The YoYo’s are pretty sure that the people who say “Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth”, haven’t spent a single minute at the Yoga Works in Mill Valley, the super-popular Marin County studio that lives as a testament to the joy of yoga.

The exuberance and charm of manager, Cia Bernardi; comical front desk engineer, Charlene, who was sure the clairvoyant YoYo’s must have gotten her name off the bathroom wall, and the beautiful sculptured creatures of Marin County cheerfully greeted the YoYo’s into their world of electric energy.

James Higgins

Finding our corner in this mat touchin,’ unpretentious, vitality -filled space “rock star” yoga instructor, James Higgins, began his Vinyasa 2-3 class with a powerful pranayama series that opened us from front to back, side to side, upwards and downwards and everywhere in between to ensure that this willing class was ready to give a, “hear it on the Golden Gate” OM.

One Amazing Yogi

From there, this master teacher lead the yogis into a cookin’ from the inside out, “microwave” of a flow and continued a unique series of body-heatin’, sinew expandin’, peace providin’ postures throughout the unique 1 ½ hours of intense challenge interspersed with complete relaxation. The YoYo’s loved the way this gifted guide, a student of Vipassana meditation, masterfully wove teachings of yoga as a catalyst of compassion for others and yourself into this spiritually rich, physically powerful practice.

Sailboats on SF Bay

Leavin’ this “family feelin’” studio with the strength of a lion and the warm fuzzies, we decided to stop at a quintessential Marin, “take out 2nd mortgage on the house”, organic food store to buy a picnic and scoot over to the quaint tourist town of Sausalito to watch the zillion sailboats puff up as they floated on the blissful bay. Here, on a grassy stretch, we threw around our cool new Yoga Works Frisbees, took cover from the cracker stealin’, stars of the Hitchcock film, “The Birds”, listened to the languages of the world, and counted our blessings to meet yogis like those who call, Yoga Works- Mill Valley… h “OM”e.