Posts In: Student Perspectives

We love our community! This week, we’re shining a spotlight on Yoga One student Heather 

Q: Who are you in 10 words or less?

I’m a public interest attorney who loves yoga and hiking.

Q: What’s the biggest benefit of yoga in your life?

The biggest benefit of yoga in my life is that it teaches me balance and focus, both on and off the mat. I’m also very grateful for the sense of community Yoga One fosters.

Q: Do you have a favorite class or style of yoga?

Whatever Yoga One class I’m in at the moment feels like my favorite! I love how fun Missy’s Saturday morning class is – it helps me remember to not take everything too seriously and just enjoy the moment. 

Thank you for sharing Heather and thanks for practicing with us!!

Do you remember your first yoga class ever? We’d love to hear about it!

“When I was sixteen, I went to a low-income high school. They offered a weekly Ashtanga yoga class for kids who wanted to stop smoking. The teacher who organized the class loved yoga and wanted everyone to have the chance to practice, whether or not they smoked. At her encouragement, I fibbed on the intake forms and joined the class.

I fell in love with Ashtanga. I learned how to breathe consciously. I felt like there was some power locked within my awkward teenage body that I never knew existed before. Students gathered in the classroom and sometimes spilled out into the hallway. Once the lights were dimmed and practice began, the room was transformed into another space altogether. I am so grateful to that class and my first teacher who made such a deep impact on me.”

– Yoga One Student, Allison Page

Do you remember your first yoga class ever? We’d love to hear about it!

“My first yoga class was in San Francisco, on the recommendation of an ex-boyfriend. In my mind, “yoga was for hippies” lol, but I went to a local YMCA and enrolled for a month. After my first class, I was in love.

“Before that, I had been working for my state’s Human Rights Commission. I was 21, fresh out of college, and I wasn’t ready to see the reality of my country, Mexico, first hand. I became extremely anxious, depressed and got into toxic behavior with myself. 

“But then a small miracle happened. As part of my job, I went to an orphanage where most of the kids had been taken away from their parents because of addiction or legal custody battles. I thought to myself, I can’t come in here looking like this. The kids need to see healthy people around them.

“I stopped drinking and smoking on the weekdays. It took me two or three months until I decided I needed to quit my job for the sake of my mental health. And I wanted to travel – which brought me to San Francisco. I went back to that YMCA for yoga every day for six months. Then everywhere I went, I enrolled in classes.

“I started to think seriously about taking a yoga teacher training. I realized I wasn’t interested anymore in trying to help the people around me with politics and social work. I wanted them to feel the way I did after every single class. So I looked for a good yoga teacher training in San Diego and the rest is history…

“It’s been almost seven years since I took my teacher training at Yoga One. Every day I go to work with so much happiness and fulfillment that I can’t put it into words. Thanks Yoga One!”

– Yoga One Teacher Training Graduate, Alejandra García Mac Naught

Do you remember your first yoga class ever? We’d love to hear about it!

“My first yoga class was in Fargo, North Dakota in 2000! I was a busy architecture student and encountered a special place, The Spirit Room in downtown. I was curious and attended my first class. The owner was a lovely woman in her 40’s who had completely white hair – she looked beautiful!

“I signed up for the monthly fee at The Spirit Room where I not only could attend unlimited yoga classes but also received a key to use the study room in the space anytime I wanted, 24/7. I remember going there at night to study and also had access to the small library in the studio. It was there that I started reading one of my first spiritual books, Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn.”

– Yoga One student, Miti Aiello

guest post by Yoga One student, Jill Zubec

Trying to maintain control in this life is a bit like trying to maintain control on a roller coaster. The ride has its own logic and is going to go its own way, regardless of how tightly you grip the bar. There is a thrill and a power in simply surrendering to the ride and fully feeling the ups and downs of it, letting the curves take you rather than fighting them.

When you fight the ride, resisting what’s happening at every turn, your whole being becomes tense and anxiety is your close companion. When you go with the ride, accepting what you cannot control, freedom and joy will inevitably arise.

As with so many seemingly simple things in life, it is not always easy to let go, even of the things we know we can’t control. Most of us feel a great discomfort with the givens of this life, one of which is the fact that much of the time we have no control over what happens. Sometimes this awareness comes only when we have a stark encounter with this fact, and all our attempts to be in control are revealed to be unnecessary burdens.

We can also cultivate this awareness in ourselves gently, by simply making surrender a daily practice. At the end of our meditation, we might bow, saying, “I surrender to this life.” This simple mantra can be repeated as necessary throughout the day, when we find ourselves metaphorically gripping the safety bar.

We can give in to our fear and anxiety, or we can surrender to this great mystery with courage. When we see people on a roller coaster, we see that there are those with their faces tight with fear and then there are those that smile broadly, with their hands in the air, carried through the ride on a wave of freedom and joy. This powerful image reminds us that often the only control we have is choosing how we are going to respond to the ride.

Yoga One Family Member, Frank Richardson, has been sharing his practice with our community since October of 2011. We love his positive energy, easy smile and kindness. He writes about how his yoga practice has supported him while traveling in Italy.

For me, Yoga is closely linked with meditation. One has more movement than the other, though both come from the physical mechanics underlying the act of breathing.

Being still in meditation causes us to open up from the rhythm and flow of breath, the expansion and contraction of the diaphragm and lungs starting at the root and progressing up through all the chakras, pausing at the crown, then flowing down again.

Focusing on this flow and letting thoughts go without locking on to them allows us to be aware of the continuing presence underlying the static paths of thoughts.

Yoga builds on this breathing practice by extending the movements created by breathing into practiced cycles that bring the flow throughout the body. Yoga brings Prana, or breath, wherever there is constriction or “stuck-ness” or even pain.

Flow, I am coming to realize, is essential to joy. Yoga opens my body and mind to being joyful by connecting to the flow of life that is happening from moment to moment.

The yoga I am doing now while traveling is not formal. There are no classes defining “practice.” I watch my breathing and my quality of alertness or presence.

How I am standing or sitting? Am I leading with my heart? Is my head up or am I looking down? What’s the level of anxiety I am experiencing right now? Can I breathe through it to get to the other side?

I most likely won’t be able to practice either yoga or meditation formally again until I get home; but the moment to moment check-ins keep me in balance and moving with the flow while traveling through this wonderful and sometimes daunting place called Italy.

I can’t imagine what my life would be like without yoga.

Yoga has become such an integral part of my day to day life, I sometimes feel like I eat, sleep and dream yoga (if that is even possible). Imagining my life without yoga would be like living without sunlight. How would you survive?

But I didn’t always feel that way. In 2008, I was living in the East Bay of San Francisco. My new husband, Joe, and I thought it would be good to try new things together. Considering we had dated for less than four months before getting married, this goal was easy to accomplish. Joe picked a Yoga class to improve his flexibility and I chose a Latin Dance class because I love to move!

Joe wasn’t crazy about Latin Dance but we never had a problem practicing yoga together. At night our 500 square foot cottage became a makeshift studio, both of us trying to recall the flow from last week’s class. At the end of the semester, it was clear we would never be the couple that owned the dance floor but we were more flexible, better connected to our bodies and our relationship had blossomed to a deeper love and respect.

Then we moved to Germany for three years. I found myself wishing I could go to a yoga class but couldn’t find one. I settled for countless miles on the treadmill, shooting hoops and the occasional Zumba class.

Like any married couple, our relationship had its highs and lows in the those three years. We traveled. We laughed. We fought. We made up. We lived. We loved.

Joe got out of the military in 2011 and we entered a whole new stage of our lives. I would go to work 40 hours a week to pay the bills and Joe would go to school full time to earn his degree.

I tried to balance work and play. I wanted to make enough time for family and our many friends now that we were back in my hometown, San Diego. But I never seemed to have any time for me. I felt like I was letting people down if I chose to go to the gym instead of spending time with them.

Joe and I struggled with our new roles, both of us a little lost and unhappy. Our relationship began to suffer. The love, respect and connection we once had got lost somewhere along the way. We had fooled our friends and family into thinking the pictures we posted on Facebook were real, all smiles and good times.

I felt miserable, unhappy, empty and certain that my marriage was destined to end.

Joe went to yoga. I went to therapy. Joe asked me to go a yoga class. I declined and went to Zumba instead. Joe asked me to go to yoga class again. I was too tired. Joe asked me a third time to go to Yoga class, so I humored him and went.

I walked into a 24 Hour Fitness on Feb 18, 2013 not knowing what to expect. Some of the poses looked and felt familiar, but I struggled to maintain any sort of controlled breath. I remember waking up the next day and everything hurt! I later learned that I had taken a Power Flow class and boy, what a way to get reacquainted with yoga!

The next time there was a class, I opted to go with Joe. The second time I didn’t feel nearly as awkward, but I was still sore the next day for sure.

What kept me going back to my mat that first month was observing Joe. He was so content after going to yoga, even when our relationship was on the verge of crumbling. I wanted to feel that contentment, even if it was short-lived. I wanted to feel anything, if it meant continuing to practice yoga, so be it.

Yoga became part of my weekly routine, once during the week and once on the weekend. I felt myself become stronger. I felt myself becoming more flexible.

Finally it happened, one evening in just as I was coming out of Savasana. As I lay in fetal position, my palm touching the earth, the teacher’s words seemed to resonate deep inside of me:

“Lay here with gratitude in your heart. Gratitude for the earth underneath you as it supports you, feel connected to it.” I felt the topsy-turvy feeling of butterflies in my stomach.

“Gratitude towards yourself, you have made the choice to honor yourself and your practice.” I felt my throat constrict  and it felt hard to breath.

“Remember that you are perfect as you are now, at this very moment.”

I felt a rush run through me, as warm, salty tears slid down my cheeks. I was silently weeping. These were not tears of frustration or tears of sadness. They were tears of gratitude and joy and love.

My relationship with Joe started to transform, we went to classes and workshops together. We planned our weekly schedules, meals and outings around our yoga classes. In June, I told Joe I wanted to take a Yoga Teacher Training. He was very supportive and told me to do what made me happy.

Working downtown, I had seen the Yoga One sign when I went to lunch or a coffee run for the office but I had never been to class. On July 25th, I went to Angela’s Thursday 6pm Vinyasa Flow and it was one of the most challenging classes I had experienced outside a workshop, everything was so alignment-based. I went home physically exhausted but filled with so much energy and love I couldn’t wait to share it all with Joe.

Yoga One’s monthly newsletter included information about their upcoming Yoga Teacher Training starting in January 2014 and the next day I signed up. Looking back now, it might seem crazy that I was ready to commit after just one class – but Yoga One immediately felt like home to me.

I am very grateful for how supportive Joe was during the eight weeks of teacher training. We hardly saw each other yet it felt like we were closer. We learned how to communicate effectively, to be considerate of each other’s feelings and how to truly love. Joe was not just my partner to practice teaching, he became my best friend and the partner I needed in our marriage. I truly believe yoga healed my heart.

Yoga will continue to be an intricate part of our lives as individuals and a married couple. Whether we attend classes together or practice separately, we are yogis and damn proud of it! I am thankful for every experience I’ve had so far and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me.

 

Lorena’s desire for movement and deeper connection to her body has kept the flames of a fiery passion for yoga alive. Lorena hopes to blend her love for teaching yoga with the creativity of her freelance make up artistry. Lorena’s greatest joy is to be a witness for the ah-ha moment to those who allow her to enhance their lives.

 

 

and practicing yoga is an essential part of her training! Yoga One regular and running fanatic Laurie Adam shares her inspirational story.

Which came first, running marathons or practicing yoga? 

Marathons! And I was over 50 when I started running. I had lost weight and was having trouble keeping it off. I was a hiker, and thought I would up the intensity of my exercise to help keep the weight off. Well, I fell in love with running!

The Carlsbad Marathon (then called the San Diego Marathon) was my first. I got blisters so bad I had to walk the last ten miles and my first run after the marathon felt like I had never run before. But I loved it. That was in 2002. Since then I have run a total of 32 marathons in 26 states. My goal is to run a full marathon (26.2 miles or 42K) in each of the 50 states.

We moved downtown last year and I checked out yoga studios. I had a vague idea that yoga would be a good complement to running. I was told I have osteoarthritis in my right knee and the doctor advised me to stop running. That wasn’t going to happen! So I thought yoga would help strengthen the muscles supporting my knee.

What benefits do you feel from yoga in your daily life?

I walk to Yoga One several times a week – sometimes twice a day! I especially enjoy the early morning classes. Yoga has strengthened my upper body and core, areas running doesn’t touch. But upper body and core strength are essential for long-distance running. My knee doesn’t trouble me as much as it used to; the muscles are stronger, but I still try to be mindful of it. Yoga has helped me find calm and focus. These tools are important for running as well as for life.

Tell us about your recent trip to India and the yoga you practiced there:

My husband and I spent the entire month of June in India! We spent a week in New Delhi sightseeing and three weeks at a wellness retreat at a resort on Om Beach, on the southwest coast of India. The resort offered daily yoga in an upstairs Yoga Shala of a two story building. It has windows on all four sides, which opened. We practiced each morning with the sounds of nature all around us.

It was fascinating that the yoga in India was the same, and different from yoga in San Diego. We had three masters level instructors in the three weeks. All started and ended each class with chanting and a prayer (in Sanskrit). One instructed us to perform all the poses with “eyes closed.” Another spent a lot of time on breathing exercises – kriya yoga as well as pranayama.  Since it was a wellness retreat, the instructors often told us which illness, condition or body parts would benefit from each pose.

It was nice that the poses were all familiar to me. My favorite yoga pose is shoulder stand. It was a part of the routine and I got a good sense of being on my shoulders, rather than my neck and head. I also noticed that the pose we call “cat-cow” they call “cat.” Cows are sacred there. (And they are everywhere! In fact, our driver was surprised when we told him that cows don’t run free in the US!)

Join me in welcoming Janssen to the Yoga One team! You can see her in the Office Nook on Sunday evenings signing students in to class. A recent graduate from our 2013 Yoga Teacher Training, Janssen co-teaches the FREE 6:30am Flow on Mondays. She loves everything about yoga – keep reading to learn about her awesome journey!

Hi, I’m Janssen! I started practicing yoga off and on in college because the studio where I practiced Pilates was actually a yoga studio. To be honest, at first it was not my cup of tea! I’m what some may call hyperactive – my monkey mind could not handle that much mindfulness. But I did attend a few classes and fell in love with the physicality required as well as the beautiful combination of grace and strength in my teachers.

Fast forward 3 years.

After moving to California and gaining then losing about 25 pounds, I found myself searching for a way to reconnect to my body. I remembered yoga and how I would feel leaving class – refreshed, happy, radiant. So I searched for and found a small private studio and for six months dove head first into my practice. I was doing yoga three, four, five, six times a week! I found capabilities I thought had been lost in childhood and a sense of peace and quiet that frankly was never there in the first place.

It was incredible – I wanted everyone to know. I was blowing up Facebook with my epiphanies and it just wasn’t enough.  I had to find another way to share, to show other people how great I was feeling, to explain to everyone why I had changed so much: I wanted to teach.

Then I found Yoga One. In my quest for yoga teacher training, I researched many different studios because I wanted to make sure I was spending my money wisely. I wanted to get an education that balanced philosophy with practice. When I emailed for more information, Michael was prompt, warm, and as excited as I was that I wanted to be a yoga teacher. When he showed me the studio, he was curious and friendly. When I took one of Amy’s classes, she knew that I was interested in teacher training as well and greeted me with a hug on New Year’s Eve.

What makes Yoga One so special is that it truly is a family. I have never felt more welcome and accepted and encouraged outside of my own home. The training I received, the classes I’ve attended and the people I’ve met are an invaluable gift that I can only reciprocate by giving it to others.

Yoga gave me me again. I feel great, I’m in the best shape of my adult life and I still have so much to learn. You know that feeling of “I’m exactly where I am supposed to be”? That’s how I feel every time I get onto my mat. And I love it; I’m obsessed. Best of all, I found a group of people who don’t think that’s weird. For me, that is the definition of happiness.

A regular yoga practice provides many wonderful benefits, but yoga has something special to offer disciples of other forms of athleticism. No matter what your sport, yoga increases flexibility, range of motion and strength via body weight resistance. (Ever done Michael’s two minute hold in plank pose?) Yoga One student Jason Monger tells us why yoga is the perfect complement for his power lifting routine.

While some people lift weights competitively, the majority of people lift in order to maintain strength for everyday life. “You hear about people who throw out their back lifting a basket of laundry,” Jason explains, “It’s because they never developed the muscles along their spinal column and never learned how to properly use the body when picking up a heavy object. The strain builds up until one day injury happens.”

Not so long ago, I was a half marathon runner, big wave surfer and mountain hiker. At my day job, I supervised large, one-of-a-kind home construction projects. My work placed extraordinary physical demands on my body. But everything changed the day I fell off the second story roof of a construction site.

When I hit the ground, my T-10 vertebrae exploded and my spinal cord got pinched. I was paralyzed and told by some doctors that I would never walk again. The body that was capable of walking and standing all day, lifting heavy materials and going on long runs was gone. But then one day I was able to move one of my toes and I started an eight-month physical therapy program. I had to re-learn how to walk. After 15 months of struggle, I was able to walk using a cane.

Eventually, I was able to go back to work as a construction supervisor. Even though all I could do was walk around the job site, I was happy with my progress. After two years, the doctors told me that I had reached a recovery plateau. I felt as though I could keep improving and that feeling led me to yoga. Four years after my injury, I started to take yoga classes. With enthusiasm I tried the Iyengar, Hatha, Ashtanga and Vinyasa styles of yoga at a studio in Bird Rock. When the studio closed, I continued a home practice for three years, certain that yoga was the key to my continued good health.

In 2009, I heard about Yoga One. By then I was a full time student at City College and their location on 7^th Avenue was perfect. I was impressed by Michael and Amy Caldwell’s knowledge of yoga, teaching style and friendliness. For a year, I attended their classes as well as the Saturday morning Hatha class every week. Eventually, I tried other instructors and took on more classes per week.

I still have nerves that haven’t regenerated. In some poses my body can only go so deep; it might improve, it might not. Either way, I have fun and give it my best effort. I’m still in pain (I call it sensation) of one sort or another every day, but I would rather have the sensation of a long challenging yoga session than the sensation I experience after sitting at a desk or lying around all day. Mindfulness meditation has helped me locate where each sensation comes from, with equanimity I accept them and therefore life is a pleasure not a pain. Gratitude, yoga, mantra, meditation – that’s the morning practice I do before anything else. It’s the way I put my Self first and honor the commitment I’ve made to my health and well being.

I first came to Yoga One about a year ago when Sarah Clark invited me to class. I had tried a number of studios around San Diego but none of them compared to the warmth of Yoga One’s instructors and the studio’s beautiful skylights. In the winter, I love opening my eyes during class to see the city lights pouring in and candlelight illuminating the studio.

At the time, I was running 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons so I only came to class once or twice a week because yoga was great cross training. In March, I ran the inaugural San Diego Half Marathon and as I headed up the Washington Street hill in mile nine, I felt a sharp shooting pain in my right knee. I walked to the top of the hill, holding my knee the whole way. When I tried to run again I thought my knee would break in half – the pain was excruciating. My running partner wanted me to stop at a medical tent, but I walked the last 3.2 miles and crossed the finish line.

The next day I made an appointment with the doctor but limped into one more yoga class first. It was the most painful and upsetting practice I’d ever experienced and I left wondering if I’d ever be able to do yoga again.

The doctor diagnosed me with chondromalacia, restricted me from physical activity and sent me to physical therapy. I contacted Michael Caldwell about my membership at Yoga One and he kindly put it on hold and gave me some passes to come back when I could. I was heartbroken. I couldn’t do any of the things I usually do: no more hiking with my dog on our neighborhood trails, I missed a 5K I’d already registered for, I couldn’t exercise the dogs at the Humane Society where I volunteer and no more yoga.

While I was recovering and feeling sorry for myself, Michael emailed me twice to let me know that my Yoga One family was thinking of me and sending me kind thoughts, I was so touched! After months of physical therapy and acupuncture, I was finally able to walk without pain and I begged my physical therapist to let me do some physical activity so she released me to try yoga. In early June, I returned to the studio and was welcomed back with open arms; it felt like coming home after a vacation. I eased back into my practice with one class a week and started feeling stronger both physically and mentally.

Every time I came to class I passed by the Summer Challenge board outside the Nook. It was filled from top to bottom with the names of students trying to complete 52 classes from June until the end of August and I kept thinking, “I wish I could do that.” By the end of the month, I was wondering why I couldn’t and the next time I came to class, I saw that someone had erased their name from the board. I thought, “I can do it! That spot was meant for me!” and I wrote my name in the blank space.

Over July and August I evolved from taking just Sarah’s class to getting hooked on Jen’s rooftop class, Michael’s core craziness and the bliss of Mondays with Amy as the heart of my practice. I attended a class with almost every instructor and I’m amazed at how unique, fun and talented they all are and how I always learn something new. The Summer Challenge also gave me the opportunity to get to know my classmates better and I love seeing my new yoga friends around the studio. I finished my 52nd class on August 28th, three days ahead of the deadline and it was such an amazing feeling, even better than finishing a half marathon!

My body continues to heal and my yoga practice is with me every step along the way. Even though I need to modify poses during class, my practice doesn’t cause me pain – in fact, it makes me feel fantastic. I look forward to every class and I’m even excited to get out of bed early for yoga on weekends and holidays; whereas before I sometimes had the “ugh, I have to run today” feeling. I feel invigorated during my practice, usually get a good giggle or two in and feel calm, centered and refreshed afterwards.

I’m so thankful to have found Yoga One and I’m truly a better person for having this community and yoga in my life!  

Xoxo,
Penny

Stepping Through the Door 

I had been aware of Yoga One’s studio for six years before I stepped through the door for the first time. My office looked down onto the small businesses along 7^th Avenue, but not until losing a fight with a very heavy piece of furniture would we become acquainted. After numerous physical therapies, acupunctures and injections, I finally found myself sitting in a spinal surgeon’s office faced with the grim reality that my options were running out and going under the knife was looking more and more likely. Reviewing our final options, the surgeon asked if I’d tried yoga before. I hadn’t and immediately my internal Wikipedia pulled up the image of the sign outside the studio that was my only point of reference to this strange-sounding word.

I think it’s part of the curse of being British that we fear embarrassment more than speaking in public or large spiders, but I can honestly say walking to my first class that I was absolutely terrified. Perhaps I had built up an undefined, slightly suspect, pre-conception of exactly what went on behind that door, but it was certainly nothing I had experienced before. The mat, the blocks, the blankets, the belt; all so confusing. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was having a defining life moment. As confident as I might have been in other areas, in this world, I felt painfully self-conscious and overwhelmed. I had no idea what to do or say and I kept looking at the door.

Just at the point when anxiety was getting the better of me and I was getting up to leave, a soft voice spoke. Wren introduced herself and asked me how I was and if I had any physical issues. Her voice was so kind, I couldn’t help but feel that no matter what was going to happen in the next hour, I was in very good hands. And so over the coming months, I was introduced to this undiscovered country; the practice of yoga. Slowly but surely, the omnipresent pain in my lower back left my body. When I think about the alternative route that I might have taken, it reminds me that important decisions in life are sometimes defined by very small moments.

Stepping through Yoga One’s door was really just the start and the subsequent journey over nearly two years has been a joy. Sharing my journey with new friends and fabulous instructors along the way has been the true reward. I am profoundly grateful to Michael and Amy for providing this oasis in my life. 

If you’re reading this and have reservations about trying something new that sounds like a character from Star Wars, then I encourage you not to wait six years before walking through the door. For me, every time I feel the base of my spine and there is no scar I am reminded of why I’m glad I did. I hope you are too.