Yogalayam

I wrote a letter to the teacher of the postnatal class, Saraswathi Devi, and left it at the studio. I included my email address. I never heard back.

My favorite yoga ashram in the Bay Area– a real gem! I have been taking yoga classes for more than 30 years and Saraswathi teaches with an amazing depth of knowledge about all aspects of yoga asanas, meditation, pranayama and mantra practice. Her descriptions are clear, her guided imagery beautiful, and she can tailor any yoga posture to individual needs/​injuries. She teaches yoga philosophy and practices to advanced students at other yoga studios, was the first teacher to develop pre and post-​natal classes in the Bay Area, and more recently has been creating state of the art yoga for quadriplegic students. We are quite lucky to have such an accomplished, loving, gracious teacher in our midst. I highly recommend the deep level of practice you will learn in this sunny, clean, lovely ashram.

This is the best find ever for moms with infants. The postnatal classes, held twice a week for as little as $ 14/​class, are wonderful! The class runs about 2 ½ hours (30 min. longer than scheduled, in my experience), and covers infant massage, infant movement, singing, and practice for the moms! They provide the towels, massage oil, toys for your baby and yoga mats. The first hour is devoted to the babies. I brought my daughter when she was 7 weeks. This class seems most useful for the pre-​crawlining infants. We sing to the babies, while doing gentle movement. Then we do the massage. There’s a feeding break, afterwards the care givers offer to take your baby into the next room. They play and soothe the little ones while the moms get an hour of yoga solo. The yoga is geared towards moms recovering from childbirth. I love this class! The care givers are amazing! It is such a treat to be able to hand them my infant, knowing she will be in such loving arms, while I stretch and rejuvenate my body. I leave the class so relaxed and content. I love being surrounded by other moms and their new babies. I’m so happy this class exists!

I went to the postnatal class with my 8 month year old and the experience was magical. The woman there are so thoughtful and amazing, the space was remarkably clean and serene and the class was so fun for both my baby and I. I can’t recommend more highly and I can’t wait to return. Thank you!

I came here for the post natal class and it was such a wonderful experience. We did yoga, a lot of the movements and infant massage, there were caregivers who were great at watching the little ones, even the one (like mine) that liked being held a lot.
just a very nurturing environment. Also, got to meet the other new mothers. What a gem. I tried to find something like this in San Francisco where I live now, and nothing compares…

I really loved Saraswathi’s pre-​natal and Mama and Baby yoga classes! I grew up with a midwife mother in the 70’s and 80’s so her energy was very familiar and comforting. Saraswathi has been an natural birth advocate and yoga teacher for women in The Bay Area since long before there was a yoga studio on every corner. Her dedication and knowledge comes from may years of guiding us toward our bodies’ natural wisdom and wellness.
She takes time to check in with each woman in class and has specific advice on diet, beneficial poses or adjustments for every discomfort or difficulty. It was such a great way to build community among pregnant women and new moms. There was a warmth in her classes that I never felt in other prenatal yoga classes. She even facilitates a beautiful ritual in class to welcome new babies when you are close to your due date. She is deeply spiritual as well as practical and grounded in her advice. I totally trusted her to guide me whenever I needed help.
Her classes were so important to me during my pregnancy and I really needed that special time to tune in and be in a circle of women. My only complaint is that several times I showed up and the class was cancelled. Saraswathi made an effort to call us some of the times to inform us when class was cancelled, but other times she didin’t. I wish she had an alternate teacher who could have been there on such occasions. I think she was having some unusual circumstances during this time because her guru was having health issues. Hopefully her classes are back on a regular schedule now.
Do yourself a favor and get to Yogalayam during and after your pregnancy! She also teaches a good labor class for couples or women and their birth partners.

This is for a review of the post natal and the mom/​toddler yoga classes only. Both of these classes are the best that I have been to (of parent/​baby classes). The teacher and the assistants set the space up wonderfully and beautifully for the parents and babies. Because there are helpers you actually get to do a good amount of yoga and the activities are designed thoughtfully so that both the babies and parents get a lot out of it. The reason I’m not giving it five stars is that I think that the teacher can be too intense during the class and it can be stressful. She wants things to be a certain way and when it doesn’t go that way she kind of barks at the assistants and/​or at the parents at the class. This has made me feel stressed out and uncomfortable which is not how I want to feel at a yoga class.

Saraswathi’s prenatal classes are excellent; this is not a «follow-​the-​leader» type class. There is a dedicated focus on the importance of alignment, breath, and listening to your body. By the end of class, all the subtle areas of my body feel like they’ve been addressed. The classes are two hours, and include a good mix of short check-​in, self-​massage, acupressure points, most time spent on asana, then pranayama and meditation.
I have some joint mobility issues, and this is one of the few classes I have felt totally at ease in. Mostly because Saraswathi is the Master of quick and easy use of props; she can see the beginnings of any discomfort and slide a bolster and a couple blankets in there without skipping a beat in her teaching.
This isn’t the kind of yoga studio where you come and go without ever making eye contact. The space is simple and informal (like an empty Victorian apartment) and the community it attracts is honest and welcoming. This isn’t the spot to compare lululemon gear; it’s more like stopping by a friend’s house to practice yoga.
Saraswathi also offers private yoga instruction and prenatal Thai massage — both highly recommended. She even offered to have my partner come in, so he could learn some massage and facilitated stretches for me. Her understanding of the body, physically and energetically, is fantastic.
I have felt extremely grateful to have had the support of this space during pregnancy and have heard equally wonderful things about the postnatal classes.

There are many places that are pretty or glamorous, but this is the real thing. We are lucky to have this place here. This ashram is clear and beautiful in a simple, nurturing way. The main teacher, Saraswathi Devi has a life-​time of experience and a great breadth of knowledge about all aspects of yoga, including meditation, breath, Hatha, health care and nutrition. With a specialty in pre-​natal, birth, and post natal yoga, Saraswathi helped me immensely through child bearing, and i will always be thankful. Several people i know have known her for many years, as a true healer, and spiritual teacher – she is kind, compassionate, amused, and very astute– and fabulous with kids, playful, magical and wise. You can find Birth preparation, post-​natal, baby massage, parent/​toddler, kid’s, as well as adult beginner, intermediate and advanced classes. Highly recommended for all levels, due to the depth of practice available.

Yogalayam is a gem of the east bay. I started taking pre-​natal classes here last year and loved them. My husband and I also took a birthing class that really helped us prepare for labor — we successfully used the techniques. Now I am taking the post-​natal mom & baby class and, when I can, the donation-​based ($ 5 or less a class!) early-​morning yoga class sans baby.
I have taken yoga other places and nothing compares to the feeling here. It is an ashram and Saraswathi Devi has devoted her life to sharing her knowledge with the community — this is yoga as it is meant to be, a spiritual practice, not a commercial money-​maker. She has been teaching some 30+ years and is incredibly knowledgeable about all of the postures, breathing, acupressure, etc. The assistants at the mom & baby yoga class are wonderful. You will get a workout and so will your baby — and an oil massage, as well.
I definitely feel the Spirit here and hope to make it to their chanting sessions which are once/​month on the first Sunday of the month. Long live Yogalayam!

I’m currently taking post-​natal (mom and baby) yoga at Yogalayam and it is FANTASTIC! What could be better than showing up at a relaxing ashram with beautiful chanting music playing, spending over an hour bonding with your infant through stretching and massage, and the last part doing soothing and restorative post-​natal yoga? The baby massage section is fantastic and even the very little ones (we had a three-​week-​old in class today) respond beautifully. Saraswathi provides the oils and even the towels in case your baby decides to get REALLY relaxed), and the helpers walk around and play these big drums when the babies get fussy (which mesmerizes them). If your baby isn’t asleep during the moms-​only section, the helpers take him or her to give you time to do your post-​natal practice by yourself. Saraswathi Devi is clearly very knowledgeable about her practice, but also loves babies — I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I took pre-​natal yoga here and loved it. Saraswathi is such a peaceful and wise presence in a pregnant woman’s life. Her classes are tailored to your needs and the poses are really well thought out. Other studios I went to instructed some poses that were incredibly awkward, but Yogalayam always made me feel great, strong and like I got a true workout. Now I am going to the post-​natal classes and it is also wonderful! The class is over two hours long and you actually get to do yoga, which I have heard does not happen at many other places. The first half hour you do movements with your baby, then you are led through an infant massage, then there is a short break for feeding etc. and then these absolutely lovely women watch all the babies who are awake in the next room — they are sleep magicians! They bounce with the babies on yoga balls, or play with them in a cushioned area full of great organic and wooden toys, while listening to calming music. My son is 6 months old but I took him there when he was about 9 weeks for the first time — and he has always liked it, though there were days when he was fussy and we just worked through it with the help of the assistants. They are really great about soothing fussy babies and very welcoming and understanding. I really can’t recommend it enough for new moms (or dads) looking to get out and exercise. It is also very good for connecting with the whole new baby experience, seeing other children and mothers, like a new mom’s group but focused on yoga and positive things instead of how many hours your baby is sleeping and all the other things you could be worrying about. There is also toddler yoga when your baby is ready.

Saraswathi Devi is the main instructor here and has 35 years of teaching experience. I have only taken her pre-​natal classes but went to a few studios before I found her and fell in love with her class. She is incredibly wise and her space is very peaceful. She also teaches a Birth Preparation class, post-​natal, children’s, parent/​toddler, beginning, intermediate and advanced yoga classes. Her pre-​natal class incorporates nutrition, meditation, and wonderful advice on every aspect of pregnancy.