On a first visit, one could be forgiven for mistaking Hermosa Beach’s Soho Yoga for a spa. The glass beverage dispenser near a door to the heated studio carries a rotating cast of delicately flavored ice water (Strawberry!). There are complimentary face towels, like the kind given out on nice airlines, but they are chilled rather than heated. A solitary vending machine sells nothing but bottled water.
The spell of formality is broken, pleasingly, by a sign in the bathrooms. In the men’s room, it is perched near the urinal, like the sports page at a Hooters and features a list of guidelines for practicing.