Irina, SolarYou Yoga studio owner, first met Colette when after a miscarriage she was looking into softer practices and a wisdom of prenatal yoga. After the first day of the training Irina told Colette: 

"I had to go through miscarriage, wait a bit, signup to your training to meet you because now I know I could be a mother I would never become without meeting you"

Lately one year from training Colette was a doula on Irina’s home birth and forever stays in the memory of Irina’s family as a facilitator of the most joyful event of this local family’s life. When Irina remodeled SolarYou Yoga space she made it with a thought of prenatal and postpartum community to be invited to this place one day (no mirrors, clean bright space, thicker custom made bolsters for prenatal yoga).

Often referred to as “Mother of Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga”, Colette Crawford, first opened the yoga studio, in Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood, at a time when most Americans had never heard of the word ‘yoga’:  

"When I started teaching yoga, yoga mats didn’t even exist. We used carpet and bare floor to support our poses,” says ColetteAs with any birth, the idea to open a prenatal and family yoga-wellness center went through its own stages of pregnancy. The biggest turning points all came in 1989. This first evolved when Colette was working as a Public Health, Labor and Delivery Nurse, and was asked to teach an ongoing Childbirth Education class to pregnant women enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program: 

“These women needed to know how to prepare for birth without drugs. When they started sharing about their back problems and other pregnancy-related pains, I began teaching them prenatal yoga. Even though the rehabilitation program required them to be with me, they liked it, and said what they learned from me really helped.”

What began as 3-student prenatal class has grown into a nationally recognized center where thousands of mothers from the Seattle area, and across the country, have come over the years to learn how to nurture and connect to themselves, their babies and their families throughout their lives. 

Colette feels a sincere love and care for each and every student and their life’s journey. Combined with her expertise of over 45 years of yoga and meditation practices, and childbirth nursing, midwifery and doula studies, Colette has created a sacred space—an oasis—for new mothers and all women or men wanting to nurture and expand their consciousness. 

She also offers a highly acclaimed Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training program that draws students from around the world.