Parisians Are Taking Less of a Laissez-Faire Approach to Wellness

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Photo: Cyrille George Jerusalmi / Courtesy of Wild & The Moon

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As of late, how-to guides dedicated to living life like a French woman lacked details of juicing routines and meditation mantras. And for good reason: Most French women didn’t have them. French women were famous for not getting fat, for the insouciance with which they pecked at foie gras and fromage, not for their balanced chakras or for knowing the difference between kale and swiss chard. But the capital of the country that has never been associated with gym memberships and green juices is now seeing a spate of wellness-bent offerings. Below, a few of the best.

Photo: Edouard Nguyen / Courtesy of Chez Simone

A veritable wellness mecca, Chez Simone occupies a beautiful old Beaux-Arts townhouse off the Champs Elysée and offers everything from barre to boxing to hip-hop yoga, along with an organic restaurant, a co-working space, and workshops on topics ranging from naturopathy to acroyoga. And since community and connection are every bit as integral to wellness as chaturangas, patrons are encouraged to linger and get to know each other after yoga or over açaí.

Photo: Courtesy of Modo Yoga

Cult hot yoga studio Modo Yoga has finally come to Paris and set up shop in a studio on Boulevard Richard Lenoir. In addition to hot vinyasa, ashtanga, and yin classes, the studio hosts a revolving series of DJs for Friday night flows. Also in the Marais, Parisian yoga chain Le Tigre has just opened a studio off Rue Charlot, offering chakra harmonizing workshops along with Jivamukti, Kundalini, and classic vinyasa yoga classes.

Photo: Courtesy of Bromance Paname

The brand-new Bromance studio brings a taste of Venice Beach to Paris's Oberkampf neighborhood, with cacti and batik pillows strewn about the serene common space. In the studio, FIIT, barre, yoga, and Pilates courses are on constant rotation.

Photo: Courtesy of Reformation Pilates

Purest Pilates fans will want to check out the brand-new Reformation Pilates, a peaceful studio draped with greenery that opened last November in the Marais. Reformation offers 45 and 55-minute classes on both reformer and tower machines, low-key barre and stretch classes, and an advanced jumpboard session.

Ballet dancers (past, present, and aspiring) can head to Fit Ballet. In an ethereal new studio with soaring ceilings in a historic Haussmanian-style hôtel particulier, classical ballet classes fuse yogic elements and dance.

Meditation is the order of the day at Paris’s Bar à Méditation in Opera. The serene space offers themed meditation sessions focusing on emotional recognition, breathwork, and self-love. Ne parle pas Français? Thankfully, they offer sessions in English. And if you’re deep enough into your practice to meditate solo, a dedicated drop-in space is offered for anyone in search of serenity, gratis.

For those who prefer not trek anywhere in their Outdoor Voices-gear, there’s TrainMe. The app, only available in France, allows you to summon a yoga teacher, Pilates instructor, or running coach to your hotel room or apartment for plank poses in the privacy of your own space.

And lest you think it’s too difficult to procure anything other than bread, cheese, oeufs, and wine for sustenance, there are a host of new culinary options offering lighter fare.

Photo: Courtesy of Juice Lab

Whether you’re on the Left Bank or up in Montmartre, the new Paris-based mini-chain Juice Lab is your best bet for a green juice or matcha smoothie.

Wild and the Moon may be in the Marais, but a look at the menu might have you thinking you're in Malibu. The plant-centric cafe offers everything from açaí bowls to kelp noodles to chia pudding. Also on offer are detox programs of cold-pressed raw juices.

Photo: Courtesy of Yumi

The team behind Yumi has set up a brick-and-mortar outpost near République, which also turns out excellent seasonal veggie bowls and sandwiches made with ingredients sourced from hyper-local purveyors.

Photo: Thomas Deschamps / Courtesy of Chanel Au Ritz Paris

Even the city's grande dame hotels are getting into the wellness game. The most quintessentially Parisian of them all, the Ritz Paris, is piloting new wellness offerings for the month of March at the hotel’s Chanel spa. This will include Yin yoga, Pranayama classes, Nutritherapy workshops, Watsu bodywork, and a massage set to Tibetan singing bowls.

Photo: Bernhard Winkelmann / Courtesy of Shangri-La Hotel

At the Shangri-La, chef Christophe Moret is offering a gluten and lactose-free breakfast called B-Green, which includes cold-pressed green juice, quinoa crispbread, and superfood marmalade. The hotel will also host “100% Green Dinners” once a month at the property's Michelen-starred restaurant La Bauhinia. And after three months of rigorous taste testing, pastry chef Bernadette Combette has developed a vegan tea menu with dairy-free renditions of mont-blancs and calissons that are indistinguishable from the originals.

And if you’re looking for a night out and a full meal with a healthy bent, head to Askini, which opened this month in the up-and-coming area bordering the 10th and the 11th arrondissements. Helmed by a husband and wife of Lebanese and Palestinian descent, many of the restaurant’s fresh and flavorful Levantine dishes are vegan and vegetarian. Try the eggplant salad, tabbouleh salad, and a pumpkin kibbeh that transcends its meat-filled counterpart.