Marisol Tavares
Co-founder · Slow Restore · YinTrained in Mysore (Sharath Jois lineage) and at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. 15 years on the mat, 11 of them at Hovara. Sits on the IYTA Portugal teacher review panel.
Lisbon · Estrela · since 2014
A small studio, slowly built.
Hovara has grown from a single rented room with three weekly classes to a two-floor townhouse with twelve teachers and forty-two classes a week. The pace stayed slow on purpose; that’s the practice.
Position · 01
Slow yoga is not a style. It’s a discipline.
We don’t teach harder, faster, longer. We teach the same six classes year after year, with senior teachers and beginner-friendly cues, in a quiet room with low light. The longer you stay, the more the room changes you — never the other way round.
Three things we believe and one thing we don’t. We believe in a long savasana, in props for everyone, and in the right of every body to take up space on a mat. We don’t believe in pose progress photos.
Founders · 02
Four senior teachers, one shared bench.
The four people who started Hovara still teach every week. The other eight teachers were trained in this room before they joined the bench. We grow the studio by growing the people in it.
Aisha Robinson
Co-founder · Vinyasa · PranayamaTrained at Yoga Yoga (Austin) and the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. Joined Hovara in 2017; has lived in Lisbon since 2019. Author of Slow Vinyasa (Park Books, 2024).
Sara Lindgren
Ashtanga (Mysore)Authorized Level 2 teacher (KPJAYI Mysore). Runs the 06:30 Mysore room from Tuesday to Saturday. Travels to Mysore for two months every January.
Daniel Park
Co-founder · Sound Bath · MeditationEight years leading sound and breath work. Trained at Spirit Rock (California) and the Insight Meditation Society. Hosts the Friday Sound Bath and the lunchtime meditation block.
The space · 03
A 19th-century townhouse, two practice rooms, one tea room.
The Hovara studio occupies the top two floors of a restored Pombaline townhouse on Rua da Boavista. The renovation took eighteen months and was led by a local architect who has practised with us for nine years.
Studio A · 16 mats
3rd floorThe larger of the two practice rooms. South-facing, with three tall arched windows and a 4.5-metre ceiling. Sprung wood floor over felt. The Mysore room and Vinyasa Flow rooms most weekdays.
Studio B · 12 mats
2nd floorThe quieter, smaller room. East-facing, suited to slower classes. A wood-burning stove (ornamental) anchors the corner. Slow Restore, Yin, and the lunchtime meditation.
Tea room · ground floor
All hoursA fifteen-seat room with a kettle, a tin of biscuits, and a small library. Members and post-class students linger here. We close it at 21:30.
Changing rooms
2nd & 3rd floorTwo changing rooms per floor, with hot showers and lockers. Bring your own padlock or borrow one at reception. Towels for hire (€2).
Reception
Ground floorOpen Mon–Sat 06:00 — 21:30, Sun 08:30 — 19:00. Booking, drop-ins, gift cards, mat storage, and lost property.
Garden & bicycles
OutsideA small walled garden behind the studio, available to members in summer. Six bicycle racks, two cargo bike spaces, secure overnight only for members.
11Years practising · since 2014
12Senior teachers
42Classes every week
1,840Active members
Timeline · 04
Eleven slow years, on the mat.
From a rented room with three weekly classes to a 240 m² studio with twelve teachers. Below are the moments when the rhythm changed.
Three classes a week, one rented room
Marisol and Aisha rent a 30 m² room above a café in Estrela and teach three classes a week between them.
Aisha and Daniel join as partners
Daniel adds the first sound bath. The studio reaches 200 active members; we move to a 90 m² space on the same street.
Sara opens the Mysore room
An 06:30 self-led Ashtanga room becomes the spine of the morning schedule. The fourth founding partner joins.
First teacher-training cohort
Twelve students enrol on a 200-hour teacher training. Eight of them now teach somewhere; two of them at Hovara.
Move to Rua da Boavista 142
The current studio. Eighteen months of renovation, two practice rooms, a tea room, and a small walled garden. 1,200 active members on opening day.
Twelve teachers · 1,840 members
Forty-two classes a week. Three pro-bono classes for the local community. The studio is closed on the first Sunday of every month for cleaning and teacher development.