About Us

Our Herstory

The idea for The Yoga Devi was born from a collective desire for an authentic female-owned yoga space in the community of Pasadena. We are both long-time teachers in the Los Angeles area and homeowners in Pasadena. Our paths finally crossed in 2023 when Beth offered Sara a postpartum massage. During that initial session and subsequent healing sessions, we discovered a shared desire to create meaningful experiences, retreats, and women’s circles, which led to the start of many successful collaborations.

With our combined 20+ years of expertise, we decided to create a diverse high-quality community studio where students not only reap the powerful physical benefits of yoga asana, but also gain deeper dharmic and karmic understanding of themselves through meditation, sound, and healing circles. As long-time residents who actively taught yoga and meditation during and after the Eaton Fire, we know first-hand how important community is, and The Yoga Devi is not just a yoga studio, it is a third-space and supportive environment that feels like home.

We are dedicated to offering diverse classes, teachers, and programming rooted in tradition and celebrate the rich history of the practice that we love. We welcome you to your home away from home.

Our Vision

The Yoga Devi’s vision is our foundation, our north-star that informs every decision we make, and it’s a place to return to for clarity and guidance. As business owners we are dedicating to reviewing our vision and values on an ongoing basis to ensure we are always are always following these core principles:

Honoring Tradition

The practice of yoga asana (physical poses) was brought to the Western world in the late 19th century, but originated over 5,000 years ago in Northern India. To us, the practice of yoga, meditation, nidra and other practices are deeply spiritual in nature, therefore categorically more than just a “workout.” We honor these traditions in our teachings to ensure students have a well-rounded understanding of the practice and can delve deeper into self-inquiry and take their practice “off the mat.” We provide ever-evolving resources for our staff and teachers to enhance their offerings and inspire their teaching. 

Representation

We understand the importance of representation in the yoga community, which in the West has historically been white-dominated. We aim to create a diverse and inclusive environment, where people of all ethnicities, sexual orientations and gender expressions are represented in our teachers and staff. Our studio is women-owned, by people of mixed-race and immigrant families.

Community

As a business or as individuals, we aim to enhance the community that we grow in. This means understanding our ripple effect and taking steps to ensure that we are adding value to the place we call home without taking away from the existing residents. As residents of Pasadena and members of the community where we teach, we are dedicated to offering various community centered events, including pillow concerts, pop-ups, and women’s circles.

Accessibility

An essential pillar of our studio is to always be accessible and welcoming to all individuals; all bodies, backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, races and ranges of affordability. We are a safe space for the LGBTQIA community. We protect and honor those who have immigrated to our country. We offer a range of class levels and maintain that the language we use is inclusive of all humans. We support our staff in upholding these important principles. We prioritize people over profit. Our bathrooms are all-gender and inclusive.

Lifelong Learning

As teachers, we are students first. The reason we teach is because we were inspired by the practice itself and the teachers who came before us, of which we were once all beginners. We strive to instill a live-to-learn attitude in our teachers by holding workshops and mentorship as well as Advanced Trainings and continued education, practice classes and mentorship for aspiring teachers.

Protecting the Environment

Our studio is as eco-friendly and green as we can make it, from the cleaning products and materials we use to the way we purchase. When possible, we source locally. We incentivize students to cut their carbon footprint by providing available rental mats to those who bike or walk to the studio.

Keeping it ‘Local’

It goes without saying how important ‘community’ is in our modern, individualistic society. As a studio, we support local vendors by hosting retail on consignment. We also hold regular vendor showcases and events like patio markets and other pop ups. We are selective about the retail products we carry, ensuring that we ourselves stand by any product that can be purchased at our studio.