Neighborhood Studio Since 1997

Berkeley Yoga Center consists of a beautiful studio located in a historical building that overlooks Strawberry Creek Park. BYC first opened in 1997, when there were very few yoga studios around, and we have been serving the neighborhood and wider Bay Area ever since. Our mission is to provide a simple, humble, home-grown yoga studio, with nothing fancy, nothing extra. We don’t sell props or other yoga gear: we just offer a beautiful, tranquil space, where students have a chance to experience and connect with the profound and transformative teachings of yoga, led by long-time as well as newer teachers. 

 

Grow with Your Teacher

Yoga has traditionally been passed down directly from teacher to student. At BYC, teachers have the freedom to teach the way they like, making a direct connection to their students. Because teachers at BYC run their classes in this autonomous way, students have the chance to delve into their yoga practice with a particular teacher, rather than with a studio. This allows the student/teacher relationship to flourish: students get to better know a teacher and the specific teaching she or he is offering, and teachers are better able to serve their committed students. We are honored that the teachers at BYC continue this traditional mode of imparting the beautiful teachings of yoga.
 

Owned and Operated by Yoga Practitioners

The owner of the Berkeley Yoga Center, Melanie Green, is a long-time yoga practitioner and teacher. For over 20 years, Melanie and Cybele Tomlinson ran BYC together. Cybele still teaches at BYC, but is no longer helping run and manage the studio. We started running Berkeley Yoga Center together back in 2002, when our eldest children were newborns. We are still dear friends and are both growing and learning together in yoga teaching, practicing, and living. Though the rapid commercialization of yoga in the last decade has affected much of the way students learn and practice, at BYC, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to the original vision of having a humble, home-grown neighborhood yoga studio. Over the years, Melanie has been a steward to a very special community of teachers and practitioners, and continues to be honored to still be here, with the wonderful folks who are a part of the BYC community. Yoga is a way of life for me, and I love sharing the wisdom and beauty of the yogic path. Both Melanie and Cybele feel that we will probably be teaching until the day we leave this Earth!