Veronica Cruz has reopened her Downtown Yoga Shala in a new SoFA location at 5 E. Reed St. on the ground floor of the SPARQ residences.

The post-pandemic grand reopening took place last weekend, but opening memberships and packages are still available for a limited time and discounts on classes continue through October, accessible from the Shala website.

Downtown Yoga Shala has classes in Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yin/restorative, and silent meditation.

Since 2009, Downtown Yoga Shala has practiced Ashtanga Mysore Yoga in the tradition of K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. Students receive individual guidance from a teacher and progresses at their own pace. All levels practice together in a supportive community environment.

Cruz started her business on South First Street in March 2009.  Her background starts with living in Nepal in her teenage years, coming to California as a foreign student at UCLA, and working in high-tech in Silicon Valley for 20 years, .

She fell in love with yoga while in Kathmandu and realized the more she worked challenging and stressful high-tech jobs in Silicon Valley, the more she wanted to “share yoga not as a something to ‘teach,’ but something to be directly experienced by another individual in a personal way.”

She chose to create a warm and welcoming “sanctuary” from which people can experience and enjoy the health benefits of yoga in their daily lives, she said. Inspired by yoga businesses in San Francisco with similar philosophies and approaches that didn’t exist in the South Bay, she chose SoFA for her location.

Classes at the shala (Sanskrit for “a sacred space for learning”) are offered every day, including morning classes on weekends. Find the studio on Facebook and Instagram @downtownyogashala.