hate…read morehumidity and my rubbish Celtic skin burns at the first sight of sun (good job I live in London, eh?) so I've never been particularly good with heat in general but I actually adored these classes. I have never felt so relaxed in all my life and was mesmerised by the fact that it is so hot in here you sweat from places you never knew you could sweat from..."oh look at that my hand is sweating!" This studio, however, has lost out on two of my beautiful stars for one BIG reason: the changing facilities. Seeing as they fit about 75 people into a class - predominantly women - they really should be looking into larger changing facilities to accommodate everyone. At £13 a class (it may have even gone up by now) it's really not on to then cram all of us into the cupboard-sized changing room, all lovely and sweaty from our class, clambering over one another to find our belongings and get showered and changed...this is all starting to sound a bit wrong. I don't want to get all zenned-out and calm only to then have someone's sweaty armpit (or worse) in my face while I try and dig my belongings out and get changed in a room that is perhaps hotter than the one I have just done a Bikram class in. It does nothing for my relaxation and I may as well have just got on the baking Victoria Line during rush hour - just as hot and just as stressful! I actually took these classes on a £10 for 10 days offer but was reluctant to sign up afterwards for the full whack because of the changing situation. Perhaps if I was able to go during the day when it might be less busy I may be inclined to join as a full paying member. Such a shame.

I'd heard about the new craze of doing yoga in sauna like settings being even better for you than…read morenormal yoga, so I decided to sign up to their offer of 10 days for £10 and give it a go. Anything that doesn't involve going to the gym sounds good to me. I went to the 7pm class after work and it was packed. We were literally lying like sardines on mats in the studio, a bit odd as they don't seem to have a numbers policy, instead just packing in as many people as possible which is very un-Zen. I was told to lie a few rows back so that I could see what other people were doing and after feeling quite happy about finding a good spot I nervously began to settle down, until CRINGE, the hottest guy in the whole of the room walks in and puts his towel right behind mine, where he was going to get a very good view of my big fat ass for 90 minutes. Oh well, it was too late to move as there wasn't any room to move, ANYWHERE. Our teacher, "Bridgette Ann, that's BA!" from the U.S was a very upbeat woman (who doesn't believe in shaving) from Chicago. Their website makes a point of saying that you can be new to yoga, but most of the people in this class were amazing, bending about like Stretch Armstrong and BA wasn't going to take no for an answer to any of her instructions so the pressure was on... The room is kept at 40°C so as you move through the 26 positions you sweat tremendously. Some people were actually dripping. I did my best and it felt surprisingly good, the more moves I did, the more my whole body seemed to ease up and before I knew it I was stretching into positions that I didn't even know existed. I did see stars at one point, but BA! assured me that this was "just fine!". Afterwards I felt serene, probably because I was completely lightheaded and dehydrated, but I do think my worries had sweated away along with half my body weight. My skin also felt wonderfully soft so at least you get your moneys worth with a sauna and a work out in one. Disappointingly, the single changing room is a minute box and we all had to change in embarrassingly close proximity. The 4 showers are also communal so I gave those a miss after seeing BA! and her organic armpits disappearing into the steam. The whole thing was far too reminiscent of school games lessons. The 90 minute classes are fantastic, but this studio really needs to sort out it's space issues both in class and the changing room by cutting down the numbers. Try going in the morning instead to avoid the crush.

Not really what I was expecting…read more... I wanted a heated vinyasa class. The class description had both of those words in it so I was pretty sure what to expect. The check-in system was weird but that's understandable during weird covid times. So fine. I walk into the room, meet my neighbors and then class starts. But there wasn't any heat.... okay, well, as long as it's still vinyasa, I guess that's okay, right? It was definitely NOT vinyasa. I didn't break a sweat at all during this hour long class. And to make it more disappointing, I also didn't really get a good stretch in. The instructor only let us hold each pose for what felt like less than 5 seconds. And that's the normal "before we flow" pace! The moves didn't stack, either. Like let's go from warrior 2 to reverse warrior to side angle -- you know, the stacking that we're all used to. So I ended up low key doing my own thing but not so much to upset the instructor: I held a few poses longer than she allowed and added some modifications to try to get a deeper stretch. The space is beautiful and it was yoga, it just wasn't the yoga that was advertised. Maybe there are classes that are actually heated but I won't be fooled again!

I've been practicing yoga for 13 years and was searching for a hot vinyasa flow studio in my new…read morehometown. My practice has taught me empathy, humility and other benefits include emotional and physical strength (if you can stand the heat, hot vinyasa flow is awesome!). Today I bought the 30 day special at HPY. I trust that their instructors are great, but the person who answered my phone call when I was hopelessly lost on the street - and had given myself an hour and a half to get there - said, sorry try reading the directions online again and come back another time. I couldn't believe it. I asked for a refund, as I had never used the service and at this point, was really frustrated with HPY. She said no. Then when I emailed, explaining the situation and asking for a refund, she emailed me from her iPhone (it was in the signature line) - with poor punctuation, no less, that as she stated over the phone, all sales were final. I can't believe a studio would put £40 before a customer's satisfaction. I am surprised that a company in this economy would treat customers in such a way. I am literally an hour away from their studio - why would I put myself through the trip to get that kind of treatment?

London Shambhala Meditation Centre is the epitome of relaxation. I come here every Monday for a £5…read moreyoga session and it's the greatest stress reliever a city dweller can ever ask for. After the class there is a free meditation session that everyone is welcome to attend. I tried to meditate after class once, but I couldn't focus on silence and I started thinking about wild pheasants chasing after squirrels. If you have the mental ability to gestate in an abyss of nothingness then you should seek nirvana here. It is a great place to get enlightened.

God council owned but privately run gym, with pool, split-level gym and squash courts. Also, low…read moremembership levels, so never gets too busy. However, they don't offer off-peak membership, and charge extra for squash courts even if you're already a member, so maybe it would be better if still a council gym. What's happened to those?

me and my partner recently went to the swimming pool with our 1 year old child we had a good time,…read morethe water was not too cold, it was cold but more than bearable. It was packed (maybe it was us going at the wrong time!) but the staff we good pleasant and helpful when needed. One criticism i do have is the lockers dont have a locks on them so you have to bring your own lock or buy one. This is slightly annoying! The changing rooms are clean and the booths are perfect for changing / getting babies sorted out! The price was a not too bad, for all three of us (2 adults 1 infant) it came to around £12 which i shouldn't complain at all in all not too bad