Est. in stillness

Breath first.
Then everything
else.

A studio practice rooted in lineage and adapted for modern bodies. Slow enough to feel, demanding enough to change you.

Sunrise warrior pose on a quiet beach
10yrs
of teaching, informed by fifteen years of practice

A practice that arrives with you.

YogaFirst was built on a quiet conviction: that yoga, at its best, is less a workout than a return. A return to breath, to attention, to the body you've been moving past all week without noticing.

Our classes draw from classical Hatha and Ashtanga lineages, taught with the precision they deserve and the patience modern life requires. No mirrors. No performance. Just the practice — and you, slowly recognizing yourself in it.

i.
Lineage

Traditions taught the way they were given to us — carefully and in context.

ii.
Attention

Small classes. Real adjustments. Time to notice what you actually feel.

iii.
Patience

Progress measured in years, not weeks. The shape comes after the breath.

Four ways to begin.

Each class is its own door into the practice. Whether you're new to the mat or returning after years away, you'll find a starting point here — and a teacher who notices when you've moved past it.

02 — Class offerings
i. All levels
Hatha Yoga

Slow, deliberate, breath-led. The classical asanas held long enough to actually meet them. The best place to start — and to return to.

75 minMon · Wed · Fri
ii. Intermediate
Ashtanga

The traditional flowing sequence — breath synced with movement, one posture to the next. Structured, demanding, and deeply meditative once you settle into it.

90 minTue · Thu · Sat
iii. Open
Restorative Yoga

Long-held shapes, supported by props, met with breath. For tired bodies, busy minds, and anyone who has forgotten how to rest.

60 minSun evening
iv. By inquiry
Private Practice

One teacher, one student. Sessions built around the fundamentals — strength, mobility, flexibility, and posture — with the practice adapted to the body in front of us.

60 minBy appointment
Sonali Patel in meditation
Founding instructor

Sonali Patel

Sonali grew up with yoga in India, where the practice was lived more than learned. Fifteen years on the mat and ten years of teaching have settled her into a quiet, careful approach — equal parts rigor and patience.

Her classes move at the pace of breath. Hatha foundations and slow Ashtanga sequences, taught with attention to what you're actually doing rather than what the shape looks like. The corrections are small, the silences are intentional, and the practice is allowed to take the time it takes.

Practicing
15 years
Teaching
10 years
Tradition
Hatha · Ashtanga
Based in
Bay Area, CA
04 — Voices

What the practice has given them.

"

I came in for the workout and stayed for something I don't quite have a word for. Six months in, my back is better and so is the rest of me.

A
Anika S.
Practicing 8 months
"

Sonali teaches like she's known you for years. The corrections are small, exact, and somehow always the thing you didn't realize you were doing.

D
David L.
Practicing 2 years
"

The first studio that didn't make me feel like I needed to perform. I leave each class feeling like I've been listened to — by myself, mostly.

R
Rina M.
Practicing 1 year