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Prema
/ prai-mah / n. (Sanskrit)
Love, affection, tenderness; a deep and abiding unconditional love.
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Prema / prai-mah / n. (Sanskrit) Love, affection, tenderness; a deep and abiding unconditional love. 〰️
The Heart of Prema Yoga
Studio
Welcome to our beautiful studio space! We hope that you walk through the front door and feel the warmth, care, and beauty of the space. We want everyone to feel right at home and that they are a part of something lovely. We’re honored to be in this space that housed a sweet, local yoga studio for some years before it moved. After the space sat vacant for nearly two years, it’s been a pleasure to bring back it’s former fullness. We can feel the good energy from it’s yoga past.
Prema Yoga is fully accessible. We have props and some mats for use; there is an accessible bathroom; we have a filtered water available (bring your bottle); and we also have a welcoming office where we see therapy and Reiki clients.
The space does not have an entryway that is separate from the studio itself, so we do ask people to try to arrive at least five minutes early for class. That way you have time to get set up without disrupting the opening meditation. We have oracle decks all around the studio so you can arrive early, pull a card if you like, and settle into a more intentional space.
It is a high priority to us that we create a space at Prema Yoga that all beings can relax into, whatever their identities and their experience with yoga. You are warmly welcome here, and we ask that you bring your warm heart and thoughtfulness with you when you walk in the door to co-create this consciously caring space together.
Classes
You’re in for a treat! Not only are our classes taught by experienced teachers committed to bringing you a deeper experience of yoga, we strive to make each class accessible to everyone, from beginner to advanced. We specialize in thoughtful physical practices that do not rush you, that help you learn to understand your own biomechanics, and that create pathways for actual connection with your body. All classes also include breath work, meditation and mindfulness practices, along with deeper themes and teachings from yoga and the world around us.
Try our daily Hatha Yoga and Slow Flow classes, or branch out to experience something unique such as Menopause Mondays (yoga classes for connection and care during the pre- thru post-menopausal years). There’s also Family Yoga for caregivers and their young ones, Yoga with Sound Healing, Restorative Yoga with Massage with the fabulous Mindy Meyers, LMT, and specially themed classes for the changing of the seasons and moon.
Many classes have the option for signing up for livestream or in person. If you sign up for livestream, you can attend in real time or we will send you the recording to watch when the timing works for you.
Teachers
Prema Yoga was founded by Maria Williquette, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and ERYT-500 (which means experienced yoga teacher). Prema was born from Maria’s desire to create a space for people to truly connect with themselves, their bodies, and their community. As a psychotherapist who owns an outpatient mental health clinic in Sellwood (Moving Forward Staying Present), Maria is no stranger to the ways in which humans struggle as well as the tendency we have to feel isolated, especially in our struggles. Maria has been combining the knowledge of psychology with the wisdom and depth of yoga in all of her classes since 2009 and she wants to share everything she knows with you. Maria’s core goal is to create a space that revolves around true connection, care, and actual physiological and psychological healing and growth. Each teacher at Prema Yoga brings many years of experience in teaching yoga, but we all bring additional training such as mental health counseling, acupuncture, massage, Shamanic energy work, and Reiki.
All of the teachers at Prema share the same passion: we are here to care for you and to support your growth on your unique human path. Although yoga can be a nurturing and engaging practice for your body, it can also be that and SO MUCH MORE. At Prema, you will get the MORE in each class. Read on to learn about each of us and we hope you’ll explore and take a class with each of us!
Workshops | Retreats
Do you love yoga? Do you want to take your learning about yoga and your learning about yourself to the next level Join us for a yoga retreat or a workshop!
Workshops
We have a special restorative workshop with live music coming up at the winter solstice, and in the new year we will offer a series to strengthen and stabilize the body as it ages aptly titled Don’t Fall For It. Stay tuned for more info!
Retreats
Maria has three retreats in the coming months, then will take a year or two off from retreat travels to focus on projects close to home. So if you are retreat curious, now is the time to join! Maria has been leading intentional, fun, and insight-oriented yoga retreats since 2010 and would love to share this special time of self care and evolution with YOU. All retreats include lovely accommodations, excellent food, community care, and long thoughtful yoga practices. There is plenty of time for you to commune quietly with you as well as time to connect deeply with the other wonderful humans. Both your introvert and extrovert sides will be well tended to. Here’s where we’re going …
Nov 6-10, 2025 on quiet, beautiful Guemes Island, WA (three spots left)
March 1-11, 2026 we’ll journey to magical Sri Lanka! (three spots left)
May 7-10, 2026 at the beautiful Aldermarsh Retreat Center on Whidbey Island.
Why Prema Yoga?
Prema means a deep and abiding love. And that is what we’d like to share with you.
You are welcome here. Your bright and tender heart is welcome, your incredible mind is welcome, your unique struggles are welcome, and the totality of your humanity is welcome. If we are awake, we are always learning and growing, falling down and getting back up again. We spend time strengthening that which is already solid within us as well as taking time to tend to the parts of us that feel wobbly. Welcome to being human. Let's be human together.
Together, let's care for our nervous systems, for our minds, for our hearts and for our souls using all the wisdom from yoga philosophy as well as insights from other healing modalities such as psychology, energy medicine, massage therapy, sound healing, and Chinese medicine. Each teacher at Prema Yoga pulls from the vast well that is yoga as well as from their other professional endeavors to bring you a yoga practice that is rich for all that makes you you … not just your body.
As yoga in the West increasingly becomes disconnected from the deeper purpose of yoga, let's go the other direction. Let's immerse ourselves more fully into the richness of the practice, the philosophy, the breath. The practice of yoga is a guiding force for the teachers at Prema Yoga and our offering of yoga is how we love and care for people. Especially when the world around us feels fractured and overwhelming, our personal practices and our connections to our communities become ever more important. Prema Yoga Milwaukie exists so you have a space to work with and nurture your whole being. Come co-create a healing space with us.
Contact Us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!