Knotty Yoga

I bought a package deal after the owner was very friendly and talked to me about it. The first class was okay and I wanted to try others. The next couple times I came back he was very rude and asked if I had been there before. EVERY TIME. Most of the classes seem to be the same except for acro. Since I was new to this and wasn’t able to do as much as others, I was pretty much left to myself. When I asked him how many classes I had left he told me he didn’t know and would have to look later. Which he never did. Very unprofessional.

This is a fantastic studio! Took my girlfriend to the intro Thai massage workshop and it was amazing! She actually said this changed my life. You will learn things to help each other be more relaxed and flexible without destroying your hands like other forms of massage. Mason is a great and patient instructor. The environment is very inviting and relaxing. This workshop is well worth the money and i highly recommend it!

First Ariel class ever and I was instantly hooked on the welcoming and laid back atmosphere. People of all different shapes, sizes, colors, orientations, ages, and ability levels all equally encouraged and embraced in this exercise space. Wow. Two thumbs way way up. ^_^

Really great hidden gem in an industrial park just off the 520 highway.
I have fairly good flexibility but needed improvement on fine-​scale strength and balance, especially after sitting around for three months doing virtually no physical activity. The primary instructor, Mason, is really smart and comes up with very creative ways to engage and condition different physical skills and can even modify with precision for the particularly talented or particularly new/​untrained.
Socially, the classes are fun and I have noticed no clique-​like nonsense whatsoever, which is rumored to be an issue at other locations that are directly involved or dabble in AcroYoga.
It’s a shame to read about these other instances where there’s been such a strongly negative interaction on the business side of things but hopefully that’s on the mend.

I went to their drop in fabric class.
There was the owner, Mason, 2 yoga students and Natasha instructor. The owner encouraged me to pay after the class so that I can choose from their ‘subscription’ options. I said okay.
The class was great in terms of Natasha’s teaching. She is wonderful and can teach people. The room had no windows and it was a back room of the little office space in front, to be honest, totally not inviting essentially a storage space. But okay since the instructor was great. The online photos look so good — I wondered how it is possible that that space can look that good in the photos.
The owner is a really not nice, grumpy, bad mood, bad vibe, frustrated vibe (not from a day but from the deep within), heavy vibe guy who is greedy of my and your money. I know it can be hard to own a business but hey — it all starts with making your clients happy and not with bullying them. FYI to Mason if you read this.
I finished my class and said that I want to pay with my introduction class vouchers (after I realized that this type of exercise is really not for me and because I had two of those vouchers (on line purchases via Paypal) as I intended to go to their intro class the following week and bring a guest.) The policy on their website nicely states that the value of the vouchers can be used towards any class!
The owner said, okay, with facial expressions (wtf, eyes out, condescending etc) Now, since my two vouchers are worth more than one drop in class I first waited for his ideas about the difference money, and when nothing came from him, I asked him how he wants to take care of that. In his beard he mumbled «no, we don’t give refunds» kind of you won’t see that happen. Then he suggested I pay in cash and figure out vouchers later, meaning — he keeps all the money and never gives anything back. And then he says, I don’t have time (as I call on his ignoring on my words and presence there), don’t have cash, and don’t know how to give you money back via Paypal because it is complicated and he can’t figure it out, doesn’t have time for it.
I stood there and tried to reason with him. The whole time he was rude, made rude comments, disrespectful, and not professional at all simply and obviously not willing to pay out the difference, give the change money back. I said, I will then request the difference money from you via Paypal (that is how I paid for the vouchers) and all you have to do is reply to that. It is simple and you will be able to do it. He agreed to it and had asked me to request less to cover the fees. I accepted that.
Btw, during the conversation all he wanted me was to leave and drop the topic, but the instructor and another girl were there thank goodness so he couldn’t acted worse than he did and I felt comfortable enough to stay there, ignoring his rudeness and ignoring of me, in attempt to reason with him.
Since then, I sent him Paypal request, email reminders, reminders via Paypal, and finally I filed a claim via Paypal to which he is not responding either.
Message for you — if you really like yoga and can ignore the dude and don’t care about the no window storage style classroom, okay.
If you care what kind of people stay in business around here and care about people that surround you, then go elsewhere. Some of the instructors there hold classes elsewhere and Natasha is working on her own pole class (polirized on fb or something like that I overheard). I mean, look for others that can teach you whatever you want to learn there. This guy needs attitude adjustment big time.
Plus, never ever buy in advance because if by some chance you can’t attend classes or you change your mind, your money is gone.
Finally, before I went to the class I read reviews on Unilocal and I saw one really bad review that I took with reservation. Now, I see how those can be entirely without any exaggeration true.

DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT GIVE THIS MAN YOUR MONEY!!!
I love aerial silks and was looking for a place that would focus more on the acrobatics than yoga. I posted questions on several facebook pages… Knotty was the only one that didn’t reply. I should have taken that as a big hint! Instead I went to their weekend introduction event and bought an unlimited membership for $ 120. Two days later I was in a car accident.
Look up at the business contact information. What don’t you see? A phone number. No, Knotty has no phone number. Instead, to contact the studio you have to send email and place posts on their facebook page. I did so for over 2 weeks. I requested a refund as I am clearly not going to be able to use the membership.
Mason never bothered to reply. Today I went in person to get my money back (for several reasons now), but Mason was more focused on how smooth he was to block me after my last post and report me to Facebook for using the word «s**t.» He knew my name. Knew why I was there. Knew how long I have been trying to reach him. Had no intention of ever contacting me.
There are times in life when you look at people and just wonder how they ever survive day to day. When I had to tell him that perhaps he might consider it a little more important to actually respond to his customers he just seemed confused. He then informed me that he doesn’t give refunds and that he will keep the membership until I have healed up.
Even if I wanted to pursue a professional relationship with him on any level, I suspect it would be difficult to say the least. As it stands I won’t be in the area after one month when my contract is up — a fact I covered multiple times when I bought the membership. I will now have to pursue my refund through my bank because Mason thinks he is entitled to my money after providing less than no service.
Update: Mason *ignored* all my attempts at arbitration — BBB, local government, etc. No reply at all. I got the refund back from Visa. Seriously — DO NOT GO HERE! Go to SANCA or Emerald City Trapeze instead!

I do not like working out. I have bought many a gym membership, hot yoga package, at-​home workout stuff… I’m not gonna do it. I might very rarely workout and then feel justified in my laziness for weeks after.
I love Knotty Yoga. First of all, it absolutely does not have the vibe of a normal gym, which has that intimidating bro thing going on. Though there are extremely talented advanced students, it doesn’t feel awkward or scary to be a brand spankin’ new student.
Secondly, there are snacks! There is always delicious trail mix to grab a handful of, and yesterday there were delicious fresh cookies baked by the owner… WHAT OTHER PLACE DOES THAT?! And cheese! Amazing.
Third, the music RULES. It is really interesting stuff that gets you into the workout zone.
Fourth, the actual classes are great! The emphasis isn’t on having a certain body type (the instructors have a wide range of body types themselves) which is refreshing. The emphasis is on getting strong. Especially as a lady, gaining upper body strength has seldom been a priority, but it is so nice to be developing it! I feel stronger every time I go. «Engage the core» is something you will hear over and over, and boy will you ever!
I initially went because I like yoga (theoretically), and my best friend’s roommate who goes religiously is fit as hell, and credits his bod to K.Y. I am getting married in August and obviously want to look outrageously fly, and I am most certainly on my way with Knotty Yoga. I got the unlimited membership and couldn’t be happier.
As a final note, the people who go there are really nice, interesting and foxy. It’s like a bisexual pipe dream.

I am not much of a gym person, I didn’t grow up doing dance or any organized sports, so I lack know how in terms of working the body, on my own I get bored. I enjoy most styles of yoga but it I could still get bored with the same poses or hit walls. I needed to get some variety and new challenges into my life– guided by an expert– and I definately got it here!
There are the «basic» Knotty Yoga classes, I think I would use fitness over yoga to describe it. There is use of poses that would be familar, but aguemented using arial fabrics to open up new possibilities and push your limits.
For those interested in arial there are also classes to start as a beginner and work your way onto harder apparatuses. Personally I love the variety offered, from acro, knotty, ton swings and trapeze. However by offering the variety, and opportunity to reach advanced classes some may wish there were more slots of the «basic». For me its a happy trade for the atmosphere and overall opportunities. This is a small studio, students and instructors get to know each other, celebrate each others advances. I have never felt put down for being behind or needing more breaks than other students, we’re all there to learn, get better, and have fun, very welcoming. (Do note it is an adult studio, no kids allowed, which for me is a bonus!)
Come with an open mind, ask questions to try a few different options befitting your entry point, and enjoy!

I don’t know if I didn’t do my research, but somehow I was expecting yoga poses in a hammock. What I got was conditioning using the aerial silks and some yoga poses on the floor. Since it wasn’t what I was expecting, I can’t rate the experience as highly as Mason deserves.
Mason and his assistant teachers were awesome — helpful and interested, regularly coming up with pointers and tips. The studio itself is clean and well organized, and the different equipment switches around relatively easily. The wall of mirrors is nice to evaluate how you are doing throughout the class.
Definitely pay attention to the driving directions in the confirmation email — it is a bit confusing to get there and you can’t use your GPS (or at least, the address didn’t work on mine.)
I got quite sore after the conditioning portion of the class, which is a nice change (I rarely get sore after yoga classes anymore, but I kind of like that next-​day feeling, honestly). I think if you’re more aware of what you’re getting than I was, you’ll have fun and get a good workout.

Wow, my abs have not been this sore in a while! I had heard about Knotty Yoga through the aerial grapevine and decided to give it a chance when one of Meetup groups planned a meetup here.
I took the intro class that was specially priced at $ 19. For an hour and a half, it was an incredible deal that I could not pass up… and it was more than worth it!
There were about 18+ people in the class and we started with a warm up on the silks.
Afterwards, we watched Mason and 2 other instructors demo on the rope, silks, and lyra respectively. We then learned a few things on the silks and did a quick stretch of the upper body.
The verdict? The warmup is NOT a beginner warmup. There’s lots of balancing of the upper body on the arms or forearms while the legs are held up by the silk apparatus. As the body is balancing, it is moving forwards, backwards, and twisting side to side. For me, the warmup was great and challenging, but I could see it being difficult for a beginner.
Vivian was the instructor on the silks. I found her explanations and demonstrations thorough as I had previously learned one of the tricks at another studio but had not understood it fully until Vivian explained it another way.
We were learning how to climb the silks and even though there was heavy emphasis on the use of the legs, I didn’t hear any guidance about relieving any tightness in the forearms or the hands during the instruction. And in the cool down/​stretching, there was no focus on these parts of the body at all.
For the cool down, we paired up and all we did was twist the upper body while pulling on each others arms. Time was up but I wished that there would have been more time for more thorough stretching.
Now I realize that there were a lot of people in the class and it was an intro class so I am probably calling out personal particulars, but I was really impressed with the overall vibe of the studio. I like their whole hybrid exercise modality idea. The instruction was awesome. The studio is a great space and I am especially looking forward to taking future classes in trapeze and lyra.
Lastly, I find the pricing options a great value.

Did this through a group-​on and trust me — IT REALLY WORKS YOUR ABS!!! I thought about signing up full time, but the class schedules don’t match my needs for drop in classes. The instructor is informational and gives good personalized instruction.

This place is really great and low key.
Mason (owner and knotty yoga instructor) is a fantastic person, and surprisingly, remembers you very quickly if you come a few times. Vivian (silks instructor) is also very kind and a great multitasker to teach so many people trying to tie themselves up in knots.
I love SANCA, but this place is really great to build muscle in a fun way (through the knotty yoga) and get more practice with silks.
Best classes are those taught by Mason, fill in instructors are nice and do a good job, but it is a little easier than my liking when they are there.
I do find there isn’t that much yoga and that there are far too few 60 min beginner classes, going all the way to Redmond for a 30min workout is just not something I’m willing to do.

I bought a voucher for a trial class + a drop in within two weeks of the initial class.
First off– its in Redmond. It’s not amazingly hard to find, but it does help to know how to get to Redmond from Seattle if you avoid 520 and its tolls. Keep that in mind! The classes directions to the space avidly discourage you from using your gps– which makes sense, but for the directionally ‘special’ like me– it may be keen to update your directions for the avoidance of 520.
The class itself was your typical intro class, with an introduction to the material and such. While I enjoyed seeing mason’s technique, it was ultimately NOT what I’d say would be good for beginners, or for anyone not in at least moderately good shape. If you are overweight or have any sort of pain issues– you will find this to be quite difficult, in my opinion. And unfortunately there were minimal if any alternatives to the movements (like there would be in standard yoga) which would allow for a person with those difficulties to do the poses.
I also felt like there was an odd sort of vibe in the helpfulness of the instructor too… Like he was very eager to assist the fit young ladies in the class but not the older mom or me (the fatty). That alone was just… Frustrating.
After the whole class, which I worked my hardest at I was left feeling like ultimately it could be a good workout. But Mason’s descriptions of the normal classes left me un-​satisfied that there was actually a truly beginner friendly class. The way Mason made it seem, I was stuck going to the morning beginners class (which only runs once a week) with his more elderly clients. Silver sneakers workout and I wasn’t even 30 yet…
Luckily there is another aerial type class in Seattle that I found and truly love– it is really the antithesis of this class in many ways. I had been going for a month to the class in Seattle before doing the knotty yoga one, and I’m truly glad I had that experience first– because it showed me that I am able to do this– and I can be just as fit and have as much fun as others.

I have many years of working on personal fitness and experienced many different workouts and trainers. This could be a great work out but the teaching by owner Mason is not easy to follow. Too many times I had to wonder how long I was supposed to hold a pose or continue reps of an exercise as he would stop leading the class in the middle of the move. Instruction and direction was really poor. Too much time was spent talking about himself in the intro workshop. The first 15 minutes were all about his whole history from high school football until now. I will not waste anymore time following up with a regular class.

After years of working out at gyms and doing bicep curls, bench presses, squats, and situps I never really reached the overall performance goals I was looking for. That was until I started working out with Mason at Knotty Yoga.
Knotty Yoga is a truly unique work out experience — every class focuses on stretching, stability, breathing, flexibility and, tremendous strength building exercise. While yoga is in the name and the yoga influences are obvious this is not your mothers yoga class. Even the strongest of men will find Knotty Yoga to test their physical limits. Most exercises are given «easiest», «hard», and «hardest» options to try out so varying strength men and women can all enjoy it and see results. The classes _​are_​hard but there are some beginner offerings to ramp you up quickly. What seems daunting on day 1 will be your bread and butter in a couple of months.
While before I had a decent build and muscles that looked pretty good now I have the strength to back it up. It has translated to huge improvements and ease of access to so many activities — whether it’s skiing, cycling, softball, rock climbing, hiking — you name it — knotty yoga is the place to build real world core and all-​body strength you need succeed elsewhere.

I started working out with Mason in 2010 because I was sick of the gym. Mason’s classes gives by far the best workout I have ever had! After six months I was in the best shape of my life (as a self-​proclaimed athlete, this is a big deal). I’ve sadly moved to SF, and no workout has come close to what he offers.
Take Knotty Yoga classes if:
1. You love yoga, but want to get stronger
2. You love strength training, but want to improve flexibility
3. You love looking good in a bathing suit, but only want to take a couple classes a week

This is such a great idea. I saw it advertised on a daily deal site and knew I had to try it. It’s tucked away in an industrial park and probably too far for me to go on a regular basis, but definetely worth checking out. It reminds me of a combination of yoga, TRX and aerobatic silk scarves. Don’t be fooled though, it is pretty hard and I am in decent shape (although I do lack arm strength). I do yoga regularly and most of this stuff was still quite challenging. My boyfriend did feel a little mislead by the amount of athletic ability that was required, but we only took an introductory class so of course everything is new and difficult. The introductory class we took was very full and we have yet to go back to do our regular class but plan to soon. The instructor, Mason, was very charismatic and shared with everyone the story of how this place came to be and what he hopes to do in the future. He even offers a membership option which includes thai massage. His couple’s massage classes with Thai dinner also intrigue me. There are a vareity of other more circus type classes available. Defintely something a little different and out of the ordinary.

Stopped by with some friends after I bought a deal on living social. I loved it and can’t wait to go back! It was such a fun spin on yoga and challenging but perfect for anyone to try!

I just stopped by here for one of Mason’s (the owner of the studio) free classes the other day and there are so many great things I want to say about this studio! It’s so fresh that I can’t stop thinking about it!
Yes, the name of the studio has yoga in it, but I want to make this very clear… this is NOT just yoga. The classes here takes aspects of a yoga class like breathing techniques and some recognizable postures, but with a twist… or knot. See what I did there?! The warm up and conditioning is mainly done with the incorporation of silks.
That’s right. Aerial silks. Although what he does in the beginning is start you low, and by low, I mean, your body is always NO more than 3 inches off the ground. The silks are tied in a knot so that you can suspend/​elevate different parts of your body to do certain exercises. For instance, think about training for your forward splits or Bulgarian squat, but with your back leg elevated by knotted silks.
One piece of advice I’d like to mention before coming here is that it could be good to bring a partner because some of the conditioning exercises involve pairing up so that your partner can provide either support for certain exercises or resistance to push you along the way.
Once conditioning on the silks is complete, there is also the option to learn more advanced training that may involve a lot more upper body, core strength, and flexibility. And this is not only on silks, but he also has trapeze and rope! And I also heard there’ll be workshops coming here soon, which I’m really excited about!
I want to mention that this is something that ANYONE can take classes here… of any level! Actually, Mason encourages anyone who wants to get fit, no matter what your level of athletics are right now, to come in if you’re looking for a new and exciting challenge. And believe me, he won’t disappoint!

I had a class with Mason at noon today & it was great! I saw all the silks and ropes hanging when I walked in, and expected an aerial-​type class, but it was a very unique and very challenging strength and flexibility workout. There were about 10 of us in the studio & there was ample room to move/​swing/​stretch/​hang. I will definitely have sore abs tomorrow… I like how bright and fully mirrored this studio is. I also like the soft flooring and huge crash pads below the ropes.
I plan on going back for more when my schedule frees up a bit!