Berkeley Yoga Center

The essence of yoga is felt immediately upon entering the WARM (that’s right — took 2 layers off-​yay) room at 6:40a for Mysore on Friday. By «essence», I mean — there is no front desk staff (no front desk at all) — simply take off shoes, put down your mat, write your name on a small piece of paper (no questionnaire, no legalese, nothing to read or sign), stow your stuff on a hanging hook (or put on bench), put your payment down on the small piece of paper (no one collects money or asks you about money — crazy!) and start your practice within 2 min of walking into the room. There is NO talking.
When I arrived, I was the 7^th person in the room (and the teacher, Ayelet, was doing her own practice). Thanks to Unilocal,I knew Ayelet would be busy with her own practice till 7:30a, so I did my own thing (sun salutes, warrior 1 & 2, triangle, awkward, parsvo, half moon, twisting half moon). Other students trickled in after me. Highest number of students in the room around 10. Observations of other students are as follows: 1. they all looked strong & in good shape — I had the most body fat in the room; 2. they were all focused on their own practice — competitive vibe absent; 3. they were all doing their own practice — same sequence, but starting at different times and working on different things — I saw a guy in his 60’s do sleeping yogi pose.
Ayelet finished her practice then began correcting & adjusting students. Eventually, she walked over to me, very quietly introduced herself and spoke briefly about Sri K. Pattabhi Jois– whose picture is against the wall, his 6 series, etc. She stated that initially, repetition is more important than form — learning the sequence of poses is key for beginners. She didn’t ask, but I told her about my issues and how I needed to modify some poses (like standing with my feet apart for Tadasana). She was cool with it. There was a couple who came in after me — the woman was clearly a longtime practitioner and the guy was a beginner with some yoga experience (like me), so Ayelet taught the two of us together. There was a 3^rd beginner (a young woman) but she dropped out after learning the first set (Surya Namaskar A & B). We learned some fundamental positions (2 more sets). After each set, Ayelet asked me if I wanted to stop or keep going. She gave me excellent adjustments. At the end of the 3^rd set, she taught us the finishing sequence and then we did savasana.
Biggest challenge: Breathing. I began by standing and breathing. Ayelet listened to me and then asked me to make the inhale and exhale sound exactly the same. she also put her hand on my back so I could become accustomed to inhaling into my back and also my side ribs and maintaining a straight spine while exhaling (and pulling my abdomen in while keeping air in my back and side ribs).
2^nd biggest challenge: Repetition. Ayelet will go through a set (say pulling on toes (Padangustasana) & stepping on hands (Pada Hastasana), then triangle, then reverse triangle) 2 times with me and then say, do this 5 – 6 more times. Seemed like I ended up doing some sets 10 – 12 times while waiting for her to come over (she gives each student individual attention). I was TEMPTED to do my own thing (do other poses) BUT felt like it would be disrespectful to do so.
Ayelet has a direct, brisk manner and is watchful. From her today, I learned I needed to watch my arm to make sure it was directly over my shoulder in extended side angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana). Also need to keep my floating ribs in during Trikonasana.
Overall, I had a very positive first experience with Mysore at Berkeley Yoga Center.
In order to do Mysore, Ayelet’s requirement is minimum 3x per week attendance in order to learn the sequence. Otherwise, she suggested doing classes.
I will say this, after my Mysore session ended at 8:55a, I felt the need to do a complete yoga class (more than 10 poses), so went to a 90 min anusara class.
There is a kitchen and another room (presumably bathroom?) in the studio.
Floor is clean. Punch in *9642 in the keypad beside the street gate, climb up 3 flights of stairs to studio C. Parking: easy at 6:35a. First Friday street cleaning on the studio side of Bonar.

Ayelet and Clair are both amazing teachers. I’ve been practicing yoga for about 6 years and I’ve definitely learned the most from practicing the past few months with these ladies. If you’re looking for Ashtanga in Berkeley this is the place to go!

I have been practicing Mysore yoga for ten years. The two teachers at Berkeley Yoga Center (BYC) — Ayelet and Claire are very well respected and highly trained.
Ayelet leads the program doing her own 4^th series practice at BYC and then her teaching starts at around 7:30a. I learn so much just by watching her amazing practice. She has been trained by some of the greats such as Lino Miele, Sharath (Pattabi Jois’ grandson) and John Campbell. She has many years teaching experience and moved to Berkeley in 2011. We are blessed to have her here!
Claire has been an Ashtangi for 20yrs but also has training in other forms of yoga. She brings much wisdom to her adjustments, especially around alignment.
If you are new to this style of yoga, simply show up to the studio and one of the teachers will walk you through the series. The mysore style is a self paced memorized series with strong emphasis on breath, power (bandas) and strength.