Freeing Your Yoga Practice

Online & In-person | $10-30 sliding scale –Class passes & memberships are accepted.

Please register in advance; a Zoom link will be emailed 1 hour before the session, or join Zoom directly via your Momence dashboard.

We appreciate advance registration.

Join Raisa Punkki as she leads you through a mixed-level hatha yoga practice. ‘Stretch your body, stretch your mind’ by incorporating different flow variations and breaking patterns of habitual practice. Explore the possibility of taking your hatha practice to the next level by finding the optimal level of strengthening, stretching and awareness building. The class will include asana, and some deep relaxation, pranayama (breathing practices) and meditation.
Previous experience with yoga is welcome.

Afternoon of Yoga at IYISF in celebration of International Day of Yoga & Summer Solstice.

Pacific times | online & in-person:

2:00-3:30 pm – Enlighten Up: How to Enjoy the Spiritual Path with Swamis Asokananda & Ramananda
3:45-4:45 pm – Freeing Your Yoga Practice – mixed level with Raisa Punkki
3:45-4:45 pm – Gentle Yoga class with Kayko Watanabe
5:00-6:00 pm – Light Immersion with Subtle Practices with Diana Meltsner

All levels of practice are welcome. All programs are available for individual sign up online or in-person at a sliding scale pricing.

All proceeds will help us sustain our mission:
“The Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco, founded by Sri Swami Satchidananda, is a non-profit, interfaith organization dedicated to serving the community through living and sharing the classical teachings of Yoga, making the teachings accessible, and cultivating peace and harmony among all people.”


Raisa Divyajyothi Punkki, RYT-500, was introduced to Yoga while studying at the University of Arts, Finland in 1988. Studying with various schools of yoga and after years of practicing and wandering on the quest of deeper knowledge, she found her spiritual home at Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco in 2019. Raisa has been certified to teach Hatha Yoga from the Beginning to Advanced levels, Raja Yoga and Stress Management. She is teaching in person and online Hatha classes at the IYI San Francisco. Raisa has over 30 years of experience in teaching movement. She holds an MA in Dance and is a Certified Pilates Teacher with two decades of teaching experience with various age groups and populations. Raisa is also a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, SEP®. She guides the private movement and Somatic Experiencing® sessions in her studio located by the Union Square in downtown San Francisco. She wishes to share the beauty of Integral Hatha Yoga’s healing, centering and strengthening power with others in their journey. This sharing of wisdom of Yoga happens with kindness, compassion and passion.

Enlighten Up: How to Enjoy the Spiritual Path

Online & In-person | $10-$30 sliding scale

Please register in advance; a Zoom link will be emailed 1 hour before the session, or join Zoom directly via your Momence dashboard.

We appreciate advance registration.

Approaching our spiritual journey with the same achievement-driven mindset that dominates our culture can often lead to frustration and burnout. The relentless chase for happiness may ironically pull us away from the present moment—the very space where our true joy resides.

Join us for this enriching workshop, where we’ll explore together how to engage in both our spiritual practice and daily lives wholeheartedly, with curiosity and focus, revealing a profound sense of fulfillment that is free of dependency on results or approval. Learn to experience firsthand how both sitting still and service are potent forms of Yoga, illuminating our immense capacity to enjoy life.

Afternoon of Yoga at IYISF in celebration of International Day of Yoga & Summer Solstice.

Pacific Times, all online or in-person:

2:00-3:30 pm – Enlighten Up: How to Enjoy the Spiritual Path with Swamis Asokananda & Ramananda
3:45-4:45 pm – Freeing Your Yoga Practice – Mixed Level with Raisa Punkki
3:45-4:45 pm – Gentle Yoga class with Kayko Watanabe
5:00-6:00 pm – Light Immersion with Subtle Practices with Diana Meltsner

All levels of practice are welcome. All programs are available for individual sign up online or in-person at a sliding scale pricing.

All proceeds will help us sustain our mission:
“The Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco, founded by Sri Swami Satchidananda, is a non-profit, interfaith organization dedicated to serving the community through living and sharing the classical teachings of Yoga, making the teachings accessible, and cultivating peace and harmony among all people.”


Swami Ramananda, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, C-IAYT, and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced-level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He co-founded The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI), which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Swami Asokananda, a monk since 1973, is one of Integral Yoga’s foremost teachers, known for his warmth, intelligence, and good humor. His teaching comes out of his own practice and experience, since he has absorbed the wisdom of his guru, Sri Swami Satchidananda, since the age of 19. While he enjoys sharing the practical wisdom of the Yogic philosophy (especially that of the great Indian scripture the Bhagavad Gita), he also loves his practice of Hatha Yoga and is one of our primary instructors for Intermediate and Advanced Hatha Yoga Teacher Training. In the past, he has served as the president of Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville® and Integral Yoga® International; he is currently the President of the New York Integral Yoga Institute. Listen to Swami Asokananda on the Two Old Fogey Yogis podcast on Soundcloud. Phil Goldberg, author of American Veda, interviews Swami Asokananda on spiritmatterstalk.com podcast. Listen on SoundCloud.

Go to Top