Yoga and meditation instructor Breanne Goldman films yoga poses for an online class at the studio of White Lotus Therapeutics in Denver, Colorado on March 4. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s new series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems). Find our previous Staff Favorites here.
While it’s not the closest fitness studio to me by any stretch, a few times a week, I find myself dropping everything and driving across town for exactly an hour of vinyasa yoga.
If you go
White Lotus Therapeutics offers virtual classes, drop-ins and monthly regular ($85) and mini ($59) yoga memberships. Customized massages start at $45 for 30 minutes and $89 for 60 minutes, and members always get a 20% discount. 2554 Irving St., 720-449-3131, whitelotustherapeutics.com
I first discovered White Lotus Therapeutics when I was living a few blocks away from the cubby-sized corner business in Denver’s historic Highland neighborhood. The reviews were great, the massages were voted top of the town and the yoga classes were intimate and unique enough that I found my way back and now consider it a home-away four years later.
At the start of the pandemic, the studio automatically suspended memberships while offering free classes online as a way to connect and stay positive. Over the summer, the team erected a large outdoor tent and filled it with hanging plants and tapestries. They invited us back to practice in person underneath it.
The massage room of White Lotus Therapeutics in Denver on March 4, 2021. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Since fall, I’ve worn a mask and stood 6 feet from one or two other practitioners inside a small ventilated studio with big windows and no mirrors. When I arrive inevitably rushing from work, I’m exhausted. And then everything changes, like magic, within just an hour.
Earlier this week, I finally brought a friend from the outside world into a yoga class with me, and I realized how excited I was for her to see my pandemic bubble, my only real weeknight ritual. Like a proud owner of a well-kept secret, I invited her in and showed her the sweet space, the house teas (chamomile, mint and black chai) brewing at the front entrance.
And then we stretched in a small class with one other familiar face and breathed in deep and followed our teacher’s instructions to exhale out everything — from the day, the week and the past impossible year — together.
After class, we chatted with a new White Lotus employee who came from years of working in the restaurant industry, and she laughed and told us that the switch has been something like recovery. I couldn’t agree more.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.