Garden of Youth

By Ayush Madan

As a Bangkokian who prizes their physical and mental wellbeing, visiting The Green Room has become nonnegotiable for me in my weekly routine.

Located in Sukhumvit Soi 31 or ซอยสวัสดี, The Green Room is one of the most well known yoga studios in Bangkok. Pitched as a yoga & wellness sanctuary, the studio holds between 9-13 classes a day, 7 days a week. After personally attending classes with 10 different yogis here, the studio’s consistency remains in a league of its own.

THE AMBIANCE

I took my first class at The Green Room on August 30, 2023. Even back then, the bohemian inspired decor, muted earth tones, plethora of lush plants, and warm salt lamps were present. Pair these with the colorful crystal bowls, rain drums, and gold gongs, and you create the perfect environment for intentional movement. 

The main 6th floor studio is the bigger of the two, and can hold up to a dozen people. After removing your footwear, the cherrywood door will lead to a smaller room used for seating and storage, with shelves housing bolsters, kneepads, and blocks for support. The larger connecting room towards the left is where I have had most of my classes at the studio. This room’s aesthetic is  clean and serene, with simple grey tiled floors, monstera plants, warm rattan covered lights, and a billowy see-through white curtain lightly obscuring the bright sky.

Meanwhile, the 5th floor studio is more intimate, comfortably holding up to nine people. It features a large window to your left showing you the lush terrace and the skyscrapers beyond. The aesthetic is nearly identical to the 6th floor studio — just half the size.

(I love Thai as a language because it is uniquely intentional with its verbiage. In Thai you can’t simply say: today I did yoga. Instead, one might say, วันนี้ผมไปฝึกโยคะมา. Today, I practiced yoga.) 

THE YOGIS

Here are the current yogis I have practiced with at The Green Room:

Yok TS

Rory Thawanya

Stacey Pellegrin

Mook Wongdeethai

Nat Pijitra

Mango Mohit

Whether its tarot cards, essential oils, the cadence of the yogi’s voice, or the style of yoga, every class has a uniqueness that makes it distinctly different from the rest. How I am personally feeling on the day also heavily factors into how well I can move. That being said, I find difficult days to always be easier after 60 minutes of yoga.

For the yoga-curious, I invite you to drop in to The Green Room for a one-time session for just to get a feel for the place. Whichever practice you choose, it will require you to fully connect with your mind and body. In an age where so many of us over consume, I believe yoga is more important than ever. Personally, it has helped become a more grounded, fit, confident, and resilient version of myself.

 I especially recommend Yok’s afternoon Slow Flow & Soundbath on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 12 PM and 12:30 PM respectively. The sound bath is a fascinating sensation I can feel in and around my head even though the instrument is on the far end of the room. Moreover, these days, I align my schedule with Rory Thawanya’s Vinyasa Flow on Wednesdays at 10:30 AM. It’s a class I’ve attended thrice now, and will definitely be returning to for its challenging poses and the instructor’s impeccable pace. I’ll leave it off with a quote mentioned by Rory herself:

“Leave a little taller, a little lighter, just a tad more limber. With the hopes that maybe not today, but one day, I will get there.”