Bali Inspired Festival Wear: PiYoga Clothing

By Nikita Mehta

We here at SF Yoga are so blessed to be your eyes and ears for festivals and retreats all around the country. We love traveling to different places, basking in new experiences and then reporting back to you on all the things we would love for you to participate in. Festivals, like Shakti Fest, are always fun because we get to practice with the best teachers from all over the world, meet with other devoted yogis and melt into sangha. But there is another constant at festivals that we love love love… the vendors! As we travel from town to town and festival to festival, we can always count on familiar friendly faces from vendors that we have come to know and love. One of our favorites that we get to see all the time is Larissa Miller and her company Pi Yoga! 

We initially met Larissa because of her radiant smile, you can’t walk by her booth without wanting to say hi! But it was her amazing line of pants, kinonos, dresses and more that kept us at her booth for hours! We love wearing these clothes to yoga, around town and lounging at home. FYI these pants are the perfect festival gear! 

Ready for your own pair of PiYoga pants? You can find Larissa right now at Shakti Fest! She will also be at Pilgrimage of the Heart, Festival of Yoga in San Diego and Bhakti Fest! You can also order these Bali inspired threads here.

We sat down with Larissa to talk inspiration, giving back and the future of yoga. 

Tell us about the inspiration for starting Pi Yoga?

3 years ago, I quit my job in San Diego to chase my dreams of traveling the world, doing yoga, diving, and starting my own business. Along the way I discovered Bali and a golden opportunity to start a unique yoga pant brand fell into my lap. 

Where did the name Pi Yoga come from?

The name PI came from the city Pai, Thailand, where I was first inspired to start the business. I saw the locals wearing comfy loose pants and though to myself, those would be perfect for yoga! 

All of your clothing is handmade in Bali, when did you first go to Bali? How did you meet and collaborate with designers?

I first went to Bali in March of 2016 and was obsessed from the moment I got there with all the bright colors, unique food, clothing, and the beautiful blend between western and Balinese culture. I was telling my taxi driver how I thought it would be cool to make my own yoga pants and he said he knew someone who could make them! He turned the taxi around and that very day I met with them and we made our first sample. The prints we create are all Balinese and boutique inspired. We create the designs ourselves and work with the locals to screen print the material sewing the product together. Every step of the process is done by hand. You can watch the video on our production process here if you would like to learn more:

Pi Yoga donates 10% of its profits to sea turtle conservation! We love that cause! Why did you choose sea turtles? Which organization do you donate to?

I chose to donate back to sea turtle conservation because I was so excited to swim with a sea turtle when I got to Bali! I have never seen one before I got there and saw my very first one on this trip. However, after seeing all the trash in the ocean and destroyed coral I knew that if I started the business in Bali I wanted to donate back to the sea turtles there with dreams to help with ocean conservation on a global level.

Your mission is to empower women of all shapes and sizes on and off the yoga mat! How do your clothes fulfill this mission?

The Pi Yoga mission is deeply rooted in my values to for women to empower each other. As women, our bodies are constantly changing in size and shape and jeans just can’t keep up. Pi Yoga pants are special because the 5-inch waist band stretches from size 0-12 giving you freedom and flexibility to be you, without giving you a muffin top or a camel toe! Ladies love them because they slim your waist line and the elastic ankle at the bottom can be used to pull the pants up to fit someone from 4’10” to 6’ tall. The pants are designed to be an elegant and flowy which looks great on so many different body types. In fact, we call PIYOGA pants the Sisterhood of the Traveling Yoga Pants because they really do fit everyone! We also have size 12-16 and petite pants for women. 

Where do you think the future of yoga is heading?

That’s a good question. People ask me, “Is yoga a trend or a lifestyle”. I think the honest answer is both. My Mom did yoga when she was growing up although it lacked the popularity that aerobics had so it was under the radar. Now, the trend for yoga has put it in the spot light and I am grateful that a yoga lifestyle has been created from it because of the conscious community it is creating. I have never experienced anything else like it before. I think yoga is heading in many different directions right now, but I think it is always important to remember that your yoga practice is within you, and you only need to show up to your mat to practice remembering who you are and what you want to be.

Learn more about Pi Yoga here: piyogapants.com.