Hi, I’m Margi.
I’m a lifelong mover.
Years ago, when I custom made a pair of Converse and had to choose one word for the back stripe, I chose LISTEN.
That pretty much sums up yoga for me. Movement and listening woven together. I didn’t expect yoga to become my life. I just knew I felt more myself walking out of those early, intense, incense filled classes at Jivamukti on 2nd Ave in New York City, after deeply listening to my body and breath. I was hooked by a practice that asked for that kind of attention and made me feel vividly alive. I still am.
The classes I teach are rooted in alignment and breath, shaped by anatomy, intelligent sequencing, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Buddhist teachings.
I care deeply about helping people feel steady and spacious in their bodies. In class we pay attention, we get curious and we build strength with clarity. We practice softness without collapsing. There are usually some good laughs. My hope is that students leave feeling better, clearer and more alive than they did when they walked in.
More about Margi
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I grew up in San Francisco and, after graduating from Mills College, spent time performing and teaching dance in the Bay Area. After teaching and running the student dance company at New Mexico State University, I moved to New York City, a dream I had from an early age because I had a crush on David Letterman, to earn my MFA in dance and choreography from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. During my thrilling but exhausting career in dance and choreography, it was yoga class that made me feel most curious, physically intrigued, playful and lit up from the inside.
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I found my way to teacher training in 2001 at OM Yoga Center, founded by Cyndi Lee. It was an amazing place where the newness of yoga and the electric buzz of New York City met precise alignment and Buddhist practice. I taught there for a decade and joined the teacher training faculty in 2006. That chapter of my life was transformative, a time of growth, community, rigor and joy. It felt special to be part of something evolving in real time.
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In 2011, my family and I moved back to the Bay Area to be closer to my aging parents. After a few years in San Francisco, we settled in Oakland, where I continue to teach classes and trainings, primarily at Nest Yoga on Piedmont Avenue. I also have online classes with Yoga Anytime and Movement for Modern Life in the UK, which connects me with students from all over Europe.
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Travel has always been one of my great passions, and I’ve long loved teaching retreats. I currently work with International Yoga and have most recently been to India, Cambodia, Japan and Mexico. There is something powerful about stepping out of daily routines and practicing together in a new landscape. When we change the view, insight often follows.
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Outside the studio, I’m deeply engaged in social justice work, especially immigrant justice, women’s health and addressing the homeless crisis in Oakland and beyond. I believe our practice must ripple outward into how we care for our communities and take responsibility for one another.
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And then there’s the kitchen. I’m an avid cook. I make a mean miso granola, except when I burn it. Last night it was fall off the bone chicken legs. Thai curries are in steady rotation. Big salads, soups that simmer all afternoon, experimental sauces. Cooking feels creative and grounding in the same way yoga does. Attention, timing, intuition, heat.
I live in the Bay Area with my beloved Michael, a mixologist turned therapist, and our teenager, Fin, who I’m fairly certain is a reincarnation of the Buddha.
You made it this far. Now go get on your mat. Xo
Certifications
“I love Margi’s teachings - each class is exquisitely crafted, taught with brilliant precision and full of laughter and joy. In my experience, this combination is very rare and to be cherished.”
Kate Walker, yoga teacher, London