Our Story

Nonprofit, Holistic, Collective.

Yoga Sanctuary was created in South Minneapolis in 2012 by Executive Director and Founder Shelley Pagitt, who founded the organization to respond to the needs of the diverse communities she was immersed in who lacked access to healing modalities, including yoga.

Yoga Sanctuary models their programming through a holistic lens seeing everything as connected. When one part is sick, hurt, harmed, neglected, etc., it affects all the other parts. Awareness is the first step toward personal and collective healing, but resources, inner and outer, are essential for transformation.

Early years of collaboration brought shared power and investment into the community we were creating together. Students, teachers, neighbors, volunteers, board of directors, teacher trainers, mentors joined hearts, minds, voices and action to create spaces where everyone who wants to participate in their own healing, is welcome and wanted.

As we have deepened our roots in Minneapolis, growing from 5 instructors and 20 students to more than 20 collaborative teachers and leaders, many graduating from our 230 Hour Holistic Yoga Teacher Training Program, and over 1,000 student visits per month, we are expanding our reach by partnering with community-oriented organizations who value social equity and community care. Through these partnerships we mutually uplift and center the experiences and needs of our broader metro communities and have hopes and dreams to continue our work and expand the healing that is possible through holistic yoga.

Yoga For All

Yoga Sanctuary is a place where you can ‘come as you are’ with no pretense or prescription for how you show up. A place where 'all of you is welcome’, your mess and your marvel. A place where people know your name and care about your life. A place where children are invited in with classes and workshops for all ages. A place where barriers are recognized, and relationships are prioritized. A place to SHARE YOGA, SHARE LIFE, and SHARE PEACE.
Our vision is to increase access to holistic yoga for all who seek it.
When we bring free yoga to people who would otherwise not have access or invitation, they learn skills and tools for their physical, mental, emotional, and social wellbeing. This instills a sense of purpose and belonging as they explore holistic yoga in community.
Through compassionate, accessible, holistic yoga, people are equipped to navigate social, economic, or systematic inequities and challenges; daily stress, raising a family, loneliness, navigating chronic pain, aging, poverty, systemic oppression, generational trauma, and more.
Our programming offers ongoing support and prioritizes holistic wellbeing. Through Holistic Yoga, people are able to build their capacity to not only manage life’s challenges but to make room for more peace, joy, fulfillment, and purpose as we collectively work together to make this world a more harmonious and equitable place to live.
We intentionally keep our class and workshop prices below market rate offering some of the lowest pricing in the Twin Cities. We provide further access through a sliding scales and subsidized rates. We stay grounded and centered in our values of karma yoga, the yoga of action, and work with people to meet them where they are.
Through weekly classes, workshops, online offerings, community classes, outdoor yoga, youth and family yoga, our Holistic Yoga Teacher Training, and community partnerships, we strive to further the reach of holistic yoga and belonging.

Share Yoga. Share Life. Share Peace.

There is an increased sense of division in our culture, including yoga. The heart and soul of yoga is to UNIFY — within ourselves, outwardly with others and expansively with the Divine/Creation/Universe.

If you would like to get involved as a partner, co-curator, guest instructor, or volunteer, please reach out.

Contact

Meet the Team

Shelley Pagitt

Founder, Executive Director, Teacher Trainer

Tracy Vacura

Studio Manager, Volunteer Coordinator, Teacher Trainer

Julia Andrighetti

Marketing/Communications, Program Manager

Board of Directors

Jamie Gates

Programs, Youth, Community Advisor
Gina Rysdon

Operations & Finance
Tim Palmer

Finance
Julie Gudmestad

Bookkeeping
Laura Reese

Programs, Community Advisor, RYT-500

Partnerships

Yoga Sanctuary is honored to have worked with some amazing organizations that have brought free or low-cost holistic yoga programming to various community centers, prenatal clinics, crisis centers, farmer’s markets, community events, & more.