Shanti

Hands down ties for best yoga studio in Helsinki. Their Prenatal yoga is outstanding, especially with Kati. After one class with her, I was ready to go to 4 classes a week at Shanti. Being 8 months pregnant, other studios have been hesitant to allow me to actually practice YOGA and/​or their prenatal classes mostly consist of sitting on the ground. Not the case at Shanti, where the prenatal class is active but gentle, a little more quick-​paced and less meditation-​y and hippie-​dippy. I’m not a crunchy mama, I don’t really want to chant and channel my inner goddess for an hour and a half, and I still enjoy working up a bit of a sweat.
Shanti’s prenatal classes move at a nice pace, thoughtfully allowing women to modify everything to suit their individual comfort levels. Also– as a native English speaker and functionally illiterate in Finnish, it is actually very easy for me to follow along and I find that my Finnish actually isn’t as bad as I thought it was. It is very helpful that Kati generously prompts in English from time to time when it seems like I don’t comprehend (classes that aren’t noted as ‘taught in English’ are most definitely taught in Finnish).
The studio itself is lovely, with ample water for participants, mats provided, and more props than I’ve ever seen at a studio. Super clean, airy, well-​lit. With 3 floors of studios and a million classes going on everyday, it certainly doesn’t have the feel of a «yoga factory». It feels very homey, cozy, and lovely. I can’t recommend enough.