Cedric and Marie, both from the office, went off to a yoga class together at Yogabrú, at number 34 on Calle del Doctor Lluch. What Cedric praised afterwards was a person rather than a place. Olga, the instructor, was great, and he reckons the class is worth recommending to others in the neighbourhood.

So consider this me recommending it.

A tip with a name in it

Star ratings for a yoga studio tell you that a lot of strangers had a good time. They say very little about whether you'd get on with it.

A recommendation from someone you see across the room most days is different. You know roughly how they work, how they get through a long morning, whether they're the type to go easy on a place or not. And if you want more, there's nothing to scroll through. You ask them over coffee the next day.

I also like that the praise went to Olga. In a class, the person at the front of the room is most of what you're paying for. A good teacher can make an ordinary room work, and the nicest studio in València won't save a class with the wrong one. So when someone gives you a teacher's name, that's the useful part. Hold on to it.

Getting out of the chair

Sitting at a desk all day is hard on the back and shoulders, and it barely matters whose desk it is. A better chair helps a bit. Getting out of it for an hour helps more.

The trouble, for me at least, is that plans to look after myself rarely fail at the class itself. They fail at the getting there. If it means a trip across town, a bit of traffic and a rushed dinner afterwards, I'll find a reason not to go by about Thursday (I have a long list of abandoned good intentions to prove it).

That's why this tip appeals to me. Cedric pitched it at the neighbourhood, and I think that's exactly the right audience: people who live round here and want something they can keep doing, week after week, without planning half their evening around it. A class in your own barrio is a walk, not an expedition.

There's a second thing I'd add. Going with someone helps. Cedric and Marie went together, and anyone who has talked themselves out of a class at six o'clock knows that a friend waiting at the door changes the maths.

If you want to go

For class times, prices and what style of yoga Olga teaches, ask Yogabrú directly. If you work here, you can also ask Cedric or Marie how it went. They're the ones who were on the mat, and they'll tell you more than any website.

And if you end up in Olga's class yourself, I'd like to hear what you thought. Another vote from the barrio is worth more than a page of reviews.