Las Vegas has never been content with average. It's a city built on spectacle, a place where legends have stalked the stage, where wine goddesses have patrolled dining room floors, where pugilists have battled under the lights -- outdoors, on the Strip, in front of throngs.
And that's all (relatively) ancient history. In today's Las Vegas, we barely blink at singing gondoliers paddling neon canals, lounges built from ice where even the glassware is frozen, thrill rides that let you leap from a casino roof or women harnessed in "Mission Impossible"-style catsuits flying toward the ceiling to retrieve a bottle of Burgundy.
The Strip doesn't just go big, it goes beyond. It takes every vacation experience and injects it with a heady mix of kitsch and pageantry that's so very Vegas.
Here, even relaxation gets the maximalist treatment. That means spas that look like palaces, facials infused with gold and yoga classes yanked out of the standard studio and posed poolside, in bars or high above the valley floor.
Want to Vegas-ize your om? Here's where to get started:
• Beer yoga at Hofbrauhaus: The Las Vegas outpost of this German classic is known for its mighty steins, an accordion soundtrack and lederhosen-clad staff willing to give rowdy guests a light paddling upon request. Now the energetic bar is putting its biergarten to more spiritual use, hosting beer yoga classes on its outdoor patio. Hourlong sessions pair oms with beers, cycling through poses and flows accompanied by a bottle of dunkel or hefeweizen. It's mindfulness with a side of German tradition, best chased with a brat and, of course, another round of imported beer. The next session is Aug. 19; $20, includes yoga class and one beer.
• Silent Savasana: Picture 100 spandex-clad acolytes moving through the warrior pose sequence in graceful unity to the sound of silence. This is Silent Savasana, a yoga practice that turns the focus explicitly inward. Participants don glowing wireless headphones through which an instructor directs the group's movement, and while crowds flock to the pools at the Green Valley Ranch and the Red Rock Resort, the experience is made deeply personal without a neighbor's ujjayi breath in your ears. Upcoming sessions are Aug. 16, Sept. 13 and 20, Oct. 11 and 18 and Nov. 15; free.
• Yoga inside the High Roller: In a city of superlatives, this one stands apart: an hourlong yoga class inside a pod on the world's tallest observation wheel. While Caesars Entertainment's High Roller makes two full rotations, guests will work on their half-moon or tree pose, rooting down even as they soar 550 feet above the Strip. The view is breathtaking in its own right, but experiencing it during a yoga session turns a tourist amusement into an enlightening journey. Visit https://www.caesars.com/linq/high-roller for more information.
A dolphin checks out the yoga session outside its enclosure at the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel & Casino.
• Yoga with the dolphins: Though Siegfried and Roy no longer perform on the Strip, their legacy lives on in the form of the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, a home for white tigers, white lions, leopards and dolphins at the Mirage Hotel & Casino. Visitors can start their day with an hour of deep breathing and gentle stretches alongside the 2.2-million-gallon dolphin enclosure. As the aquatic mammals flip and glide, you'll settle into your side angle or breathe through the pigeon pose. Work on your dolphin pose next to the intelligent creatures and end your practice feeling renewed and relaxed with a new appreciation for the animals just next door. Sessions at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; $50, includes spa access.
• Antigravity yoga at Shine Alternative Fitness: When Cirque du Soleil's "Mystere" debuted on Las Vegas Boulevard in 1993, it changed the way the city thought of entertainment. In the 25 years since, the Canadian circus company's impact has echoed through the desert, forcing productions to up their artistic game, training audiences to expect wonder when they pay for a theater seat and leading to creation of fitness studios where visitors can train with current and former Cirque artists on poles, silks and other apparatus. Founded by "Zumanity" performer Duma Shine, this boutique studio welcomes participants to experience weightless yoga, moving through poses and flows suspended by silk cradles. It's more fitness than meditation, more excitement than relaxation and one yoga class that's about as Vegas as they come. Schedule varies, $15 to $30.
• Yoga with a view at Topgolf: The word "golf" is in this off-Strip playground's name, but every other Sunday morning finds the complex's fourth floor dedicated to yoga with instructors from local studio TruFusion guiding guests through a fitness-focused practice before a panorama of the casino skyline. Chase the free session with a hang at the property's Hideaway Pool, where summer Sundays mean $5 mimosas and bloody marys and a special brunch menu. Sessions at 10 a.m. every other Sunday from Aug. 19; age 21 and older; free.