Yochai Weiss

Yochai's journey to yoga started because of an interest and practice in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, through which he learned the importance of breathwork. After a shoulder injury he was no longer able to practice, which in turn drastically changed the course of his life.  He had previously been dismissive of yoga and its benefits, but unexpectedly found himself in his first yoga class due to an invitation from a teacher to her donation-based yoga class held at Santa Monica Power Yoga (West). What he didn’t expect was to find himself suddenly craving more. This led him to meet a teacher who would become the reason he saw through the ignorance of his prejudices regarding yoga and the stereotype of the type of people that he expected to practice it. This teacher would become his personal mentor and would shape his experience of yoga for years to come. Yochai now has a personal interest in working with people who dismiss yoga due to either belief in their own limitations or disbelieve in yoga, in the hopes that they can experience the life changing benefits yoga has to offer, as he did years ago.

Yochai’s specialized interest is to bring yoga to certain at-risk populations that are unable to attend studio classes. His background is rooted in Hatha-Vinyasa with a strong emphasis on anatomy, alignment, the science between stretching, and associated breathing practices. He is certified by Yoga Warriors International, Yoga for 12-Step Recovery (Y12SR), Miniyogis and Prison Yoga Project. He is a student of Rudy Mettia and has done training with Jules Mitchell and through Udaya. He is the founder of Zen Hard Yoga and offers private instruction as well as group classes.