yoko | yoga

yoko: an intro
I've been teaching yoga since 1996. Currently I teach weekly public classes at You and the Mat in Oakland and The Yoga Room in Berkeley (Please go to Teaching Schedule Page for further info).

Hello. My name is Yoko Yoshikawa. I'm an omnivorous reader, a mother to a teenaged daughter, stepmother to a college-aged son and a second-generation Japanese American who speaks and reads Japanese. We have a well-loved tuxedo cat named Fez. I've taught yoga philosophy to aspiring yoga teachers, worked with women prisoners in Pleasanton and taught asana to the staff of The Yoga Journal. I've also worked with mothers with toddlers, pregnant women, seniors and people with disabilities. It has been a fascinating 20-year path of study and discovery. I crafted this website — with invaluable support from my husband / webmaster, Peter — to advertise my teaching and start a blog. Thanks for your interest!

One-on-One Yoga

I teach private yoga sessions – to individuals as well as couples and small groups. I can visit you at your place or you can come to my studio in north Berkeley, where I have a lot of great props. You can learn and do so much more when I work with you directly. I sequence the practice to meet your needs and bring attention to aspects of your body that you might not notice on your own. Contact me directly if you're interested in scheduling a session.

It's mid-September already. We're blessed with figs, watermelons and peaches -- and the Early Girl dry-farmed tomatoes are piled high at the market.

I am teaching one more pop-up yoga class at Mysore Oakland this Sunday 9/16 from 10:30 to 12 noon. Mysore Oakland is at 6101 Colby Street, between Alcatraz and Claremont.

I'm going to bring a lot of props to the class: two folding chairs, four bolsters, five wool blankets. The plan is to work toward back bends. Recently I've been going up into elbow balance and doing a lot of both passive and active backbends. I find backbends extremely helpful for realigning the back body and central spine. It should be fun -- please come!

The latest news: Mysore Oakland will close as of September 30 -- a pity, because I like the space. I was thinking about starting a class there this fall, The ashtanga classes and workshops will move from Mysore Oakland to Flying Yoga on Telegraph Avenue.