I have been a student of Shashi for the past 9 years. I have appreciated how through yoga, Shashi has taught me how to get through various life and health issues. He is sincere, honest, has integrity, and is creative as a yoga teacher. He has taught me how to make yoga a part of my everyday life. I am grateful that Shashi is in my life. I feel better, calmer, more relaxed because of my yoga practice.
– DR. SHERRY REASBECK
You will love being there; you will learn a lot more than just yoga postures. Yoga and Meditation Center is comfortable and welcoming from the moment you step in the door. Shashi is a yogi in a turtleneck. He is not what you expect, he is so much more. Classes can be a mix of breathing, postures, and philosophy. If you are looking for a wonderful life experience and not jut an exercise session, this is the place for you.
– KERRIS LEE
My husband and I were encouraged to try the Yoga and Meditation Center because I suffer from back problems and he suffers from multiple injuries sustained in a auto accident. That was almost three years ago and now we don't know what we would have done without it. Shashi uses his infinite wisdom of yoga and the body to teach the healing powers of yoga. Not only have we grown in physical health but we have grown spiritually and mentally. By far the most appealing feature of practicing yoga at the Yoga and Meditation Center is it's instructor, Shashi. We drive several miles to take yoga with Shashi despite having a local yoga studio a couple blocks from our house. The knowledge and wisdom Shashi has to share with his students is worth any distance. We feel like every week we learn something new even after three years. We feel blessed to have had Shashi come into our life. He is not only a wonderful and caring teacher but a friend as well.
– BRIDGET SMITH
I just wanted to thank you so much for introducing me to Yoga. It has changed my life. I was in an accident and have a herniated disk in my neck. Doctors even said they recommended surgery for this condition, but I keep doing the neck exercises at home in addition to attending class twice a week. I still have some pain some days, but I overall am doing a lot better. Even more so, Shashi has taught me what's really important about life. I am even a better mother, in the sense that I am more patient and am learning to enjoy the moment. I am wondering why I have waited so long to try Yoga. I haven't even tried another Yoga center, nor do I have any desire to do so. I will tell anyone and everyone I know how Yoga & Meditation Center has changed my life.
– LORIE RHYNE
I have been to this studio for 4 years. If you want to live longer, listen to me, come and join us. There is no other place to go.
– EARL TSAI
Where Body meets Higher Conciousness- I've been a student of Shashi Pottathil at the Yoga and Meditation Center for several years now. He is an incredible teacher, having over 30 years of experience and a family heritage of teaching Hatha Yoga. (Feel free to Google the phrase "Great Yoga Teacher" and read my article about him.) He is a true role model of positive energy and higher consciousness, with advanced knowledge and understanding of classical Yoga. His teaching style combines core principals of traditional Hatha Yoga with advancements and modifications (based on his personal experience in teaching and practice, as well as his educational background in science and research) to accommodate the realities of modern living. To quote Shashi, "knowledge must be updated, continually..." echoing a principle. I first learned in Taoist martial arts, that the only constant in our Universe is change itself. Shashi's knowledge is not limited to the mechanics of Yoga. He is highly knowledgeable and familiar with both Eastern and Western fundamentals of physiology, biology, and medicine. He draws upon both (East and West) in his curriculum at Yoga and Meditation Center. Besides learning Asanas (i.e. "poses" ) you will learn breathing techniques ( and their importance to your health), guidelines for proper diet and hydration, as well as philosophy that you can apply in daily life to manage stress and overcome negativity.
– Shashi's Ashram
The ashram (studio) offers plenty of highly qualified, and very supportive, student teachers and assistant teachers, all trained and certified by Shashi. The studio space, recently remodeled, is clean, well cared for, and imbued with a nurturing, meditative feel and aesthetic. The student body is a diverse mix, ranging from engineers to college students and retirees, and most recently, kid's classes have been introduced. The general mood and attitude of the students is one of maturity and personal commitment to growth (not a social club or meat market.) It's a truly exceptional place.
– DOUGLAS GARGARO
"Improper breathing techniques and poor body movement can lead to oxygen-deprivation of cells resulting in poor regeneration of cells and expelling of toxins that accumulate in our body. Consequently, most chronic diseases and aging can be averted by “mindful movement of the body with proper breathing”. Shashi realizes this scientific fact and has designed his yoga regimen, based on over forty years of experience in classical yoga, to maximize this philosophy. By helping us move our body in ways we generally ignore to do so on a daily basis, Shashi has helped me regain flexibility, vitality and good health through yoga. His daily lectures of philosophy that accompany the yoga routine have also helped me immensely towards my quest of higher consciousness. I am vastly indebted to him for this.
Shashi's vision for The Yoga and Meditation Center was to create a yoga school where people from different walks of life can form a yogic society “satsaga” and help one another out without expectations. In my opinion, Shashi has succeeded in his endeavors. The Yoga and Meditation center is a truly unique yoga studio in San Diego. I am not surprised the Center has been voted the number 1 yoga center in San Diego two years in succession."
– S. YEGNESWARAN (PHD, MEDICAL SCIENCES)
I began my first yoga class almost five years ago at the age of 60. At the time I had been suffering from Fibromyalgia for 20 years. I had done just about everything, including taking yoga at another yoga center. Nothing helped, all I had to hang on to were several useless medications that were temporary solutions. My first class with Shashi really inspired me. Shashi makes everyone feel comfortable in the class. His attitude toward his students is one of caring. Everyone is important to him. It doesn't matter if it is your first day or you have been going to classes for years. Since that first day a lot has happened. I gradually began to feel better and was able to get off my medications. Members of my family have also taken group or private classes because they know how far I have come. Today I am a certified teacher at the Yoga and Meditation Center.I am fulffilling my goal to help others with similar problems. If you want to take yoga I don't think there is another studio that even comes close to what Shashi has to offer. Shashi has a wealth of knowledge in science, philosophy, and of course yoga positions and breathing techniques. I could never thank Shashi enough for all that I have learned and all that I continue to learn. Shashi is a great instructor. He has a great sense of humor and above all is caring.
– JO ANN LOESCHNIG
Yoga and Meditation Center is a school where students of any level can receive the basic training they need to fix their bodies and lives. Shashi Pottathil is an amazing mentor who effectively conveys the foundation of yoga. His teaching method allows students to gain confidence in their yoga practice, as well as in their work and personal lives. This confidence is a positive change that I experienced personally as well as witnessed in my mother’s and other students' lives. This change affects not only students, but their families and friends as well. I have been going to Yoga and Meditation Center for three years and have recently completed my RYT 500. I feel confident that I am qualified to teach yoga anywhere and to all ages and levels. Through this training, I have realized how much I can help people by teaching yoga. This has inspired me to continue teaching now that I have moved away from San Diego. Thank you Shashi for this gift! Whenever I visit San Diego, I know I will stop by for a class and to say "hi"!
– AMY HARRIS
Learning classical yoga from Shashi is one of the greatest things I've ever done. It has changed my life. I feel great both physically and mentally but most of all, I feel at peace. I practiced other styles of yoga for many years, but his yoga is completely different. It's very authentic and original. His yoga fixes us from head to toes and inside and out. He teaches not only physical yoga but science, philosophy and life. He teaches us that yoga is the union of body, mind and soul. He shares his knowledge, wisdom and his energy with us. After more than 1000 hours of yoga practice with him and being 500 RYT, I'm still learning each time I take his class. He is a great teacher, mentor, friend, and sometimes I feel he is my blood relative.
He teaches us that if we have a strong and firm base/foundation, we can teach and create yoga wherever we go and I strongly believe this to be so. I just visited Japan last October and had the opportunity to teach classical yoga. It was a great experience for me and the people who took my class also enjoyed learning this very unique style of yoga. I've seen many people with physical, mental and emotional problems come to Shashi, and after taking his classes they change. The experience has been remarkable. I have stopped taking allergy medication, and have not seen my specialist for more than a year and half. I strongly believe yoga is an alternative medicine that can prevent many illnesses.
Yoga is way of life.
– YUMI RAKERS, 500 RYT
The best word I can think of to describe Shashi's Yoga teaching style is INSPIRATIONAL……Shashi’s Yoga and Meditation Center in San Diego is the best Yoga studio in town for last 3 years in a raw and there is reason behind it…..Shashi. Shashi is Brilliant, Inspiring, Motivational and Spiritual Yoga teacher. Shashi has over 40 years of experience in Hatha Yoga. He cares deeply for his students and helps everyone with their physical, mental and spiritual well-beings. Shashi’s Motto in life is HELP THE PEOPLE and Love all, He certainly lives by his dedication to the community at large. He teaches Yoga in Retirement Community centers and at local hospitals. I have been a student of Shashi for last 5 years and have changed my life positively. Infact all of my family members are now students of Shashi. He balances his class according to the student’s needs. Every class is different and you learn something new in every class. I STRONGLY recommend Shashi’s yoga and meditation classes to everyone. Shashi continues to impress with his warmth, dedication, and love for his students. His classes are packed, and trust me,-- there is a reason why San Diego Yogies CAN'T get enough of this Yoga Teacher. He artfully brings a powerful and personal yoga practice to each mat - EVERY individual feels honored in his class. With the perfect combination of movement, Breathing and meditation – Shashi’s lessons inspire physical and Spiritual well being to all. Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory. Learn from the master and practice every day. Namaste!
– RAMESH RAKHOLIA, PHARMACIST - SAN DIEGO.
Near the gate to the Miramar Air Station, by the corner of Miramar Road and Black Mountain Road, I chanced upon a small Yoga Center in an Indian Shopping Center.
I had poor health, a bad heart, feet that wouldn't balance me on the shopping center's five foot wide side walk for long, as even trouble breathing. I took more than a dozen pills a day and had doctor's appointment almost daily a the VA hospital in La Jolla.
I asked the owner off the Yoga Studio about classes in Meditation, promptly I was corrected that his establishment was NOT a Yoga and Meditation Studio , That is a Yoga and Meditation "SCHOOL" OK… Then Shashi the owner told me that I needed some Yoga classes first, before I could attend his meditation classes. So I took some of his Yoga classes.
The Classes did help, but I discontinued after a few months. The doctors at the VA hospital decided to give me a pace maker and more medications including coumadin ( Warfarin) back in 2007. I had became very sick and spoke with Shashi about a limited Yoga classes due to my pace maker and poor health combined with the fact that I was now the big 70 (seventy) years old in 2010.
Shashi welcomed back as a student. He takes an interest in each of his students. No wonder his little school expanding. I noticed that there were now students from Austria, Japan, Europe, and all around the United States, flying in for classes to this little school. Side by side every day people there were people like me, Doctors, Scientists, even people from Hollywood attending Shashi's Yoga and Meditation Center. One day, last year I understand that a TV crew from India came to Video tape Shashi and his little Yoga School. Two Local TV stations awarded the Yoga and Meditation Center the number one rating in San Diego two years in a raw.
Regarding Me …after a little more than a year and half, my health is the best it has been in years and the pace maker people turned my pace maker almost off. My Warfrin dosage need has dropped. My breathing is better, I sleep better. I always seemed to have problems with my C-Pep machine for breathing a night…Now, I seldom use it.
Shashi has a free ( donation based) Chakra Meditation classes on Saturdays and Sundays. People in high stress jobs like Doctors and business people fly in from all over and stay in hotels to attend these classes. They are also trying to persuade Shashi to relocate to Los Angeles or some other bigger city.
However Shashi feels drawn to help the people of San Diego. People are raving about how much these guided meditation sessions have helped them a lot.. I know Shashi has helped me. I also feel these guided meditation can help returning Veterans too. Even though The Yoga and Meditation Center has expanded to three times larger than it once was, the place is usually packed and making reservation for a spot is strongly advised.
– EARL DICKEY
I can truly say that Shashi has turned my life around for the better. His Yoga classes, plus his teachings on the philosophy of daily living have helped me attain an inner peace and calm. Shashi is consistent, diligent and cares deeply about his students. He stresses the importance of daily exercise, healthy eating, self discipline and love for mankind. Shashi has a simple yet meaningful way of teaching his students about life skills and his sense of humor is an added plus to his Yoga classes.
The studio itself is appropriately enhanced with a beautiful statue of Lord Ganesha. The fragrance of the incense and the sound of the soothing music as I walk into the studio every Sunday morning as I have been doing for the past 10 years, fills me with happiness and peace. Thank you to Shashi for guiding and inspiring me.
– MALLIGA THOLANDI
The Yoga and Meditation Center (conveniently located right off the i15/163 freeway) is just that: yoga six days a week and a meditation room for the use of its students. On both Saturday and Sunday, there is a one-hour, donation-based guided meditation class open to the general public as well as members. The proprietor, Shashi Pottathil, teaches 99% of the classes.
The YAMC (a school, not a studio) also boasts 30+ classes a week, a separate room for meditation, and a library. For students enrolled in the Yoga Alliance teacher program, the center offers classes at various times throughout the day. This way, students who want to become yoga teachers can take classes before or after work instead of cram-sessions on evenings or weekends.
Daily, yoga virtuoso Shashi Pottathil inspires and affects his students’ ability to become more flexible on the outside, and also takes so much time to help students eternally feel better on the inside. Shashi does this by sharing profound wisdom and insight about the truth of life while teaching yoga. He effortlessly weaves his eastern upbringing into western ideology for a real, deep, and transformational experience at his school. The classes themselves are fascinating because they are never, ever the same class twice. The moves and techniques are specifically taught so that they can be done at home for the rest of one’s life. The Yoga and Meditation Center is unique because this yoga is a tool-belt designed to teach students how to experience the magic of life that is already there, and to reveal the secrets of life that should not be.
– CHRISTINE TAYLOR
Dear fellow traveler:
I know why you are reading these words.
Either you are seeking answers to an important question in your life or you are seeking support for the practice you are developing in your life.
The Yoga and Meditation Centre in San Diego is unique in that you can find pathways to assist your achievement of answers to both questions.
The journey that has led you to these pages is particular to you as will be the answers you find should you decide to commence the study and practices that are taught here.
Questions and growing discussions on the important topics of mindfulness, exercise, health, life's meaning, and meditation fill more and more of our daily consciousness.
It is said that there is nothing more important than to continue one's learning throughout life. I agree.
This Centre can provide and offer you a most important and potentially life-changing opportunity to learn and study under expert guidance and tutelage the greatest of life's mysteries.
As you now have finished reading this I have a question to ask you: "What are you going to do now?"
The decision and answer is yours to make.
I hope to see you in the yoga classes as well as the chakra balancing meditation classes. I hope you will join me and others who are finding insight to life's mysteries through the instruction of Sashi.
– BRIAN
I was first introduced to yoga 16 years ago after having foot surgery as part of my physical therapy. I found myself trying different classes and styles from different teachers. I regarded yoga at the time as another form of activity alongside with many other classes offered at the gym. I took classes whenever and did not really practice at home.
Fast forward to 2013, after a few major surgeries, mostly of the joints due to repetitive stress injury from prior physical activities, I decided to be gentle to my body, especially my joints and decided to take up yoga as my main activity. This time I was determined to deepen my practice and take it further by becoming a teacher myself. I had plans of going to an ashram in India originally, but thanks to my son's intervention and a family friend's strong recommendation, I ended up at the Yoga and Meditation Center on March 2013 and signed up for the 200 hour teacher training program.
My life has never been the same since. Having Shashi Pottathil as my teacher and mentor has been a great blessing. His teachings of Classical Hatha Yoga is founded on science and spirituality. His passion and dedication for teaching has created many competent and well trained instructors who by his own words will pass on his teachings and help other fellow beings benefit from the practice of yoga. As a professional in the medical field, I now have a broader understanding of Yoga's important role in the future of preventative and holistic approach to health maintenance. I have personally experienced many physical benefits and transformation as part of my ongoing practice. It's like getting a second chance at my age to be able to rid myself of physical pain, to improve my limitations and have clarity and purpose in my life.
I have since completed my 200 hour certification and continue to reach my next goal of attaining 500 hours. Shashi says that he does not need to produce a video or write a book, instead he is confident that each individual he trains will download all of his teachings and more, and spread it to others so that it may go on just like the light from a candle.
I wish in my own small way, to be that small flicker of light to others just as Shashi has been to all of us.
As of just last week, I'm happy to say that I've taught my first official class as a yoga teacher. I am so excited to embark on this new chapter of my life and pray that I could help as many people as I can. Thank you Shashi for being my guru, you have definitely shed light in my personal darkness, I'm forever grateful.
– Helen