Yoga Studio in Chicago's West Town

Fun and Challenging Yoga in Chicago

Grow Your Yoga Practice

Big Shoulders Yoga is located in Chicago's West Town neighborhood and offers Hatha yoga classes designed to challenge all levels and abilities. Classes are held online daily, with over 100 prerecorded classes available anytime!

Our teachers break down poses, focus on alignment and provide appropriate modifications to make classes accessible for everyone. Classes are structured around a main theme (hips, twists, backbends, etc.) and designed to gradually build heat within the body—carefully warming students up to give them their best shot at achieving more challenging poses. At the end of class, we dedicate time to work on "peak poses" at each student's level and try a few inversions at the wall.
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Ready to grow your yoga practice with us?
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Class Schedule

Daily in-studio & online classes. Plus, access over 100 prerecorded classes anytime!

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About The yoga

What We Do

Big Shoulders Yoga is Chicago's only Hatha-centric yoga studio. Our intelligently sequenced classes have a workshop-like quality, giving students time to learn, explore, and progress in each pose. It's perfect for mastering the basics and focusing on alignment as well as deepening a more advanced yoga practice.

Learn More about our unique style

About our teachers

Who We Are

Big Shoulders Yoga teachers are experienced, dedicated, and enthusiastic about yoga. We pride ourselves on our unique sequences for each class, our skilled adjustments, and taking the time to break down challenging poses to make them accessible to everyone. Each of our teachers have completed a 200hr Yoga Alliance Certified Hatha yoga training.

Meet the Teachers

SCHEDULE

Where does BSY get its name?

The City of Big Shoulders

Big Shoulders Yoga gets its name from Carl Sandburg's poem 'Chicago'.

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders

Read the full poem here

What sets our yoga apart

The six pillars of Big Shoulders Yoga

Sequence

Each class has a unique sequence, so you'll never do the same thing twice. Our sequences all follow the same structure. They start with a seated series, then move through standing poses to the peak pose, and finish with inversions at the wall.

Adjustments

BSY teachers are trained to give expert adjustments throughout the class to help correct your alignment and support you (literally) while you try new things.

Themes

Classes are written around a central theme and focus on complementary poses to warm students up and avoid injury. Examples of these themes include hip openers, backbends, strengthening, splits and laterals, twists, etc.

Playfulness

We like to have fun in class! We try hard things, but TRY is the key word. We're all working on something and there will always be a pose that challenges you. We encourage students to approach that challenge with levity. You will be in a supportive community where it’s not uncommon for another student in class to cheer you on!

Peak Pose

Throughout class we work to build heat within the body as we intentionally warm up for the peak poses to come. There are usually 3-5 peak poses to tackle, each with its own set of modifications so there's a challenge for everyone.

Workshop Feel

We take time to break down several poses in a class, concentrating on their mechanics and alignment, and giving students the opportunity to try the pose a few times. Yoga can be complex, so our teachers will demo and then move around the room to offer adjustments while students work independently on the poses.