ShantiOm Yoga — Local services in Portland

I want to love this place. I really do. But this place has one big flaw: it does not treat the final stage of the class which is supposed to be deeply relaxing ("savasana") as sacred. I have tried several classes and there is usually at least one major disruption during that part of the class which totally throws off the meditative state you work the whole class to achieve.

For example, the Monday evening class last night was good for the first part, then the following all occurred in the last 15-20 minutes of the class, which raised my adrenaline levels instead of lowering them:

-A dog barked and whined continually. Why is there a dog in the studio?! This one left me the most upset because a dog (especially a whiny one) has no place in what is supposed to be a quiet sanctuary. If you walk in for a class and see a little white dog tied up, just leave.

-The person who was running the next class sat outside the studio while our class was just about ending (the end of a yoga class is supposed to be the quietest part) and loudly laughed and held a vibrant conversation which radiated into the whole room, then came in before our class was over and started banging around preparing themselves, with no regard for peace or quiet.

-To top it all off, one of the participants had a loud, bellowing coughing fit the entire last 10 minutes of the class. She coughed into her mat (which my husband noted she did not clean before returning it for communal use) for a few minutes before sitting up and just loudly coughing into the air (when everyone is supposed to be meditating). I really wish the instructor has asked her to gently excuse herself, it was so disgusting!

If you are looking for a place to stretch, this is a good place. If you want a place to develop a strong, deep meditative yoga class, I am not so sure this is your best bet.

(I will probably give this place one more shot as I want to love it. It's so close and the set up is nice. But I go knowing I'm probably going to walk away more limber than when I went in, but also maybe more...

I recently started practicing at this studio after a too long yoga-hiatus! ;p I bought their 10 day unlimited Yoga pass for $20 as a new student. I live in SW, so St Johns is a bit of a journey, but I just hop on the 44 bus, open a book & in a little over an hour & I'm there. I've gone every day for a week now & taken classes from 4 different teachers, including the owner, Michael. I would say that this studio is a great choice for beginners or longtime yogis alike. The teachers are fun, friendly, compassionate and articulate, balancing emphasis on focused alignment with brief spurts of more freeform movement & play. I love that they often start & finish class playing the harmonium while we Om, really adding depth to the reverberation of sound created in the space. The studio itself has a very simple & practical layout with an eco-friendly, modern feel. It is clean, well equipped with extra mats & props and one fuchsia-colored wall really brightens the space. I have felt welcome to enjoy their diverse class offerings and am hoping to take advantage of the workstudy program they offer, so I can continue frequenting the studio. I would definitely recommend this studio to anyone with an interest in Yoga. Thanks for reading! I hope to see you...

I did the community yoga a few times when I first got into yoga. They have a really relaxing studio with good teachers. They even let a friend and I sit in on a private lesson when we came on the wrong day. Thanks a ton, Shanti Om! You helped me a find an affordable way to learn about yoga and now I am doing it...