A surprising number of people book something, then do not come, because arriving somewhere unfamiliar on your own is its own small ordeal. You do not know where the door is, whether to knock, what you are supposed to do with your shoes.
This removes that. It is the least mystical article on this site and possibly the most useful.
Where we are
26 Gergi Zeidan Street, Tabaris, Beirut.
Tabaris sits at the western edge of Achrafieh, just up from Downtown and a short distance from Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael. If you know the Tabaris roundabout, you are essentially there.
For anyone still building a mental map of Beirut: this is the part of Achrafieh nearest the centre, walkable from Gemmayzeh, and roughly ten minutes by car from Hamra when the road is kind and considerably longer when it is not.
Getting here
By taxi or ride app. Bolt and Careem both work well. Give the driver the street name — Gergi Zeidan — and Tabaris as the area. If they do not know the street, the Tabaris roundabout is a landmark every driver in the city knows, and it is a very short distance from there.
Driving. Parking in this part of Achrafieh is limited, as it is everywhere in Beirut. Give yourself ten minutes more than you think, or plan to use a paid car park rather than circling. If you are coming for the first time and would rather not deal with it, take a taxi for the first visit and work the parking out once you know the place.
Walking. Genuinely feasible from Gemmayzeh, Downtown and much of central Achrafieh. Beirut is more walkable than its reputation suggests, in this area at least, though the pavements have opinions and the hills are real.
Timing. This is the practical part. Traffic between roughly 4.30pm and 7pm can double or triple a short journey. If your schedule has any give in it, a mid-morning or early-afternoon session is a completely different experience of the city — and those sessions are quieter, which most people prefer for a first visit anyway.
Before you come
Message us with anything relevant. Injuries, pregnancy, surgery, medication, or simply that it is your first time. It takes a moment and it changes the session you get.
Do not eat a heavy meal in the two hours before, particularly for yoga or massage.
Bring water. For yoga, clothes you can move in. For massage or reiki, nothing at all — everything is provided.
Arrive ten minutes early on a first visit. Not five. That ten minutes is what turns arriving into settling.
What happens when you get here
You come in and take your shoes off. There is somewhere to put them. This is normal here and nobody expects anything else.
Someone will greet you and ask your name. If it is your first visit, say so — it changes what we tell you.
You will be asked some questions. What brought you in, anything going on with your body, whether you have done this before. It is a conversation rather than a form, and it takes a few minutes.
You will be shown where to leave your things, where the bathroom is, and where to go.
Then you wait a moment. Sit down. Do not do anything. That gap between arriving and starting is more useful than it looks, particularly if you have just come through traffic.
Things people worry about, answered
Do I need to know anything? No. Not a single pose, not a word of Sanskrit, no reading.
Will I be the only beginner? No. And in a room where everyone is on their own mat looking at their own feet, nobody is assessing you.
What if I can't do it? Every yoga pose has an easier version and you will be offered it. In any treatment, you can stop at any point.
What language will it be in? English, French or Arabic — ask when you book and we will tell you which for that session. Teachers here often move between them.
What do I wear for a massage? Come as you are. You will be given privacy to undress to whatever you are comfortable with, and you are covered throughout apart from the area being worked on. For Thai massage and reflexology you stay fully clothed.
Is there air conditioning in summer? Yes, and generator backup so that it stays on. In Beirut that is a genuine question and we would rather you asked it.
Can I come alone? Almost everybody does.
What if I need to cancel? Message us. Life in this city is not always predictable and we would rather know than wonder.
Afterwards
There is no rush to leave. Sit for a few minutes, drink some water, and let your head come back before you walk out into the traffic. This is the part people skip and then wonder why the effect wore off by the time they got home.
If something came up during the session — physically or otherwise — say so before you go. That conversation is part of what you booked.
One thing you can do today
Open a map, search for 26 Gergi Zeidan Street, and look at where it sits relative to somewhere you already know. Two minutes now removes the entire uncertainty of the first visit.
Then, if you have a question this article did not answer, send it. Nobody has ever asked us something too small.