Events, Workshops, and Trainings
Foundations Series with Lesley Desaulniers
Join Lesley Desaulniers for a transformational series that provides an alignment-focused understanding of standing postures, forward folds, backbends, and more. This series is open to all levels: new students will learn the fundamentals of the practice, while experienced students can refine and advance their skills.
Padma x Sound Garden Monthly Sound Bath
Join us for a cosmic sound bath experience curated by Sound Garden of Mill Valley for a deep, full-body reset. This is an invitation to soften the layers you’ve been holding and return to a more grounded, regulated state. You’ll be guided into stillness as the gongs begin to unfold, surrounding you in waves of vibration that move through the body, not just around it.
The Magic of Sanskrit w Ramana Erikson
We will go deeply into the origins and esoteric side of Sanskrit and explain why Sanskrit is so powerful, why it is the language of Kirtan, Ayurveda, and Yoga, why it is used for mantras, how the language connects all of us to the universe at large.
Introduction to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
Join Lesley Desaulniers and Ramana Erikson for an exploration of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
The Power of Presence with Judith Hanson Lasater
Often when we start practicing yoga, we think of yoga something we “do”. As we mature in our practice, we begin to understand that yoga is not an action, it is rather a “state of being”. Finally we become aware that we can practice yoga all the time, that in fact, the whole world has become our yoga mat.
This understanding will be recognized and honored as we practice together as a community, a sangha.
What Our Days Will Be Like:
We will begin our day with a short talk and a sitting practice to orient us toward our topic, and then practice Active Asana. After lunch and afternoon break, we will reassemble for Restorative yoga, pranayama, and meditation.
The Heart of Bhagavad Gita
Join Lesley and Ramana Erikson for this weekend journey of practice, meditation and dharma. We will be exploring devotion, wise action and how the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita can answer our deepest questions. This course will offer insight into navigating everyday life. We have designed our time together to present the Gita as a framework to rediscover and renew energy, focus, commitment and joy. This is time to ask the deeper questions and use ancient texts to offer insight and guidance on our paths.
Our time together will include lecture, meditation, mantra and group discussion.
This is a two day weekend workshop. Each session is 4 hrs long with two 15 minute breaks.
Saturday 12:45 - 4:45pm and Sunday 11:30 - 3:30pm
Sutras Saturday with Erika
These special sessions are a time for us to gather in community and deepen our knowledge of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Each session will combine philosophy study, discussion, and guided meditation.
It is helpful to read one (or more) of the following translations of the Yoga Sutras and bring your book to each of our sutra sessions:
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Edwin F. Bryant
The Heart of Yoga by T.K. V. Desikachar
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Chip Hartranft
If you have another translation of the Yoga Sutras that you love, please feel free to bring that one with you. No need to purchase a new translation.
Kirtan with AditiMa featuring Veena & Ramana
Kirtan, the sacred call-and-response chanting of divine names, is one of the most accessible and joyful practices of yoga. As the vibrations of mantra move through the body, they awaken the nervous system, calm the mind, and connect us to something far greater than ourselves. Join us for an evening of connection with beloved Kirtan band, AditiMa, featuring the brother and sister duo, Ramana and Veena.
Padma x Sound Garden Monthly Sound Bath
Join us for a cosmic sound bath experience curated by Sound Garden of Mill Valley for a deep, full-body reset. This is an invitation to soften the layers you’ve been holding and return to a more grounded, regulated state. You’ll be guided into stillness as the gongs begin to unfold, surrounding you in waves of vibration that move through the body, not just around it.
Sutras Saturday with Erika
These special sessions are a time for us to gather in community and deepen our knowledge of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Each session will combine philosophy study, discussion, and guided meditation.
It is helpful to read one (or more) of the following translations of the Yoga Sutras and bring your book to each of our sutra sessions:
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Edwin F. Bryant
The Heart of Yoga by T.K. V. Desikachar
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Chip Hartranft
If you have another translation of the Yoga Sutras that you love, please feel free to bring that one with you. No need to purchase a new translation.
Padma x Sound Garden Monthly Sound Bath
Join us for a cosmic sound bath experience curated by Sound Garden of Mill Valley for a deep, full-body reset. This is an invitation to soften the layers you’ve been holding and return to a more grounded, regulated state. You’ll be guided into stillness as the gongs begin to unfold, surrounding you in waves of vibration that move through the body, not just around it.
Kirtan with Jai Uttal & Ben Leinbach at Padma
Embark on a vocal journey through the sacred sounds of ancient mantra, carried on a beautiful landscape of music created by Jai Uttal and Ben Leinbach.
Sutras Saturday with Erika
These special sessions are a time for us to gather in community and deepen our knowledge of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Each session will combine philosophy study, discussion, and guided meditation.
It is helpful to read one (or more) of the following translations of the Yoga Sutras and bring your book to each of our sutra sessions:
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Edwin F. Bryant
The Heart of Yoga by T.K. V. Desikachar
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Chip Hartranft
If you have another translation of the Yoga Sutras that you love, please feel free to bring that one with you. No need to purchase a new translation.
Kirtan with Mangalananda and Friends
Kirtan—the sacred call-and-response chanting of divine names—is one of the most accessible and joyful practices of yoga. No experience is needed, only a willing heart. As the vibrations of mantra move through the body, they awaken the nervous system, calm the mind, and connect us to something far greater than ourselves.
Healing Through Deep Rest
This workshop is an invitation to pause, breathe and deepen into rest.
Chakra Tuning Workshop with Lesley
Join Padma Studio founder Lesley Desaulniers for an invigorating yoga class for all levels—from beginners to advanced yogis--that explores the chakra system through sound and movement. The seven chakras represent seven levels of consciousness, each with its own seed sound, or bija mantra. Lesley leads flowing asana postures sequenced to help you connect with your chakras, and tune each one by chanting its individual bija mantra. You’ll perform twists and chant “ram” to awaken the solar plexus chakra, for example. A uniquely effective class for rebalancing body, mind and soul.
Mantra Love & Kirtan with Jai Uttal & Prajna Vieira
'A balm for your heart and your ears'
Ease Into the New Year: Pure Restorative Yoga with Estee Fletter
As we step gently into a new year, this afternoon of Restorative Yoga invites you to slow down, reset, and begin again from a place of steadiness and care.
Nubia Teixeira Mother Goddess Yoga Workshop with Maha Shakti
In this workshop, we will honor Maha Shakti as both one unified power of benevolence and as the distinct transformative energies of Parvati, Durga, and Kali. Through movement, breath, and embodied devotion, we will learn to recognize Her/Their presence within us as focus, nourishment, strength, courage, surrender and rebirth.
Come ready to move, breathe, embody, and humbly surrender to the fierce, tender, and transformative force of Love of these Great Mothers!
Kirtan with Govind Das
Join Govind Das in the uplifting and heart opening practice of Kirtan. Kirtan is an ancient bhakti yoga practice using mantra and music as an expression of devotion and prayer. The literal translation of kirtan is "to praise.” Kirtan is described as a "jewel of a spiritual practice" because of its joyful, open-hearted, meditative, and communal feeling. Come sing, dance, and enjoy spiritual community. For the new people to kirtan/chanting, just bring yourself, no special clothes or yoga mat needed.
Mother Goddess Yoga Workshop with Nubia Teixeira
In this workshop, Nubia will guide you through a yoga sadhana infused with the imagery, symbology, and power of the Mother Goddess. This afternoon’s practices weave together asana, pranayama, visualization, mantra, mudra, incantation, and more—a tapestry of potent traditional techniques interlaced with Nubia’s own artistic innovations, born of decades of immersion in Yoga and Odissi, the classical dance of India.
The Seat of Strength - Balancing the Hips and the Pelvic Floor with Jo Lewzey
Our true strength doesn’t come from force — it comes from alignment, awareness, and connection to our foundation. The hips and pelvic floor create the base of support for the entire body, influencing posture, movement, breath, and even emotional well-being. In this alignment-based workshop, we’ll explore the intimate relationship between the hips and the pelvic floor — two regions that hold both physical and energetic stability.
Ananda Rasa Kirtan with David Estes and Band
Ananda Rasa Kirtan led by David Estes is rooted in traditional Sanskrit chants sung to original raga melody compositions and explores the mystical and ecstatic moods of Bhakti in call-and-response chanting with the audience.
Realign & Restore: A Therapeutic Yoga Practice for Healing Through Alignment with Jo Lewzey
Realign & Restore is a therapeutic alignment-based workshop designed to help you reconnect with your body in a way that is safe, intelligent, and deeply nourishing. Instead of pushing through poses, you’ll learn to work with your body—creating space, stability, and ease through clear alignment principles.
The Practice: Your Heart Connected with Nikki Costello
This Iyengar Yoga workshop gradually opens up the back and shoulders in preparation for an enlivening back bending and inversion sequence.
Yoga for Bad People Retreat Style Class with Heather Lilleston
Join Heather Lilleston for a fun, cathartic retreat-style class that brings the full spirit of a Yoga for Bad People retreat into one session. Expect advices from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, sweat-inducing yet joint-safe movement, a killer playlist, spiritual philosophy, humor, and grounding yin to tie it all together. Want fresh inspiration for your daily practice? Curious if you can nail a headstand (spoiler: you can)? This class is for you. All levels welcome!
Mantra Love & Lullaby with Jai Uttal (Solo)
Join Jai Uttal for an hour and a half of deep sonic restorative mantra & kirtan
In this space of invocation and prayer we will unite our voices and experience the transformative power and healing energy of these ancient chants. This will be a one of a kind treat for our hearts and ears.
The Practice: Iyengar Vinyasa with Nikki Costello
This all levels workshop is all about movement and sharpening your focus while moving in and out of standing poses. Warm up slowly and proceed with a vinyasa sequence to strengthen the lower body, build endurance, and revitalize the spine.
Hips That Hold You: Stability Before Flexibility with Jo Lewzey
In this alignment-based workshop, you’ll explore how stability in the hip joints and pelvis lays the groundwork for sustainable mobility and freedom. Instead of pushing into deeper shapes, you’ll learn how to skillfully align and engage key muscles to support your hips from the inside out.
The Pelvis is Everything: A 3 Day Workshop with Judith Lasater | SOLD OUT
We look forward to welcoming Judith Hanson Lasater to Padma Studio for The Pelvis is Everything. In this course we will focus on the pelvis, its anatomy, and on its energetic importance to our lives through lecture and practice. We will study the part the pelvis plays in creating yoga poses, including standing poses, backbends, forward bends, twists and inversions.
Twists And Forward Bends - Depth Through Alignment, Not Force: Workshop with Jo Lewzey
In this workshop, you'll learn how to create length, stability, and space before depth—so you can safely enjoy the quiet power of these postures.
Summer Send-Off Kirtan with Jai Uttal
Please join Jai Uttal, Nubia Teixeira, Prajna Vieira, Ben Leinbach, Lesley Desaulniers, and the whole Padma family for an evening of invocation and joy at this Summer Send-Off Kirtan Celebration.
The Practice: Releasing Tension in the Lower Back with Nikki Costello
An all levels Iyengar Yoga workshop that focuses on releasing tension in the lower back through safely lengthening and twisting the spine in a series of standing, supine and inverted poses.
Coming Back Home To Your Body: Workshop with Jo Lewzey
In yoga, the phrase “come back home to your body” refers to the process of reconnecting with your physical self in a present, compassionate, and embodied way. It means shifting out of distraction, disconnection, or dissociation—and into a state where you feel grounded, aware, and at peace within your own skin.
Shoulders, Head, And Neck - Workshop with Jo Lewzey
In this workshop we will look at the proper alignment of the shoulder girdle, head and neck. We will work to “undo” all the time we spend bending forward.
The Practice with Nikki Costello: Summer Residency
We are thrilled to welcome Nikki Costello back to Padma Studio Fairfax for a summer residency running June 18 through July 9, 2025. Nikki is an educator with 30+ years of teaching and training experience in Yoga and Meditation. A Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher (Level 3-CIYT) and a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), Nikki works at the intersection of social justice and Yoga with a focus on facilitating new models of embodied leadership.