Brooklyn Academy Roots

I highly recommend Mindy for nutrition counseling. She is extremely knowledgeable about food as an energy source, but the real help she gave — that I so badly needed — was in the psychological connection I have to food and helping me to better understand myself. It was nutrition and emotional counseling rolled into one amazing experience! As a busy working mom with young children, I came to her feeling depleted, devalued, and stressed. Food was my crutch when I needed comfort or was tired. After working with Mindy, I’m now recognizing triggers that cause me to eat poorly, treating myself better, and trying to look at food as fuel. I’m still a work in progress, which we all are, but I’m now equipped with fantastic tools and a new, constructive lens through which to look at my life, and to look at food. Thank you so much, Mindy! xo

Love love this place!
Pros: mommy and me yoga class on Mondays at 10a. Instructor Tory absolutely adores babies and loves holding them even when they’re fussy. Clean, organized and stocked with cushy new mats.
I live close so I can walk here whcuh works out perfectly.
Cons: parking can be challenging

I have been a client of BAR for almost 4 years and have nothing but positive things to say about this place!
The private training services are super professional and really helped me get back in shape after my last pregnancy.
The classes are terrific, I mostly have taken the Muy Thai/​Boot Camp classes with Ash Berla and found they were a super efficient and fun way to stay in shape.
BAR is a neighborhood gem and absolutely worth a visit!

Prenatal pilates with Mindy, and prenatal yoga with Torrey, at Brooklyn Academy Roots is perhaps the best decision you can make for yourself while pregnant. I was so worried that prenatal exercise classes would not be challenging enough, and this is not the case here at all. The level of difficulty can really be adjusted per student, depending on how far along you are in your pregnancy, and the workouts really help work out common kinks like achey backs or swollen ankles that are common to pregnant women. The classes are fantastic for both mind and body and the teachers are top-​notch.

Love this studio! I have been to both the pre-​natal and regular springboard Pilates classes and have thoroughly enjoyed them both. The studio is clean, and has a warm and friendly vibe. Mindy is super helpful and responsive to questions, and is a great Pilates instructor. I took a class with Erica tonight and she is awesome too! I am super excited to try out the yoga classes. Parking is generally easy and the location is perfect for grabbing a bite after a class or hitting up the Jack London Square farmers market. I will definitely be making this my go-​to Pilates studio.

The space is nice and clean, the location is perfect — especially for Oakland/​alameda residents, parking is always easy, the owners are awesome… if you’re looking for a spot for conditioning classes — yoga, Pilates, etc — I highly recommend giving Brooklyn Academy Roots a try. They always have good deals available online!
I have been taking yoga classes here for about a year and a half; I have taken classes with several different instructors and every one of them has been excellent.
If you are a beginner (or like me, not in the greatest of physical condition), Monday night’s class with Radha is a perfect way to ease into it. She is very thorough and moves deliberately into poses to ensure proper alignment, etc — again great for beginners. It’s also consistently the most relaxing class I’ve taken = great for Mondays.
I have also been to Wednesday night’s class with Anne, which is more challenging than Monday’s class but offers some differentiation to prevent it from overwhelming someone like me who is not in the greatest physical shape. She offers variations in poses so you can push yourself more if you’re feeling up to it.
I haven’t been to the new Tuesday or Thursday night’s class, but based on past experience with former teachers I am certain they are fantastic.
Check this place out, you won’t regret it!

I’ve only taken yoga classes, here, nothing else, but I love it! I try go to every Tuesday with Jen and every Wednesday with Anne, both of whom are excellent instructors. They offer similar-​but-​different classes /​styles so I learn a lot between the two. I’ve also taken a class with Radha who I liked, but so far have only had that one class with her.
The size of the classes is small, which is nice. I’ve never seen more than 8 people in there (9, including the instructor) and it gets a bit tight at that size, but overall, there are fewer members than that. The instructors are able to give you focus where /​when you need it as a result.
I’m thinking about hiring a personal trainer in the future and am likely going to start with BAR since they’ve been great so far.
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Updated: I took another class with Radha tonight (my 2^nd one with her) and she’s really great! If you’re new to yoga, have limitations, or just want an easy-​flow class with detailed instructions to make sure you’re getting proper alignment, then I highly recommend her beginner class. I actually totally changed a pose based on her instruction and could feel the difference.
Bottom line: you should definitely check out BAR.

I have been an athlete all my life and have been through various training regimens and programs. Nothing has been as effective as personal training with Mindy. She started me off slowly with core and balance and thoughtfully worked me up to the point where I am strength training and making huge strides. I am doing things I couldn’t do in my 20s. This is the first time ever that I have embarked on a training program where I have remained injury free throughout and not constantly sore (in a bad way). Mindy is very knowledgeable. She gets to know what you need and tailors a program for you. In addition to getting fit, I’ve been able to change my body composition drastically. And, she’s no bullshit. I highly recommend her personal training if you are serious about making meaningful and long term changes to your body and health.

I’m so happy I found Brooklyn Academy Roots. I’m taking prenatal pilates and it is really fun. The instructor/​owner Mindy is very knowledgeable and helpful and I really look forward to coming each week. As soon as I’m able, I’m hoping to step up my training by adding additional pilates and kettlebell classes after baby. ’
The facility is a good size as it is intimate, but you still have room to stretch out. And the space is very clean and inviting.

This place has a great variety of classes, from TRX, to pilates, to yoga. If you like any of these, I would definitely give BAR a try!
Mindy and Ash run the place, and they’re both patient, friendly, and very much focused on proper technique and alignment. Would recommend taking class with both!

smaller classes — personal attention — clean facility –nice equipmet
Very highly recommended

I can’t say enough about this place. I love going here! Mindy is wonderful! She really knows the body and cares to educate others about it. Her knowledge and her passion for fitness and health is inspiring. She helped rehabilitate me after back surgery. I now have a new found understanding of my body after doing private sessions with her. That has helped immensely with the daily pilates classes. There is so much variety at this studio and within each class that it keeps me coming back for more. Have I mentioned that I love going here?!

This is a friendly and welcoming fitness studio-​whatever your starting level of fitness is, Mindy and Ash are warm and encouraging, and will also push you to meet your goals. Mindy’s sports rehab personal training is outstanding (helping me train injury-​free for several metric century bike rides this year and upcoming ½ marathon), and I’ve enjoyed yoga and springboard classes.

I’ve been taking Pilates classes at BARoots for almost a year, and I’m really pleased with how far I’ve come in strength and balance. I was working through an ankle injury and a toe injury on opposite feet, and even though I considered myself strong from yoga, I have learned even more about isolating muscles and how they can be used together and separately.
All of the instructors, particularly Mindy, are responsive to their clients’ needs, and are on the lookout to targeting individual fitness needs. The classes are a nice combination of classic moves and new twists, so you can see your improvement, but also avoid boredom.

Love this place! Wonderful teachers, small class size, convenient time/​location, supportive environment.

Small, boutique studio. Great yoga (6 students) and an amaaaazing (useful, not scary) self defense class (3 students)! Easy parking. Welcoming and friendly instructors. Real neighborhoody.

So far my one yoga class I’ve attended was small and intimate. It was my first time here and getting used to moving around again. I look forward to checking out the other classes.
Will update as I attend more classes :)

This review is for sports rehab and personal training with Mindy.
Let me start things off by saying my lower back has been messed up for the past few years. Really messed up. There were days where it started spasming for no reason, it hurt to walk up a small hill, to sit, to stand, to swim for more than a couple seconds, to lie in bed, or do pretty much anything beyond walking on a fairly flat surface. There were very few days where I didn’t experience any back pain at all. Seeing as I was only about 27 or 28 or so when the pain started, hadn’t had any major injuries, and did my best to work out from time to time, I had no clue what the problem was.
I tried working out on my own, went to another physical trainer, did yoga, saw a spine specialist who gave me medicine that was far too strong, went to physical therapy (twice), and even discussed the possibility of endometriosis with my gynecologist. But, nothing seemed to help, or to at least have a lasting effect. Either no one else knew what the problem was, or they knew but couldn’t articulate what it was or how I could fix it. Finally, one doctor recommended I look up back rehab training online, order some videos to try at home, or find a trainer who specializes in this sort of thing. It took a while before I took her up on her advice.
A couple months ago, I moved to Jack London Square. I was sick of my gym and decided to search for exercise classes to try, which is how I found out about BAR. When I saw that Mindy offered sports rehab for lower back pain, I decided to try it out.
In our first session, Mindy described what she thought my problems were and told me she thought I would probably start feeling better in about a month and that I would start to be able to do more activities in a few months. I tried to be optimistic but couldn’t help being a bit skeptical since I’ve been struggling with my back for so long. Well, it’s been about 5 weeks since I started going and I’m already feeling a lot better — the best my back has felt for a long time.
Mindy does a good a job of not only figuring out what the problem is, but also of figuring out how to explain it in a way that makes sense. She is honest about how much hard work is involved in getting better. She has also experienced a lot of lower back pain so she understands what it’s like to deal with and knows exactly what stretches and strengthening exercises will provide immediate and long term relief. Mindy is very supportive (and I’m pretty sure she’d know immediately if I wasn’t doing my home stretches and exercises, hehe).
I know that my back problems aren’t 100% solved yet, and know that I have a lot more work to do (and will probably always have work to do), but it is a huge relief knowing that there is a way to fix the problem and that my efforts are already working. It is wonderful not being in near constant pain and I can’t wait to start doing all of the activities I’ve avoided the past few years because I’ve been afraid of pain. Thanks Mindy!

Just moved to the JLS from Palo Alto — absolutely love the studio. Great instructors, super clean, great equipment.

So far I’ve only taken Isaac’s self-​defense class so this review is only based on that. It’s so easy to walk around thinking, I will never get mugged but you really never know.
Isaac gives you practical tips in how to deal with a potential attack. We also practice the movements on a punching bag and then with fellow classmates. It’s a little uncomfortable at first but when you think about it, how comfortable is anyone really when defending himself/​herself?