JSLALALAND

THE HEALING FREQUENCY

Alo Wellness Club

There's a gym in Beverly Hills with no price list: not because it's too pricey, but because you just can't get in. What goes on upstairs and downstairs at Alo Wellness Club, and how LA turned wellness into a velvet rope.

Translated from Jasmine’s original Chinese. The illustrated slides are on the interactive reader.

Key points

Full text

  1. 01 | Not a gym, a club

    An invite-only wellness club inside Alo Yoga's headquarters: no applications, no public pricing. You can't join it; it can only choose you.

  2. 02 | Who's inside

    Regulars reported in the press include Hailey and Justin Bieber, Kendall, Kylie, Glen Powell and Tate McRae. Your odds of running into a celebrity here are probably better than at Erewhon.

  3. 03 | They hand you a bag of clothes at the door

    Supposedly, the first thing you get when you walk in is a free bag with a full Alo set. That's LA: what money can't buy, they make up for with clothes.

  4. 04 | Upstairs is the body

    A gym area, Pilates and yoga studios, and reportedly even a music recording studio. Work out, then cut a track. Makes total sense.

  5. 05 | The basement is where it's at

    Sauna, cold plunge and cryotherapy are all in the basement. In LA, sweating is social; recovery is identity.

  6. 06 | The evolution of LA wellness

    Ten years ago people showed off their bodies; now they show off their 'recovery.' Your HRV numbers are the new designer bag.

  7. 07 | Grandma vs. Angelenos

    Grandma says: don't touch anything cold, it's bad for you. Angelenos say: three minutes in a cold plunge reboots your whole day. On this one, I'm still watching both sides.

  8. 08 | You can't get in, but you can get close

    Know a member, become someone worth inviting, or option three: buy a coffee at the Alo store downstairs, stand by the door in full Alo, and pretend you just finished a workout. Option three has the lowest barrier to entry.

  9. Last word

    In LA, wellness was never just about health. It's a kind of admission ticket.

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An original JSLALALAND field guide by Jasmine Chang (@jslalaland).