Light Centre Moorgate

This review is for Androulas vinyasa class and for a restorative class.

Space wise, light center is beautiful- spacious and airy, accurate to its name. Showers on site, nice equipment.

Problems: it shares the space with other businesses. Juice bar is loud. Some weight center shows lots of body-shaming images.

Androulas 45 minute vinyasa class was a nightmare. Fast, loud, strict, with almost no conversation about breathing, and no time to focus on form and posture because she was yelling "come on!" to the people who were being slow, and occasionally spanking people's butts.

Restorative was fine, left me feeling better but 45 minutes in general feels short, and there is no time between classes to set up in the studios so you really have 40 minutes once everyone has come in.

I was disappointed.

My opinion of this studio hasn't changed but I thought it was time to write an update following an increase to the Ultimate Health Package (UHP) price earlier in 2015, and the fact that I've now had a chance to visit a few of the therapists here.

Drop-in prices haven't changed and are still between £12 and £15. The UHP 12-month contract however is now £75 per month with an additional £10 bolt-on per month if you wish to attend the morning Mysore self-practice sessions.

The main reason behind the rather significant increase was to re-align the studio's yoga charges with other studios in the area. That being said, it still works out to be the cheapest monthly Mysore fee in central London. as other studios tend to charge over £100 a month.

One new benefit of the UHP membership though is that you now get to use the Belgravia studio which is open Monday to Saturday) at no extra cost.

I've now had a chance to try the annual health screening which checked the usual things such as blood pressure and cholesterol, and more unusual items such as my reaction times, my posture and my mindfulness. All of my results are put online so it'll be easy for me to check any changes when the time comes for my next health check.

I've also had two massages here from different therapists. Both were good and really helped to ease my aches and pains. More importantly, there was no hard-sell, with both of them telling me to come back only if I wanted to and needed it.

It might be a little too early for me to contradict the various bad reviews here, but so far I'm a fan.

The Light Centre in Moorgate is very clean and modern, the studios are spacious and light. There are individual changing rooms and showers in cubicles. In the entrance area there is a place to sit and a Crussh. I can imagine this being very dangerous, as they sell plenty of fresh juices and health foods. On the way out I grabbed a carrot, apple and ginger juice.

I have been doing ashtanga for several years though had to take a pause this summer as I fell ill. I popped in for the trial of restorative yoga after getting discharged from hospital and boom! The pain that acupuncture and western medicine had failed to alleviate, yoga helped with.

It was a relaxing class, every move felt comfortable, like a hug or a massage. I explained my situation to the teacher before the session, and she was very understanding. The only thing I would have preferred is if the class lasted more than 45 minutes; there was very little time spent in savasana after the postures.

Membership costs £20 a year, with this you get £2 off a £13 class -- this might not seem like a big deal, but it adds up. I will join and attend classes 2-3 times a week. It's near my flat and the studio is beautiful.

I've been having myself a little tour of London's yoga studios recently, and have to say this is one of the best I've been to. It isn't as hippied out as some places - shoes can stay on past reception - but it is clean and has excellent and convenient facilities.

Many massage and physical therapists have hours here and there is a dedicated wing for therapy treatments that looks lush. I almost caved on the £15 neck/shoulder massage yesterday.

The changing rooms are individual cubicles. There is the downside of them not having lockers, but nobody will yell if there's something you need to bring into the studio with you during class. Bathrooms are pristinely clean and lovely.

The smaller studio has no mirrors, but I kind of dig this. There is a fantastic range of teachers and classes (including pilates and pregnancy yoga) and the studio seems to get less traffic than some of the others in the area. I'm guessing prices play into that.

Mats and belts, bricks, boulsters, etc. are all provided.

If you work nearby, I'd highly recommend dropping in.

Man, am I glad I found this studio! I was in town on business so I was able to drop in for a couple classes...

I went to a Vinyasa Flow class and a Mysore class. Both were very well conducted and the teachers were very friendly and knowledgeable. The space is absolutely beautiful. There are various rooms for the variety of classes that they offer and the lighting and space is very tranquil. For your convenience, there are showers, changing rooms, and an area for props and loaner yoga mats.

The studio is really close to the Moorgate tube station so it was pretty convenient to get to and I think that the prices were a little better than the other studios that I was considering. Also, there is a Crussh juice bar in the same space to quell your post workout hunger. =)

One negative about the studio is that there are no classes on the weekend and, for this reason, I was only able to fit in 2 classes on my business trip. There was a little bit of construction going on so I think that perhaps the location is new so perhaps there will be more when things get into full swing.

In any case, the next time I come through London, I will be sure to be back. =)

The light centre in Moorgate is central & accessible. I had two very different experiences here. I haven't practiced Ashtanga yoga in almost a year after travelling for a long period of time. With no confidence to go straight into a Mysore class I tried the all levels Ashtanga class. I found it so rushed, with an hour and a half of fast moving poses. The instructor not giving students time to master a pose before pushing onto the next one. There was no variation for the students who are just beginning compared to the more confident students. I believe this class lost the meaning behind yoga, I don't feel the teacher guided but rushed all the students through. The class didn't finish with any mediation and no breathing guidance was given. I did however try a Vinayssa Flow class at the same center and thoroughly enjoyed it, although different to what I am use to the instructor was much more involved and caring to his students. Education on how to improve and correct ways of technique was given throughout the session and he also allowed time to mediate.