PJ’s Yoga Shala

For the past years I have lived between LA and Milwaukee/​Pewaukee. I have been studying yoga, in what some might call the Mecca of Yoga, Los Angeles. There are so many studios and teachers and I have been to most of them.
When m husband and I walked into PJ’s yoga shala I knew i found my studio in Milwaukee.
It is a very clean, minimal yoga studio with an amazing view and even more amazing instructors. This studio is not about money, this studio is all about the students. There is no place you can sign in there isn’t even a cash register. It feels so good to have an authentic yoga experience.
PJ and Larissa are the two main teachers/​co-​owners. They are a married couple and share responsibilities of tending to the shala’s students. They are such a cool couple. Together they balance each other out.
my families travels a lot it is nice to land into an instant community/​family. since it is a 6 day a week practice you get to see those who are close to you everyday. I would recommend everyone (young, old, big, little) to come experience the magic you will feel from this studio.

(Part One) Of all of the yoga studios that I have ever been to in my life this is hands down the worst one. It marks the first time ever in my yoga life that I had to roll up my matt and walk out in the middle of class. I know that Ashtanga teachers can be a strange bunch with peculiar ways, but this place goes beyond the realm of peculiar into that of abuse, intimidation, bulling and humiliation. Unacceptable behaviors for any place, but especially for a yoga studio.
All problems with this studio stem from the owner PJ Heffernan. He tells people «Please come and practice, we have a suggested rate but pay what you can.» He had this posted on his website, on his fb page and he has stated this many times in his classes. However when people do just that, he talks about them behind their backs to other students or he humiliates them in class in front of other students. Now I know this seems like a no brainer to anyone reading this but I would suggest this to PJ; DO NOT TELL PEOPLE THAT THEY CAN PAY WHAT THEY CAN AND THEN GET UPSET WHEN THEY DO. PJ was complaining that there were only about 5 students who paid his $ 108 suggested rate and there were about 10 students who paid him nothing. You heard it, zilch! And then there were others who paid only $ 50 or $ 80. But yet he became infuriated with me when one time, I had paid him $ 101, $ 7 bucks short of his magical 108 number. I paid him this even though I had just gotten laid off from my job. He never pulled me aside and came to me like a man voicing that he had an issue with me, instead he attempted to publically embarrass me by angrily bringing this issue up in front of the rest of the class.
PJ runs this studio like a cult leader and woe be unto the student who misses too many classes. One time a girl showed up to class who hadn’t been there in a while. Instead of welcoming her with open arms and being happy that the girl showed up at all, he instead went on a crazy rant insulting the person in front of the rest of the class. When an individual is as self-​absorbed as PJ, it never dawns on him that people have other commitments and things going on in their life besides a yoga class.
At PJ’s so called yoga shala, everything is about HIM including YOUR practice. In fact he even hates for people to use the term «my practice». If you have problems getting a posture he will tell you; «your problem is that you don’t TRUST ME». HA! Really? So that is what yoga is about? Trusting him? And not learning to trust yourself? But this is minor, this is the type of ridiculous comment that you will get from him on a good day. On a bad day, watch out, you never know because of how moody he is. One day he yelled at me in class because he was upset that I wasn’t getting a posture quick enough to his liking. He looked at me with disgust and in a very snide manner said «just forget it, forget it, she is never ever going to get it, I’ve been wasting my time on this with her for years». (This was not true, being that I had just started doing the pose in question, however I did eventually master this pose a few months later under the guidance of a real teacher).
PJ is under some sort of crazy delusion that his students are his property and don’t have a right to go anywhere else for yoga instruction. If you mention that you visited another yoga school you will suffer his wrath. You will be an outcast in PJ land. Even if the teachers are other Asthana teachers. His students are wise to this and if you see them at another studio and you bring it up in front of PJ they will become terrified and deny it.
PJ’s jealousy of other yoga studios and teachers is so extreme that instead of seeing the other studios as a community, he instead sees them as the «evil competitors» that are making him lose money. The other studios are not his problem, he is his problem. He has a horrible track record of confronting other yoga studios and trying to dictate to them what they should be teaching. He demonstrates his desperation and delusion by engaging in attacks and campaigns of harassment against these studios. From internet attacks, to even showing up to their studios in person or sending over a flunky to do his dirty work for him. This is despicable behavior! He is under some sort of grandiose entitlement that he owns Ashtanga yoga. This bullying that he does to other studios is not yogic, is not unity and in the long run it does more damage to him than to anyone else, especially when he attacks studios that have way more students than he does. He complains that these other teachers are «making all that money over there when he can barely make ends meet». All of his lectures and ravings about yoga purity are nothing more than a front for his massive insecurity and jealousies. He is a horrible yoga teacher and instead of obsessing over these other yoga studios he needs to get his own act together. Part 2 comming.