YogaWorks Mill Valley

Read the fine print carefully when signing up for a membership… The facilities and teachers were great — but their business policies are disappointing. I called yesterday (Dec 12) to stop my membership and they won’t count Dec as the last month or give me refund for January membership. When you sign up for a membership you pay for ‘last month’ up front and apparently you have to contact them 2 weeks before the end of the last month for it to ‘count’. Buyer beware.

I usually attend classes at the Larkspur location for the convenience (it’s closer to my house), but this studio is just as awesome. I love how one of the rooms is facing the pretty marsh. Both studios have a variety of classes and all of the teachers are great at what they do.

My home away from home! I can’t say enough positive things about this place!
Front desk staff is always welcoming, and the teachers are SIMPLY AMAZING. My favorite is Jen, but I also really like Sam… and to be honest, they’re all great. I’m a beginner and I’m treated so well. Membership prices for any yoga studio are on the high side, but this place is so worth it and have varying levels. Plus free tea!

I have been going for over 8 months now, and my practice has imporved significantly. I Love the classes with Sharon Lapse, Jen Burke, and Eric Monkhouse!
The staff are great too, and the location is easy for me to reach… I ride my bike from Corte Madera and when I drive it is easy to find parking.
They worked with me to «suspend» my membership when I had a recent injury, Danielle is a real pleasure to work with. Begining or long time practitioners would feel very comfortable there.

I’ve been a member since the beginning of December, ’14 and am very pleased with every aspect of the experience. The staff are very friendly, the instructors are excellent, lots of classes to choose from, at all ability levels, clean facility and easy parking. Very mellow…

Great instructors. Nice studios. However, the ownership has decided to squeeze every last red cent out of the real estate by cramming as many human bodies as possible into studios. This was not the case a year ago. I come out of class feeling like a sardine. Money talks at YogaWorks Mill Valley.

I LOVE Christopher Love’s Vinyasa Flow ²⁄₃ classes! The studio itself — not so much. Not very big or clean. The YogaWorks in Larkspur is larger, cleaner, and has a better feel to it. The YogaWorks in Walnut Creek is amazing! Very luxurious and lots of amenities. It’s unfortunate that there can’t be a standard within this chain of studios.

Wonderful studio — gorgeous, clean, very zen. The only con is that parking can be difficult when something is happening at the community center (the lots are next to each other). But I’ve always found a spot just in time.
I love the wide variety of classes and times, so you can really get a lot out of a membership. I go 3 – 6 times a week no problem. And the week night classes are only 55 minutes, so I never feel like my work and dinner times are compromised.
The staff and members are very friendly, approachable, and non-​judgmental. When classes get really full the members kindly make room and the instructor adjusts poses so no one is knocking into each other :) People are respectful about noise, order, and members of all levels trying their best and just trying to enjoy themselves.
Very cute clothes and accessories for sale and a tea bar to sit and relax pre– or post-​class. Beginners will feel at ease and not judged, but experienced yogis can enjoy a very satisfying experience, too. They have the best deals in Marin besides being one of the nicest yoga studios, so GO! Namaste.

Their BBB rating is an F! (Archived at
)
Wish I’d looked ‘em up before signing up.
Horrible, evil awful company. Some of the teachers are great, some are not so good.
Their contract shenanigans are typical of sleazy
. I signed up to try it out, was told I’d get the first two months for just over the price of one, and that I’d have to cancel 15+ days before the end of the month or they’d charge me for the following month. I cancelled after trying it for two weeks (on the 15^th) within 15 days of the end of the month) and they’re trying to charge me for 3 months of membership. This is completely illegal (
) bullshit. (PS, per the TOS, «Colorful language and imagery is fine» in Unilocal reviews, and this one calls for it.) I wrote them a nice and clear but firm email and it looks like I’ll have to have my credit card company process a chargeback. Their response, in toto: «Are you able to please call the Studio to discuss?» WTF? Namaste my ass.
I’d add some specifics about the teachers, but I can’t now and besides, they change and many probably work at multiple different gyms, and its such a personal choice anyway.
When you’re a yoga studio, you should have simple, straightforward membership terms. They don’t. There’s no non-​sleazy reason for needing 15 days notice in order to avoid a scheduled credit card charge. Let alone trying to charge me for 3 months of membership!
Oh, and I just noticed they charged me two months up front, after saying they would charge me only one month up front! Within a few days of signing up, they had charged me twice. I signed a credit card charge slip for one month, and one that (once I brought it to their attention and modified before signing) said I’d be charged in a month for another month’s fee. But instead they charged me twice, right away.
The level of dishonesty they have reached is such that I don’t know if I’ll be able to use the remainder of the membership I agreed to without hating being there.

I used a Groupon here, and LOVED it. I do live in the area, though I didn’t have to prove it, which seemed like it might have been an issue on the Groupon site. But, alas, it wasn’t. I went in and the two women at the reception desk were SO NICE. Sweet, friendly, and warm. My interaction with them was really, really pleasant. I think one of them was named Michelle. They helped me get the paperwork filled out, gave me directions for which room to go into and Michelle even walked in and showed me where everything was. Seriously, that was really nice. She didn’t have to do that, and I’ve been to plenty of studios that just let you sort of wander about and try to figure everything out, silently, on your own, without disturbing people.
I went to my first session in Mill Valley. Clean venue. Smelled like sunlight lol it was just so fresh and lovely in there. The class was AMAZING. Relaxing. Very attentive to beginners while respecting the advancement of the experts. Parking behind the venue and plenty of it.
I finished my month’s Groupon at the Larkspur location which is a little closer to my house. Loved this location as well. Clean, spacious, located in the Larkspur Landing center. Parking can get crazy in there, but I usually went to the morning sessions, so I made out OK. Friendly staff. Some of the classes here were a little more along the aerobics line than I was prepared for, but they really kicked my ass in a good way and I felt awesome afterward after having completed them.
I also loved that YogaWorks has an app. I used it all the time to find out which class and which location I could make it to. The app needs work. It shut down on me all the time, but I always got what I needed right before it did.

What a darling little gem. I just got into yoga about a year ago, and practice at equinox and Nandi in San Mateo. Worked in Mill valley for about a week, and had an opportunity to try out the studio twice. Totally loved the vibe, it’s very clean, and the rooms are perfect. Experienced awesome inversions with the aid of the ropes on the walls, they have really great props. They offer a variety of classes and have excellent instructors from what I can tell. It was a great experience :-)

Christopher Love (yes that’s his real name!) at Yoga Works is just fantastic! He instructs the Vinyasa II-​III class on Mon, Wed, Sun. The class is great – both for folks moving on from level I Vinyasa classes as well as yogi pros looking to challenge themselves in full postures. His classes are the most complete body (and mind) workout that I’ve done so far at this studio – you will get one heck of a work out every time! His instruction is clear, concise and he has a plan for every class. I also love his assistance, as he helps to encourage you to go further without pushing too much. The classes are always varied and you can modify whatever you need. I highly recommend his class.

The Yoga Studio Mill Valley and Larkspur was sold to Yogaworks which is a Corporation based in Los Angeles. I have been with them for years now but just recently cancelled my membership for the simple reason that the corporation is aparently more interested in making money than providing their clientel with good yoga (Iyengar) teachers.

I went to Yoga Works in Mill Valley because I got a Groupon for one-​month unlimited yoga for $ 49. The staff was very helpful, the studio inviting, well stocked with props, very clean. It was my first time I did Iyengar yoga and Barbara, the instructor was great. Loved the corrections and she was very attentive to my back issues. Even when my Groupon runs out, I know I will become a member. Parking is ample. Definitely will be back. I look forward to trying other instructors and other forms of yoga. I’ve been practising for 4 years and it’s nice to have a place to practice so close to home.

Being an out of state visitor, finding the studio was a bit tricky. I did manage to get to the studio minutes before the start of an anusara-​based class (I believe they call it yogablend). The class was packed with students of all ages and abilities. The class was kept at a comfortable 83 degrees (perfect on such a chilly February morning) and the teacher, Michelle, led a very accessible class with suggestions for modifications.
Nice studio. Super friendly front desk staff and teacher. Plenty of parking. Clean bathrooms. In room cubbies to store your stuff during class. On my next visit to the area, I’ll be dropping in at this studio again.

I have been going here for 6 months and have now done more yoga than I had ever previously. This studio has a wide array of teachers, from the more spiritual to the fast-​moving ashtanga. Like any studio, you need to find the instructors you like — I talk to some friends who go also there and they like instructors that I don’t and vice versa. You just have to be patient and find the classes that you like.
The crowd is a Marin mixed bag of mostly 30s, 40s, 50s people. There are some serious yogis that come — I have seen people do things in classes here that I had only seen in pictures. But there are plenty of stiff dudes too, and the instructors always give the different levels of the poses.
The set up is a little weird in that you have to walk upstairs to get to the studio, and then walk back down a different set of stairs to get to the bathroom. People tend to leave the bathroom door open, which is frustrating when you are changing. Even though there is a barrier between the men’s and women’s bathrooms, it still makes you feel exposed.
I hope management is more on top of things — I went to a class by the most popular instructor one Sunday morning a few months ago and there were at least 30 people in the class waiting for it to start, only to be told 15 minutes after the start time that he had cancelled and there wasn’t a sub. That’s just plain bad management — I had even looked at the website that morning and it didn’t say the class was cancelled.
The website is kind of a pain because you can’t bookmark the page that has the schedule — you have to bookmark a different page and go through a couple clicks to get to the schedule. I wish they had a mobile friendly website or an iPhone app.
Overall I like this yoga studio — my yoga practice is way more developed now than it ever was, and I’ve met a lot of cool people there.

While I’ve relied on Unilocal reviews for years, I’ve never felt the need to write one. But the review by Tom H. is so ridiculously biased, that it deserves a response.
Tom H was a student in John Berlinsky’s yoga class for years. Whatever the reason for his leaving, it’s not because John is verbally abusive. He’s the opposite of verbally abusive. There are many of us who’ve been his students for years and years. If you’re interested in Ashtanga Yoga and you’re near Mill Valley, you should definitely check out his classes. Don’t be swayed by one angry reviewer who’s clearly got an agenda.

Last November I took a trip to Brazil and attended the «Island Experience.» For one week we started and ended each day with Yoga. I’ve tried to maintain that practice in the US.
I’m a skeptical person and don’t consider myself very spiritual. Many new age aspects of Yoga are way over my head. Check out the yoga movie «Enlighten Up!» to get a feel for what I mean. That being said, I’ve come to appreciate practicing breathing, some meditation and sculpting my bod into something hot’n hunky. Still working on the last one…
I’ve decided to embark on a program called Passport to Prana. You pay 30 bucks and get one class at 34 participating Bay Area studios. That’s less than a buck per class, so it’s a great deal, and a great opportunity to try a bunch of different studios.
And thus begins my adventure with my first class at Yoga Works. In fairness, one class hardly constitutes a fair basis for a review of a studio, or its myriad of teachers, so I’ll try and focus on the facilities and my experience.
Location:
It’s easy to access, not too far off of 101N. It’s located right at the junction of a crazy ass intersection, so if you pass it heaven help you with the number of illegal U-​turns you’ll have to make to get back to the driveway. Tons of easy parking. It’s situated by a nice field giving the studios nice views.
Facilities:
There are two main studios that can accomodate 20 – 30 people in them. My class was well attended so we were snug but had enough room. There are «yogi» and «yogani» changing rooms downstairs, but there’s only one toilet in the men’s and be prepared to be seen if the door opens. The studio was pretty clean, didn’t smell too ripe and had lots of mats, blocks, pillows and stretching aids. The view from the studio was tranquil and I liked that there were windows left open during practice. Shoes were left by the entrance downstairs which was a little weird, and that space was cramped, without seats, when you needed to put them back on.
Instructors and staff:
The folks who greeted me were extremely friendly, warm and interested in hearing how I heard about them. They were helpful in getting me signed in. I like that they have a yoga works card for easy class sign in. My teacher was a duo, while the main teacher instructed her partner walked around aligning and offering more «enjoyment» through deep stretches. My teacher was humorous, knew her stuff and was a nice help with some posture issues.
New age:
I didn’t pick up on too much of a new age vibe. The folks practicing with me in the room were a mixed bag of ages, shapes, sizes and abilities which was great. Our instructor sang her chant beautifully and not much of the class was spent chanting which I preferred.
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Update 5÷9÷10
I just got a call from the friendly folks at YogaWorks. Apparently a young brunette has been taking classes here without paying and leaving my name! This kinda makes me laugh, but at the same time is a bummer. Hey miss brunette, they’re on to you, knock it off, bad karma and yoga don’t mix :)

YogaWorks Mill Valley has a great variety of yoga classes and teachers. I appreciate the different disciplines and attitudes in class. Yoga Works features Iangar style with Jackie and Barbara leading the way of great instructors emphasizing core discipline and alignment. The level 1 & 2 classes are sufficient to exercise inner strength and burn your butter. The level 2 and 3 classes challenge the body and meditation required to achieve the poses. There is plenty of parking in the lot and it’s easy to find. The helpful office staff offer amenities to suit a woman’s needs. The monthly fee is comparable to other studios but the drop in fee is a bit steep at $ 22.