Denver’s yoga scene has evolved in recent years in tandem with the growing popularity of both the mindfulness movement and the modern public’s mounting interest in combining gentle exercise with immersive experiences in nature.
By this, I mean that the best yoga in Denver often takes shape around nature and in community, from the sprawling and awe-inspiring environs of Red Rocks National Park & Amphitheater (just a 20 minutes drive outside of the city) to intimate neighborhood studios that offer excellent hot yoga and mountain retreats.
Below, we spotlight a few quintessential places to do yoga in Denver, Colorado. Bookmark this list for easy reference later!
Whether you’re a traveling yogi who wants to practice locally or a local who wants to feel transported by their yoga practice, the below quintessential Denver yoga experiences are worth seeking out.
Add them to your Denver bucket list and enjoy your practice!
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The River Yoga (An OG in Denver’s Yoga Scene)
The River Yoga is an intimate neighborhood yoga studio with three locations in Golden Triangle, Five Points, and Sunnyside. As an OG in Denver’s yoga scene, they’ve been serving the community with signature classes and retreats for over 10 years.
For the quintessential experience, try a Hot River Flow class or the Evening Candlelight Flow to soothe your nervous system after a busy day. Both are lovely and capture the spirit of practicing at this studio.
Ultimately, The River is excellent for cultivating a sense of place, as it has a robust and well-attended class schedule, as well as teacher training and local yoga excursions like the recent Colorado Mountain Retreat (which combines daily yoga with guided hikes and campfire time at the studio’s mountain retreat in Englewood, Colorado). Often, the best programming here is no-frills and back-to-basics, which is what yoga should be.
Yoga on the Rocks at Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater
Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater is an iconic Denver-adjacent destination for lovely views and music– but they also offer seasonal yoga classes held in the serenity of the nature, with beautiful views of the Denver skyline in the distance.
Here, amidst 250 million-year-old rock formations, Yoga On The Rocks brings together about 2500 yogis at a time, which makes it one of the most awe-inducing yoga experiences Denver has to offer.
The seasonal classes start at 7 AM and last an hour, concluding just in time for visitors to do a hike in the park afterward, or head back to Denver city proper for a still-early breakfast.
All yogis need to bring their own yoga mat and water bottle, and there are no drop-ins. (I repeat: You need to book a ticket in advance, which you can do so here. You can also purchase season passes and four packs if you want to do yoga on the rocks multiple times throughout the summer.)
Red Rocks Amphitheater, meanwhile, is about a 20-minute drive outside of Denver, but well worth the trip. Guests are encouraged to Uber or bike if possible. See pictures of a recent class moving through a cat-cow sequence, below:
Notably, Yoga on the Rocks takes place only a few Saturdays throughout the early summer (usually about 6 times), and the event sells out fast.
People with every level of skill are encouraged to attend, as there are models immersed in the crowd to demonstrate modifications for those who are injured or new to yoga. There’s also a live DJ, which adds to the majesty of the experience.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for a place to breathe deep and really marinate in the power of a fresh air practice, this is an excellent, Bucket List yoga experience and one of the best that Denver has to offer.
Sunrise Vinyasa Yoga at the Denver Botanic Gardens
Sunrise Vinyasa Yoga at the Denver Botanic Gardens is a great way to experience the serenity of this urban oasis while practicing a gentle flow suitable for all experience levels.
From April to October, this vinyasa class takes place outside in the Annuals Garden Pavilion, surrounded by a colorful mix of North American flowers and plants, from amaranth and begonias to dahlias and marigolds.
On rarer occasions, the garden offers evening vinyasa classes in Mordecai Children’s Garden (full of alpine plants and pinon-juniper woodlands that are native to Colorado!) as well as Bilingual Yoga and Kundalini Yoga.
This class doesn’t have any music, so you can really tune in to your breath and take in the serene nature sounds while you practice.
Classes are also somewhat of a steal compared to other local venues, costing about $12 per class as of this writing. However, guests do have to bring their own mat and any props they want to use, as these are not available on-site. For more information, go here.
Rainforest Yoga at Butterfly Pavilion
Wanna do yoga with some beautiful butterflies? Butterfly Pavilion is just 15 minutes from Downtown Denver, but the serenity of the creatures you’ll find there feels miles away.
The sanctuary’s Saturday Rainforest Yoga is an hour-long nature-centric yoga class that brings rejuvenation and ease back into the body and mind– and yes, there are butterflies.
The class takes place from 7:45 AM to 8:45 AM on Saturdays, and guests need to bring their own mat and also a towel for the floor, which is sometimes wet. Given that this is a rainforest environment, the temperature varies between 65 and 85 degrees F, so it’s best to dress in layers.
There are no walk-ins, so guests need to pre-register, which you can do here. Overall, this is a high-demand class, so all tickets are final.
The cost is $8 for members, $10 for non-members, and teens age 13 and up can attend with an adult.
Do A Yoga Hike with Zen Out Yoga
Zen Out Yoga offers guided yoga hikes where yogis meet up to explore beautiful Colorado trails while stopping for yoga and meditation sessions along the hike.
These so-called “yoga hikes” are part of a larger trend taking foot in other mountain cities like Asheville, North Carolina where (as we wrote about in our Insider’s Guide to Asheville, North Carolina,) teachers are starting to offer waterfall + yoga hikes, sunrise yoga hikes, and more organized yoga activities in nature.
In Denver, Zen Out’s yoga hikes take place from Spring into Summer and Fall, when the weather is most hospitable even at elevation. (The current schedule can be found here.)
They also offer private yoga hikes for group adventures in the Rockies; otherwise, your best bet for dropping in to a yoga hike is to sign up for the newsletter here to get the latest updates whenever new classes and offerings drop.
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