Yoga Space is an oasis of serenity and calm amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown Shanghai. Located right next to the Hengshan Road Metro station we have two studios as well as a large, spacious tea area and tatami lounge with high-speed internet. The entire space is beautifully decorated and has a deeply relaxing feel to it. Just walk in and you will immediately feel relaxed.
We offer classes in Pilates Hatha Yoga Ashtanga Power Yoga Yin Yoga and more. Our teachers are hand-picked from around the world to offer the best in Chinese and English language classes and understand the special requirements for students who are pregnant .We also are the only studio in China to offer Free Spirit Yoga Dance!
Yoga Space was founded by Weila Wu and Blaine Turnacliff in early 2006.
When Blaine and Weila started dating more than 10 years ago, Blaine, being a bit of a gym rat, encouraged Weila to join his gym and start taking yoga classes. From her first class, she fell in love and began taking classes every day and practicing on her own. It wasn’t long before she became hooked. Yoga become an essential part of her life, providing guidance and helping her find inner peace. She entered the All-China Yoga Competition in 2004 and was awarded a surprisingly, second place. After they got married and started a family, Weila was looking for challenges and decided she wanted to open a studio in Shanghai. She followed through and founded Yoga Space.
Yoga Space was opened mainly because of Weila’s love of yoga and wanting to share this love with others by introducing yoga to new people and giving practitioners a beautiful and spiritual place to practice.
We don’t really have one target market per se, really anyone who is interested in starting a new practice or furthering their path is welcome. We are the only school in Shanghai to offer both regular classes in yoga dance as well as Shrivatsa style yoga. A big emphasis is placed on the quality and personality of our instructors – no matter what their respective styles and backgrounds, they share a common denominator of having strong practices, a love of their practice and being open and giving teachers. We offer hot yoga, flow, ashtanga, anusara, and yoga dance, amongst other styles as well as international teaching training certification and we have an extraordinary blind masseuse on staff.
We offer a wide range of membership options ranging from drop in, to yearly, per visit fee and many variations of these. Currently, we are offering a special limited promotion of buy 1 year, get an extra 6 months free and a special limited price for 9 weeks of unlimited classes – free massages are also included. Readers may want to try the anusara class or the candle light class.
As one of the oldest schools in Shanghai, Yoga Space has reputation of offering excellent quality classes at affordable prices. Yoga Space is one of a select few China yoga schools to offer Yoga Alliance teaching certification at both the RYS 200 and 500 hours level. Our teaching staff is beyond amazing, having won numerous awards and accreditations.
Industry insight
The fitness and leisure industry is still at a fairly immature stage of development in Shanghai. It has only been in recent years that Shanghainese have begun to demand more than just the regular 9-5 lifestyle and seek outlets to develop themselves personally.
Yoga is one of the early areas that has taken hold and it benefits from being regarded in a certain fascination for most young Chinese woman, as it is seen as being somewhat exotic and mystical and even a little sexy and it is an activity that is assessable to everyone. Because the yoga path does hold a certain allure, we have seen many people wishing to get into the field, either as teachers and even opening their own studios. Unfortunately, what many people fail to realize is that at the end of the day, running a studio is a business and there are tons of little boring details to attend to, it’s not just sitting cross-legged chanting om all day. Given the multi-benefits that yoga offers and the burgeoning middle-class in Shanghai, yoga will continue to grow and touch the hearts of more and more people.
Yoga Space is committed to having the most experienced and talented instructors in Shanghai. We guarantee our members that if they approach their yoga practice with due respect and diligence, that they will experience positive changes in their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
Did you know ?
Weila used to be one of the first female DJs in China 15 years ago. She and Blaine share a love of psytrance and regularly attend festivals around the world.
