Pacific Ashtanga Yoga Shala is a sanctuary, an oasis for me.  Diana Christinson has gathered  an open and loving community that is welcoming and encouraging to beginners and longtime practitioners alike. 

This is not a gym. Diana offers a supportive environment for a solid Ashtanga practice, but she also teaches why we do this practice, the medicine it offers, how to move, how to breath, how to get the most out of this practice, body/mind/spirit.  She reminds us through class and discussion to look at our lives, the journey we’re on, and how this practice can help us. She offers a range of tools to help us become more self aware.  
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Her guidance has taught me to be more loving, more compassionate, and kind. I've learned breathwork, energy movement, and focus, and how to incorporate these into my ashtanga practice to make it a moving meditation.  This all may sound a little woo woo to some, but it works.  Why not become a better person through a mindful movement meditation?  I would recommend this studio, this classroom, to anyone who is looking to be stronger, more flexible, and finally, more content.

​I’ve been a yoga practitioner for over 20 years and a yoga teacher since 2013. I’ve also
been a professor and a behavior analyst for more than 25 years.I’ve practiced breath meditation since childhood. Through Diana’s teachings, I’ve come to know the beauty in the union of breath and movement, and that yoga’s greatest benefits are realized through consistent practice and teaching as a way of life, of self-transformation.

​After decades of high stress business travel, I was out of shape, stiff and sore from old neglected injuries and far too many hours of sitting at desks and in airplane seats.  I'd lost the range of motion and stamina I'd had when I was younger.  I found myself tottering like and old man, holding hand rails and groaning whenever I sat down or stood up.  Then with the pandemic my travel came to a halt and my work life calmed down enough for me to realize how much I missed my old yoga practice.  I'd met and practiced with Diana years ago at Yoga Works, and was happy find my way back to her at Pacific Ashtanga.   

The first few led classes were intimidating and the next mornings I was muscle sore.  There are amazingly strong and flexible students at the Shala capable of practicing way beyond my physical ability.  I couldn't possibly keep up,  but of course that's not the point.  We are not there to make comparisons, and there is no judgement or criticism.    When we practice with intention, with patience and compassion for ourselves and others,  self awareness and restraint are as much a part of Ashtanga as breath and posture.  Every practice we begin again and every day we maybe grow a little.  It's all good.

I'm pleased to say that in a couple short years, with the expert gentle coaching of Diana and the other Pacific Ashtanga teachers I'm probably in the best mental, emotional and physical shape I've ever enjoyed.  I've regained the range of motion and stamina I'd lost, and more.  I'm doing poses at 69 that I could not do when I was much younger.   Every day I'm more grateful for the opportunity to be healthy and to be part of the Pacific Ashtanga community.  ​