Testimonials















			I am deeply grateful to Betty Roi. “Miraculous” might not be too strong a word to describe the two years of intensive, therapeutic yoga that healed my back. When I came to Betty’s class, I sometimes had so much pain that I could not comfortably step up onto a curb or sit at work. Working with her highly skilled, extremely specific instructions in a slow, thoughtful manner has transformed my back. What a joy and surprise to find myself walking without pain and doing most poses with ease, including the occasional full back bend! Betty is a truly exceptional teacher. Her classes are never the same. Every day is a different sequence. One morning I did three things with my body that I had never done before -- pretty amazing after 53 years on the planet and a lifetime of dance, martial arts and yoga! Yet a deep river runs through her teaching, with continuity of principles -- alignment, breath, postural integration and compassion. In Betty’s class, we support each other and celebrate the growth we see in each other’s practice, and in our own. The class feels like a sanctuary. To see a 60 year old woman leap into a hand stand after months of effort or a young athlete cultivate his flexibility by pressing his palms to the floor is cause for all to rejoice. Betty is a great synthesizer. Like all Renaissance thinkers, she takes a wide array of influences and integrates them into her own vision. She has a remarkable kinetic memory and gives meticulous detailed instructions to an extraordinary repertoire of asanas. Working always with correct alignment, she demonstrates how to do the asanas safely, without compressing the spine. One of her gifts is her own body. Betty can demonstrate the pose correctly, then show the “common mistakes” and misalignment (which I find enormously helpful), even if she is upside down in a challenging arm balance and then finish by adjusting the pose to move back into proper alignment. As you then move into the pose, following her instructions as she repeats them, you should have the pose well imprinted on your mind. Thank you, Betty. *Karen Nardi* ............................................................................................................ Betty is an amazing teacher and a beautiful human being. She has that unique ability to combine strength and precision with compassion and gentle humor as she encourages students to explore who they truly are through their practice. In a relatively short time she has become one of the most popular teachers and has helped build an intentional yoga community at the San Francisco Bay Club. Linda Sparrowe author of The Woman’s Book of Yoga & Health and editor of Alternative Medicine magazine ............................................................................................................ I searched for years before I found the right teacher. Like any good teacher, she seamlessly blends lessons of mind, body and spirit into each class, but she adds a level of unique aesthetic grace, in poetry, song and even fashion. Because she is experimental, whimsical and disciplined in her own practice, she has profoundly transformed mine. I just love her. Mary Sobrero ............................................................................................................ Betty is a profound seeker and a truly bright spirit. She is a wise and devoted teacher. She takes her students on a deep journey inside, where treasures and insights are abundant. Her classes are fluid, challenging, and enliven the inner desire to practice and study the powerful healing art that is yoga. Betty eminates compassion and love and holds space for her students to undergo internal transformation. I have experienced openings and joy in my being where pain and misery dwelled before Betty's keen yoga instruction. She is incredibly articulate in both demonstration and oration. Betty Roi is a gift and a blessing to the field of yoga and all who practice when she is the guide. *Andrea* ............................................................................................................ Betty has changed the way I do yoga and amazing changes are taking place in my body as a result. After studying Iyengar and Ashtanga for over 5 years, I was still experiencing a lot of limitation from lower back and neck issues related to a car accident nearly 15 years before, compounded by extreme tightness and tension in my hips and legs from 20 years of running. I was doing yoga 3-4 times a week, but felt that I had reached a plateau in my ability to use yoga to heal the chronic injuries in my body. I started noticing major changes happening in my body after just 6 months in Betty’s classes, and since then I’ve experienced major breakthroughs related to my neck, upper and lower back, hips and legs. I no longer have shooting pains in my neck after sitting at the computer each day - in fact I can now do a 6 minute headstand with variations and experience absolutely no pain afterwards. My neck is both stronger and looser. I can sleep on my stomach again, after 20 years of lower back pain that made me sleep only on futons, the floor or very firm mattresses. Now I can do backbends without fear and every day they are a little bit easier. I have become aware of and begun to work on problems related to old injuries I didn’t even know I had. And the symptoms of my “mouse elbow” repetitive stress injury of three years ago have completely disappeared. I can’t say enough about Betty’s expertise and her ability to recognize the patterns of a student’s limitations and provide expert instruction that goes right to the heart of their problems. Her emphatic insistence on proper alignment can be tough, but it is also the key to the freedom and safety we take away with us from her classes. Thank you Betty!!! Jill Southard ............................................................................................................ There are many Yoga teachers but there is only one Betty Roi. To have the opportunity to study with Betty is a gift that I treasure. Betty truly is San Francisco’s best kept secret. Earlene Taylor ............................................................................................................ Hi Betty, A few weeks ago, I had the good luck to drop into your sunday morning class at yoga sangha. I was moved and inspired by the experience and wanted to thank you. I live in the sierra foothills and came to SF for the weekend to search out great yoga classes, bakeries, and some city energy. Anyway, I really appreciated your obvious deep committment, rigor, and open spirit. And your song at the end of class -- I would’ve come just for that! I hope to come down to the city for another yoga weekend sometime soon. Many Thanks, John Tecklin ............................................................................................................ Two years ago, I was diagnosed with a Level II Bone Spur on my collarbone, causing extreme shoulder discomfort and limited strength and capability in my neck and arms. As a triathlete, I went about numerous methods to solve the problem, namely physical therapy and massage. However, after months of no improvement, I knew I had to treat the problem from the inside out. I began practicing with Betty in January of 2004, as a last ditch effort to achieve a comfort in my shoulders and neck before I was ready to give into surgery. I’d had experience with yoga prior to working with Betty, but I never had a teacher who provided such care and concern for alignment and core strength. Betty’s “Alignment in Vinyasa” has allowed me to reexamine and redefine the strength source within my body. Her patience and diligence are truly remarkable, and she is tireless in her determination to work with her students and their individual challenges. Giving up Triathlons was a hard decision, but Betty’s class has been an incredible replacement. When I can’t make it to class for some reason or another, I suffer just as much as when I couldn’t train. Betty has truly opened my eyes to alignment...not to mention saved me from surgery! Annie Pfaff ............................................................................................................