Sacramento’s first and only nonprofit yoga studio!
We’ve created this space because we’ve seen the great benefit that yoga can bring to a person’s life, whether that is stress reduction, healing, greater capacities for compassion and awareness, or physical benefits like flexibility, strength, pain reduction, or simply a greater ease and comfort in one’s embodiment. Yoga makes us happy, and we want to share it! Unfortunately, we know that for many populations, yoga is simply not financially accessible to them. We are working to change all that.
Mission Statement
To serve the community by providing financially accessible yoga-related services through donation-based yoga classes, community outreach to underserved and/or vulnerable populations and community support activities for yoga students and teachers.
- A regular and full schedule of open to all, drop-in donation-based yoga classes
- Specialty classes for specific populations
- Meditation classes and workshops
- Free or donation-based workshops to introduce and promote yoga at a variety of locations, such as yoga in parks, at corporate events, in public schools
- Training workshops for teachers to learn how to teach to a specific vulnerable populations
- Mentoring programs for new and not so new teachers to give and receive feedback and develop their skills amongst other yoga teachers
- Yoga book exchange
- Joint workshops with other Yoga studios, other non-profits, and other businesses in the community, to provide mutual support and create a network of healthy living
- Yoga mat storage for students, and donated mats for use by all
The people that run the place:
Sara Johnson, Executive Director
A native to Sacramento, Sara has practiced several styles of yoga and meditation since 2006. Her favorite part of yoga is its capacity to open one’s heart, to heal, and to encourage us to live a fully engaged life. Her dream of non-profit yoga became tangible after she visited other yoga studios in the SF bay area, Seattle, and Portland that had succeeded on donation-based model. She then found herself completing a yoga outreach program, was asked to help start a yoga class at the Sacrament Gay and Lesbian Center by co-teacher Candice McLeod, and after teaching just one class, was totally hooked. She then completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training through Asha Yoga.
Sara spent several years working in a law office, has a Paralegal Certificate, and has an odd patience with paperwork. Good thing, because starting a non-profit requires a lot of it! She graduated from UC San Diego in 2005 with a head full of and a degree in Philosophy (only to leave Academia promptly to volunteer overseas, then come back and jump into the non-profit sector locally). When she talks about putting philosophy into practice, she really means it.
Zack Pasillas, Operations/Creative Director
Initially Zack was drawn to Yoga to help deal with lower back pain, specifically problems stemming from an extra lumbar vertebrae. The changes over the past 9 years have been amazing, the back pain has vanished, and yoga has provided the tools for self-healing and excellent preventative care. These physical benefits were only the beginning, soon the complete yoga practice brought great focus and mental clarity with the development of meditation and pranayama breathwork. The amazing life-changing force of yoga in Zack’s life has made him passionate about teaching others this ancient wisdom.
Zack graduated from UCLA in 2001, and completed his teaching credential with the University of La Verne in 2006. For the past 4 school years Zack has been a very successful teacher in comprehensive and charter high schools. He was voted teacher of the year in 2008 and served in numerous leadership roles, directing the math department and WASC accreditation process at the Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy. He currently works as Innovation Specialist and Math Teacher at Heritage Peak Charter School where he also provides yoga classes to the largely at-risk student population.
Apart from the many skilled yoga teachers over the years, Zack also trained with Gonga White at the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara where he received his 200 hr YTT in 2009. Since then it has been his vision to provide yoga to disadvantaged populations, giving them the life-changed opportunity to practice yoga in a supportive community.
Erin Reschke, President
A transplant to the beautiful west coast, Erin has settled in Sacramento embracing the community and cultivating her yoga practice, design practice and nature awareness practice. Erin infuses her yoga practice with a nature awareness practice finding that the awareness required to understand the birds really does help us to know ourselves.
Inspired by her roommate Sara’s dedication and enthusiasm, Erin started practicing yoga at Deep and fell in love with the practice.
In 2009 Erin completed her 200 hour certification through the nonprofit Lotus Seed School of Yoga and Movement Arts in Portland, Oregon.
In addition to experience teaching at Stumptown Yoga and the YMCA in Portland, Erin has teaching experience from her time teaching bicycle commute classes.
Erin is passionate about building community through her 14 person housing co-op to her work helping to start two non-profits in Sacramento. Her previous non-profit experience has been valuable for her with her role on the Yoga Seed board of directors; she served on the founding board of the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen and gained valuable insight into running a non-profit and managing volunteers.
Erin graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 2004 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. She has worked for several local firms and has focused on community building, socially and environmentally sustainable design and energy efficiency in buildings.
