Yoga Society of San Francisco

Billy Ardito

Billy came to Yoga while trying to alleviate chronic back pain. He was so inflexible he could not forward bend to his knees without intense pain. Combining a regular Yoga practice with other awareness practices he was able to transform his body and mind, process buried emotions and reawaken his spirit. Billy comes to his practice within the spirit of self-healing and invites others interested to join him. Intending to deepen his personal practice and share this knowledge with others, Billy completed his teacher training in Ashtanga Yoga at Brahmananda Ashram in San Francisco.

Julie Draskoczy
Julie fell in love with yoga after a candlelit class at BYS yoga in Pittsburgh, PA and has never looked back. Strongly rooted in vinyasa-based traditions, she completed her 200-hour teacher training through Greenpath Yoga in San Francisco. She now strives to bring yoga to people of all ages and backgrounds by concentrating on a restorative, gentle practice that is accessible to everyone. Outside of the studio, she teaches at Stanford University and in San Quentin prison.

Letitia Bartlett
Letitia Bartlett began studying yoga and mime in 1971. For twenty years she worked primarily in the theater, mime and circus world before returning to serious yoga study at the Iyengar Institute in San Francisco in the early 90s. Letitia graduated from the Teacher Training Program at the Institute in 1996, and since then has made two trips to Pune, India to study with the Iyengars. Her yoga classes combine concentrated discipline with the spirit of curiosity and investigation. Letitia's dynamic approach is encouraging, challenging, and fun.

Marcelo Carvalho, M.A.
Marcelo Carvalho began teaching yoga in 2001. His yoga classes include asana (poses,) pratyahara (internalizing the focus of the mind and the senses,) and pranayama (expansion of primordial energy - prana.) He emphasizes meditation, yoga psychology, and Self-knowledge as principle tools for personal transformation and healing. Marcelo studies Sanskrit with Dr. Ram Karan Sharma and the Yoga Society Sanskrit faculty. An active member of the Yoga Society of San Francisco, Marcelo is the Resident Manager, has been on the board of directors since 2000, and is elected President for the term beginning January 2011. Although he did not meet Shri Brahmananda during his lifetime, he has embraced him as his Guru.

Pedro Franco

His studies came from various lineages and traditions including Sivananda, Satyananda, Krishanamacharya and Matsyendra - Goraksha Natha Lineage. Pedro also carries certifications in Pilates technical skills for rehabilitation, wellness and fitness. He has developed a practice that blends effective practical tools under a broad holistic perspective and a teaching style that adapts to all levels for maximum development of students inherent abilities. During the past ten years he has conducted Yoga certification Courses, Yoga and Pilates teacher training programs, intensive courses, workshops and Beneficial Kirtans for the World Child Foundation in Brazil, Europe, North America, India and Nepal.

Sarah McTee

Sarah is a California native, recently moved to San Francisco to work on ocean conservation and to enjoy and learn from the yoga community here. Sarah has been practicing yoga for almost 10 years and has been dedicated to the Jivamukti tradition since 2006. “That first Jivamukti class changed my life. To me it is the perfect yoga tri-fecta: a vigorous vinyasa practiced to music, coupled with yogic philosophy and meditation.” Sarah has practiced yoga all over the world, and is especially excited to teach at the Yoga Society of San Francisco as Shri Brahamananda is one of the gurus of the Jivamukti lineage. Sarah brings enthusiasm, her love of nature and a sense of adventure into each of her classes.

Guest Teachers

Briksha Mahendra

Briksha combines Hindu Yogic practices and Buddhist wisdom in his teaching. He has learned spiritual nutrition and healthy eating life style under the guidance of Dr. Gabriel Cousens and Dr. David Jubb. He has been working as rawfood chef over 7 years and teaching rawfood classes for last 5 years. He worked as a head chef in Tree of Life for a year. Briksha is a certified rebirthing breath-worker and yoga teacher. He has been teaching yoga, guided meditation, and stress management classes since 1992.

Hari Harananda

Hariharananda Jorge Cal was drawn to the practice of yoga for health reasons. As a student of Yogiraj Swami Venkataraman S. Bua Ji, he learned the combined technique of conscious breathing and dynamic posture flow that characterizes his teaching style. In Swami Bua Ji's very traditional style, he also discovered a vital method of realizing and abiding in one's cosmic consciousness by means of guided visualizations during relaxation (yoga nidra) and meditation. It is his greatest desire to share the experience of abiding in that unified field of consciousness and wholeness with his students. As a result of his yoga practice, Hari has developed a deep and rich understanding of the holistic healing process. He practices as a certified massage therapist and Reiki master in San Francisco.

Clayton Horton, RYT

Clayton has been a student of yoga for over 20 years and began teaching in 1996. He is the director of Greenpath Yoga in San Francisco, CA. His practice is rooted in the Ashtanga tradition and Greenpath meditation. He is a student of Sri Pattabhi K. Jois and the Greensufi. Clayton is a founding board member of the Green Yoga Association and the Director of Teenpath Yoga for teens in San Francisco. He is a student of Sanskrit and on the Board of Directors at the Yoga Society of San Fransisco - Brahmananda Ashram. He received formal Authorization to teach Ashtanga Yoga from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his Grandson Sharat of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute of Mysore, South India in 2003.

Sasi

I have had a life long interest in the Eastern healing arts including yoga. The study and practice of this ancient art and science has, through the years, nourished and sustained me physically, mentally and spiritually. Teaching for 12 years has added another dimension to this experience in broadening my communication skills and providing me with the opportunity to share the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. In my teaching, I constantly reiterate the importance of being fully grounded in their standing and seating as the foundation from which they move. Students are instructed to cultivate the practice from within by the unwavering awareness of the breath, and maintaining a full presence through concentration (dharana). From this stable foundation I emphasize alignment - creating the path of least resistance for prana to flow through the body. I encourage them to find lightness in the heart center and flow from that awareness. Studying Sanskrit and Yoga philosophy with Dr. Ram Karan Sharma for 3 years has nurtured and enlightened the spiritual insight of my practice. The opportunity to work, over the past 2 years, with Niroga Institute, a non-profit organization that seeks to foster health and well being through Transformative Life Skills for at risk and under served individuals, families and communities, has enhanced my ability to move and teach from a deeper place of compassion. My experience of traveling around the world and engaging people of different cultures and backgrounds has significantly broadened my perspective not only of the practice of yoga, but of life.

From an Essay by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati

One who uses the body and mind properly in time and space, with proper motive for the common welfare of humankind, is the yogi and practicing yoga, weather he or she knows it or not. There is no choice between using and not using the mind. There is only the choice between proper and improper use, between unselfish and selfish purpose. One who uses the mind to unite humanity’s heart, not only to create unity between East and West, but to experience that unity with all existence -- he or she is the yogi.

Yoga is the holistic way of life, where union and harmony of the body, the mind, and the soul or consciousness, “I-am,” are fundamental. Accordingly, yoga has many branches, including physical, mental and spiritual forms and disciplines. In fact, each of life’s activities is yoga when performed in a natural, harmonious way, attentively, to balance and unite the body, mind and spirit.

What is the difference between science and yoga? Science deals with objective reality, while yoga begins with subjective reality and ends in transcendental reality. Science is involved with all types of discoveries and inventions, while yoga is interested mainly in the discovery of the discoverer, that is to say, the discovery of pure awareness, pure consciousness... the absolute “I-Am.” When you have the Self, pure consciousness, pure awareness, then you know the whole universe, objective and subjective, the past, present and future, because you are beyond time and space.

Now our old ways of living are dying, and humanity is searching for the new way. We have the choice between death and life. If we prefer to die, then we do not have to do anything. If we prefer to live, then we have to change our hearts completely from disunity and disharmony to unity and harmony. This transformation is the work of yoga.

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Yoga Instructors

Gratitude for Yoga Society of San Francisco

Videos

What is Yoga?

Vedic Fire Ceremony Trailer

Kirtan at Cosmic Temple

Kitchen Kirtan Part I

Kitchen Kirtan Part II