Posts In: Workshops/Retreats

by Amy Caldwell

Dear Rancho la Puerta,

What a gift you are! When I opened the door to my room I literally squealed with glee. YAYYYYYY!

Like so many who visit, I truly needed a pause and reset in the dense forest of my life. A chance to re-acquaint with me. Three days in, I am enjoying my own company (:

While the fitness, insight, and learning opportunities are boundless, the leisurely choosing moment to moment has been just what I needed. The first two days I’ve eaten lunch and dinner alone, and ‘hermitted’ in the evenings reading in my room. Then I participated in a silent dinner–which seemed an appropriate segue. Together, but still quiet.

I see the schedule filling with things I want to do, so I affirm a vow to pause then choose. What do I want / need right now? To let go of hurrying. To prioritize caring for, nurturing, and loving myself. 

“We set the pace.
But this press of time —
take it as a little thing
next to what endures.

All this hurrying
soon will be over.
Only when we tarry
do we touch the holy.”

~ Rilke

At the Ranch, it is easier to receive and take in the goodness of small delights: a wandering black cat or small bird saying hello, Alex’s Oak steadfast on the mountaintop, the trees countless shades of green shimmying, a mint chocolate smoothie sample, a knowledgeable instructor, a magical pool (or 3 or 4), a sumptuous lemon posset with mango puree topping, the list goes on and on.

With space and time to really slow down, I experienced a feeling of shedding my skin. A letting go of what is no longer necessary, a letting go of expectation or judgement. A wandering along the many windy paths. A deep tissue massage. A sound bath. A deeper letting go than expected.

Then, yet another new day arrived–a spring in my step, a waking before the alarm, throwing open the curtains to greet the day. Many moments to pause and consider, what do I really enjoy? How shall I honor that in this day? Paired with a happy fatigue following nearly a week of yoga, pilates, circuit training, pickleball, dancing, soulful music performances, and more. 

As I leave the Ranch, I have a deep gratitude for the journey (and all the kind souls who make it possible). Paired with a bittersweet quality that it is over for now. What is one thing we can take with us into our daily life?  A new teaching? A recipe? A friendship? Or a remembrance of what it feels like to be our best selves, independent and together.

fiction by Laura McCorry

Ally hadn’t taken a yoga class in a long time. Her first (and last) class had been at her boyfriend Evan’s gym downtown. She had agreed to go on a date with Evan simply because when she moved, he was the only person she knew in San Diego. Before she knew it, they’d been dating for six months.

Things didn’t work out with Evan. Ally was the kind of girl who wanted a plan in life and Evan found the whole concept of planning not just unnecessary, but, somehow fundamentally wrong. Just before they broke up, he’d invited her to try the yoga class.

What do you mean you’ve never done yoga? How long have you lived here now? You have to try yoga at least once if you’re ever going to call yourself a local. Evan had pleaded with her. 

Evan was right. Yoga was just as much a part of the air in San Diego as salt from the Pacific Ocean. The yoga class itself was fine. The instructor was a thin, bendy woman with her hair gathered in a messy ponytail. Ally copied the poses as best she could and at the end of an hour, she felt tired both physically and mentally from trying to keep up. She wrote off yoga as just one of those things that wasn’t for her.

About two years later on a Saturday morning, Ally was sitting at an open air table at one of the trendy brunch restaurants downtown. Across from her sat tall, lean, dark-haired Tyler. He lived in her building and she mostly saw him in the elevators. 

They had the kind of conversations that were always upbeat, slightly humorous, and usually referenced the weather. Ally thought it was strange to talk about the weather in San Diego, where the temperature only varied about ten degrees in a year, but she guessed some things stayed the same no matter where you lived.

After their first conversation, Ally ran into Tyler all the time. Once she even thought she saw him walking out of a coffee shop near her work, but she couldn’t be sure. Each time they met, she caught herself smiling more and touching her hair. Then, just when she was sure he must not be interested, Tyler asked her out.

Most of the men she dated wanted to go out for drinks at night. Tyler had asked her to brunch. And now he was asking her to go to yoga.

They had finished their meal and the bright midday sun struck the awning overhead and made everything in the street blur and their table feel comfortably secluded. Ally couldn’t remember the last time she had so enjoyed a getting-to-know-you conversation.

“Look, I know we don’t know each other very well,” Tyler was saying, “but I’ve got a super good feeling about you. I feel like we understand each other without trying too hard.”

Beneath the table, Ally stretched the cloth napkin between her fingers and smiled at Tyler encouragingly.

“I’m big into yoga and there’s this class that I’d love to go to, but it’s a partner class. I know you said you don’t do yoga, but I was wondering if you would make an exception. I’d love to introduce you to my studio, it’s called Yoga One.” Tyler looked at her earnestly, his eyes bright.

At that moment, Ally thought she would probably agree to go wind-surfing or dirt biking or any other improbable activity that Tyler proposed but she didn’t want to seem too eager.

“Yea, okay, I mean, I can probably give yoga another try,” she replied with a smile.

“Great!” said Tyler. “It’s next week and you’re going to love the instructor. I promise, this class will make up for every mediocre yoga class you’ve ever attended.”

“Well I’ve only been to one…”

Tyler laughed as if she were joking. “Okay, one more thing. Please don’t read anything serious into this, but it’s called a Valentine’s Yoga class. There are plenty of people coming who are just friends though, it’s really just a partner class and you can bring your valentine, or you can just bring someone you like, totally chill.”

Ally floated through the rest of that afternoon and evening but by the day of the yoga class, she had come down to earth. She worried one minute that Tyler was too serious. She worried the next minute that he wasn’t serious at all. Then she worried about not knowing anything about yoga.

Somehow Ally made it to the studio, signed the registration form, and was ushered upstairs into an airy, skylit yoga room where everyone spoke in soft voices and walked about gracefully on the hardwood floors. Ally saw Tyler already setting out a mat for her and she was glad they would be away from the front. 

“Hi, you must be Ally,” said a bright voice at her elbow. Ally turned to see a trim woman with a friendly, open face and loose dark hair. “Tyler told us he was bringing someone new. Welcome, I’m Amy.”

Amy reassured her that the class would be appropriate for beginners and encouraged her to go at her own pace. It was such a nice touch, a personal welcome. Ally stepped onto her mat and smiled a bit nervously at Tyler. But when she heard Amy’s voice invite the class to begin she felt curiously at ease.

They moved through some opening stretches and deep breathing before starting the partnered poses. Ally was deliciously conscious of Tyler’s body near hers and she loved that he always asked or looked to her for consent before touching her back or holding her hand during tree pose. Every move they made was no more intimate than anything she would do with a friend, but Ally felt the current of attraction running between them.

After some time though, Ally became aware of another sensation. Her breath was slow and steady, which cleared her head and brought a small feeling of lightness in her habitually tight shoulders. 

The yoga poses were changing the way she felt in her body. Underneath all the layers of her everyday life, working at her desk, leaning against the wall in the elevator, curled up on her couch at night, she felt a latent brightness in her body ready to break free. As if this way of moving and breathing called yoga could make her feel again the way she had as a kid, easy and unselfconscious.

When the class ended, Ally pressed her hands together in front of her heart and softly said “namaste” with the group. She turned to Tyler and smiled. He smiled back with a knowing look. 

Ally wasn’t sure what would happen next between her and Tyler. But she did know that this time, she was ready for a serious relationship with yoga.

*****

Experience for yourself our Valentine’s Partner Yoga Playshop

led by Amy and Michael Caldwell

Get in touch with your partner or reconnect with a good friend through the joys and benefits of yoga. Come practice poses together, share some quality time and celebrate friendship and love.

By candlelight you will be guided through fun and accessible partner poses, assisting each other with hands on adjustments and optimal alignment cues, go deeper into your practice and the present moment. Chocolate will be provided. No experience necessary.

When: 6:30-8pm, Saturday, February 9th.

Cost: $50 per couple when registered by February 2nd, $60 thereafter. Pre-registration only. The last date to register is February 6th. Space is limited.

Info@yogaonesandiego.com, 619-544-0587

Laura McCorry
Contributing Writer

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura(AT)yogaonesandiego(DOT)com

Nicole Mullins PT/E-RYT is a physical therapist and yoga teacher with over 20 years experience working in orthopedics and seven years in therapeutic yoga. Currently, Nicole is the clinical director at Embody Physical Therapy and Yoga. She will be leading an Intermediate Anatomy Workshop for yoga teachers and experienced students at Yoga One on June 10-11. For more information and to register, go here. 

Yoga One: Which practice were you introduced to first in your life, physical therapy or yoga? And how long have you been practicing each?

Nicole Mullins: I was introduced to physical therapy long before I was introduced to yoga. Of course I knew yoga existed, I just didn’t have any experience with it or anyone who practiced yoga. I have been a physical therapist for 22 years and have always actively sought out additional training to stay current.

I took my first yoga class 17 years ago, but didn’t really start practicing until about 8 years ago when I jumped into a 200-hour teacher training. From there, I took workshop after workshop to really hone my skills and understanding of yoga.

Yoga made so much biomechanical sense that it soon replaced most of the therapeutic exercise I did with my patients.

YO: How has yoga informed your clinical work in physical therapy?

Nicole: I think the combination of yoga and physical therapy is both revolutionary and uncommon. It is a brilliant marriage that allows me to offer so much more to my patients than I was ever able to before. Yoga is so much more than just asana (the physical exercises). Yoga recognizes the undeniable mind-body connection and how we must address the whole person to affect positive change.

YO: Good alignment is something every yoga student wants to have, but it can be difficult to learn without years of practice or private instruction. If you could teach every yoga teacher and student the biomechanics of one pose, which would it be?

Nicole: There are actually two poses that I think are vital and necessary for everyone! From a purely biomechanical standpoint, I would teach tadasana, or mountain pose. Tadasana is the foundation of all standing poses and so many other yoga poses. Knowing how to find a neutral posture is necessary to be able to safely move into and out of poses and minimize risk of injury or overuse.

From the standpoint of overall well-being, I would choose savasana, or corpse pose. Most of us are unable to truly shut down and let our minds and bodies relax. The purpose of savasana at the end of a yoga practice is to let the nervous system integrate the experience of the physical practice. Learning how to do this properly can be extraordinarily beneficial and healing.

YO: What have you learned recently that really interests you?

Nicole: In addition to studying manual physical therapy and yoga, learning about essential oils and natural healing, I have also been studying osteopathic techniques, including visceral manipulation. “Viscera” refers to our organs. This technique has been around for many years and embodies the concept of treating the whole person. We cannot just address the muscles and joints without considering every other system and structure in the body.

The viscera and their orientation in our body is a crucial component in our ability to move and function with ease. Scar tissue and adhesions from surgery, injury, illness and infection can change an organ’s ability to move naturally. These adhesions are frequently manifested as musculoskeletal injuries, including back and neck pain. Adding this technique to my practice along with yoga and has been truly pivotal.

Learning new techniques and knowledge about the body is what makes me so excited to be a yoga teacher and physical therapist. It’s what makes me even more excited to share what I have learned through teaching so others can grow in their practice as well.

YO: We’re excited you’re offering an Intermediate Anatomy Workshop at Yoga One, can you share one topic you’ll be covering in depth?

Nicole: The workshop will touch on many topics, but one I consider to be the most important is what constitutes a neutral spinal and pelvic alignment. We will explore the biomechanical relationship between the spine, pelvis, shoulders, and hips. You will learn why the shoulders and hips are cornerstones of a healthy spine and you will experience this in your own body via asana in the training.

YO: That sounds amazing! Who would benefit the most from this type of workshop?

Nicole: This workshop will benefit any yoga teacher or student who wants to understand more about how and why the body moves as it does. This workshop is for anyone who wants a deeper, fuller knowledge of biomechanics and how it applies to yoga in particular.

If you want to be inspired to teach yoga more confidently, excited to share what you will have learned, and ready to see the benefits in your students, please join us.

Intermediate Anatomy Workshop

led by Nicole Mullins at Yoga One
10-hour course, eligible for Yoga Alliance continuing education credits

Saturday June 10th 12:30-6:30pm
Sunday June 11th 12:00-6:00pm

Pre-registeration required: $175 by June 1st / $225 by June 8th (last day to register. No refunds.)

 

Imagine the perfect Valentine’s evening: Candlelight. Chocolate. Live music. Yoga.

Wait, yoga?

Yes, yoga! Yoga not only strengthens your connection to your self, it can bring you closer together with someone you love. After all, yoga is known for its “heart-opening” poses. Come experience a unique partner workshop and a beloved annual tradition at Yoga One.

Valentine’s Partner Yoga Workshop

with Arati Lane

Friday, February 17, 2017 6:30pm

Get in touch with your partner or reconnect with a good friend through yoga! Come practice poses as a couple, share inner dynamics and celebrate Valentine’s Day! Through a guided practice you will learn to help each other go deeper into alignment and assist each other with hands on adjustments and props.

There will be chocolate and candlelight accompanied by live music.
Bring your loved one or a friend! Make a date to celebrate Love and Yoga!

Pre-registration $50 per couple / $55 day of event, Sign up on our workshops page.

by Laura McCorry

Why go on a regular vacation when you could go on a yoga retreat in paradise? Here’s my idea of the perfect yoga retreat:

• Tropical Location is an absolute must. Trying to pack enough layers for variable weather without overpacking is annoying. I want to be able to step outside my villa directly onto a beach and feel 100% comfortable in just my skin – clothing for decoration only. Okay, maybe a pair of yoga pants for evening when I want to get “dressed up.” 🙂

• Which leads us to: Accommodations. I don’t need a king sized bed with ironed sheets – this is a retreat, after all (but if it comes with the package, I won’t complain.) I can “rough it,” in the romantic, island-casual sense of the term. A fluffy pillow top, fresh towel and jaw-droopingly gorgeous view will suffice, please and thank you!

• Healthy, Delicious Food and Beverages must be available at multiple times during the day. If I’m doing more yoga than usual, you better believe I need those green smoothies that taste like fruit at 10am. Bonus points if they are delivered by an adorable, rescued sea tortoise who cannot return to the wild but has found a new home and employment as resident mascot and keeper of midnight kombucha-inspired secret telling. Maybe his name is Sandy. Maybe I’ve put too much thought into this. #Sandyisreal

• Yoga. Wait, did I just put yoga last on this list? But seriously, the yoga matters. It’s what makes the difference between just another vacation and an honest-to-goodness life-changing, revelatory retreat full of camaraderie and memories you will treasure for a lifetime. The yoga needs to be daily (so I don’t skip out.) It needs to be accessible, no matter my ability. Most of all, the yoga needs to be real, I want to get to know the instructor and the other students and enjoy those moments of human connection through breath and movement. It doesn’t get any better than that.

You don’t have to dream about a life-changing yoga retreat, Yoga One has teamed up with Kairos Fitness to offer just such an experience*! 

Costa Rica Retreat to Las Catalinas 
with Yoga One Co-Founder and Head Instructor Amy Caldwell
April 29 – May 4, 2017

For more information and to register go here.

The inspiration for this post came from Eventbrite, an online resource to promote, manage and track online RSVP’s for successful events.

*Sandy is a fictional character. We hope any tortoises you see on retreat are enjoying happy, prosperous lives in the wild.

Laura McCorry
Contributing Writer

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com

Yoga One is excited to host a series of Kids Yoga and Art Summer Classes led by recent Yoga One Teacher Training graduate, Hannah Faulkner. Her passion for teaching yoga to kids is apparent in every creatively-themed class. Keep reading for her perspective on teaching little yogis!

There are several remaining classes this summer and registration is still available ($25/class) with 24-hour pre-registration to ensure available art supplies for each participant. Classes are held on Tuesdays from 2-4pm at Yoga One. Updated information can be found at www.halfmoonyogaandart.com/kids-summer-camp.html

Yoga One: How is teaching yoga to kids different from teaching adults?

Hannah: Kids need to be active and have fun while doing yoga! Teaching kids means you are constantly innovating and finding new ways to engage their senses and minds while incorporating traditional (or nontraditional!) yoga postures.

I teach themed lessons in which we use our imaginations to travel to a new place each week. When we visited Ancient Egypt, they learned how to do pyramid pose and while practicing yoga, I shared stories and interesting facts about the culture. We played games like Crocodile Crossing, where everyone is a crocodile holding plank pose and we each take turns trying to cross the Nile River without getting tagged. For the end of class, we closed our yoga practice with three minutes in mummy pose (savasana for adults) and they loved being wrapped up in their mats!

Yoga One: You’re both an art teacher and a yoga instructor – have you always wanted to combine these two passions?

Hannah: I’ve just stumbled upon this amazing combination within the last nine months. I’ve been teaching art to all ages for the past few years and just started teaching kids yoga last September. They were learning about gardens and vegetables, so we did a garden-themed yoga class and created figures through stamping cut fruit dipped in paint. It’s amazing the connections kids can make when they involve their whole body and mind!

Yoga One: Can kids who have no experience with yoga or particular skills in art participate?

Hannah: Yes, of course! Many of my young students have no prior yoga experience. In every class, I demonstrate the pose and carefully explain how to get into and out of the pose. I give verbal instructions on how to adjust into the fullest and safest version as well as modifications for kids who are still building strength and working on balance.

Through artwork creation, we are focused more on the process than the product. Kids have the opportunity to sketch a map of the place that we visited in the provided journals along with a quick drawing of their favorite poses (i.e. a camel, pyramid, sphinx, cobra, pharaoh, crocodile, etc.). Then we create an artwork as I guide them through step by step instructions.

I have templates and stencils for those who do not feel as comfortable drawing with their free hand. This week we made Egyptian profiles and I provided a template for the outline of a face and Egyptian style eye. The kids added their own decorations for the head band, necklace, and lips. I love providing the opportunity for each student to access the heart of the lesson as well as demonstrate their own creative expression.

by Monique Minahan

Early on in my yoga practice I would often experience an emotional reaction during corpse pose (savasana). Lying still, I would get a lump in my throat and suddenly find tears quietly rolling down my cheeks. I didn’t know it at the time, but my yoga practice was releasing long-held grief from my body.

When grief and recovery from trauma have been processed by the mind, life may begin to seem approachable again and many people feel they can move forward; but the same processes of recovery and healing are essential to the body as well.

Feeling a strong emotional release in a yoga pose or during final relaxation is far from uncommon. One of yoga’s most powerful side effects is its ability to release and heal the BodyMind. Not just the body. Not just the mind. The combined, interconnected, undivided BodyMind.

BodyMind is a term coined by Dr. Candace Pert, a neuropharmacologist who pioneered scientific research into the field of Mind-Body Medicine, advancing our understanding of what are called neuropeptides, or messenger molecules that carry information from the mind to the body and back again through body fluids. These neuropeptides are found throughout our bodies in the heart, sexual organs, and the limbic system, to name a few.

Dr. Pert breaks this concept down with an example of the gut. The entire lining of our intestines is lined with these particular transmitters. She posits, “It seems entirely possible to me that the richness of the receptors may be why a lot of people feel their emotions in their gut – why they have a ‘gut feeling.’”

She further comments: “I think unexpressed emotions are literally lodged in the body. The real true emotions that need to be expressed are in the body, trying to move up and be expressed and thereby integrated, made whole, and healed.”

When we move our bodies through yoga, our BodyMind is allowed expression. It can begin to release emotion and tension that’s been stuck in our bodies for a long period of time, perhaps even years after we think we’ve mentally processed the event.

Exploring these heavy emotions in our yoga practice, whether intentionally or accidentally, might feel intimidating. Resourcing is a technique that helps us stay present during uncomfortable or overwhelming sensations by finding and connecting to a resource, such as the breath or one of the five senses. This connection works like an anchor for a boat and we can begin to observe sensations safely, without fear of getting lost in the sea of our experience.

Join me this Mother’s Day at Yoga One for a special commemorative practice where we will explore three ways to use resourcing with yoga, as well as learn how to identify where emotions reside in our individual bodies. We will focus specifically on how to apply these tools when dealing with loss and grief.

This practice is for anyone interested in learning how to use yoga as a supportive healing modality, but especially for anyone who has lost their mother and would welcome a supportive, safe, non-judgemental environment to honor their mother on Mother’s Day.

Loss is something we will all experience in our lifetime. It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when. Our yoga practice will not show us a way out of grief, but it can show us a way through and support us through every stage of healing.

Note: If this is something you’re interested in, but find the cost prohibitive or cannot attend for some other reason, please contact Yoga One to arrange a way for you to receive the information: 619-294-7461 or email info@yogaonesandiego.com

Monique Minahan
Contributing Writer

Mo is a writer and yoga teacher who believes in peace over happiness and love over fear. She likes to set her sights high and then take small steps to get there. You’ll find her walking the dirt path behind her house with her little fluffy dog, practicing walking her talk by keeping her head high and her heart open. 

Read more from Monique on her blog, mindfulmo.com

Whether you want to practice yoga with your little ones at home or teach yoga to kids at a studio or school, Rainbow Kids Yoga Training can give you the tools you need to begin sharing the love. It’s not too late to sign up for their upcoming training at Yoga One! Go here to register.

Yoga for Kids and Families Teacher Training
October 31st – November 2nd
held at Yoga One 1150 7th Avenue San Diego, CA

Rainbow Kids Yoga is an international yoga teacher training company, specializing in 3-day kids and family yoga teacher trainings where you’ll learn everything you need to know to teach yoga to kids in a fun and safe environment!

The course is for anyone who loves working with kids and loves yoga. It is for yoga teachers wanting to specialize, and educators wanting to bring the benefits of yoga to their classrooms. It’s also great for parents to find new ways to connect with their children and family, and share a healthy, fun, and non-competitive movement-based activity. You do not need to be a yoga teacher to take the course.

“I would highly recommend the Rainbow Kids Yoga class to anyway thinking of teaching yoga to kids. The course was high energy and fast moving. Not only did I gain heaps of skills to use for kids yoga but also personally my soul was lifted, and I left feeling lighter and more energised, ready to inspire kids with yoga and FUN. My kids and I now try and do yoga together everyday! Thank you.” – Mish Chelkowski, Tasmania – February 2014

Bonus: Check out this article from Gopala Amir-Yaffe, the founder of Rainbow Kids Yoga, for a mini class you can practice at home with the whole family.

Join teacher Cayetana Rodenas at Yoga One in downtown San Diego, CA for this special 3-day training held by Rainbow Kids Yoga. October 31st – November 2nd.

Save $100 when you register before October 10th. Go here to register.

“Almost immediately we set up in an intimate and warm circle. Excited eyes darted from smiling face to open and curious face. We were instructed to put our arms around each other.

“Soon individuals had become a united group, swaying in unison, laughing and ultimately giving each other back and head massages. There were partner poses, human pyramids, costume changes, obstacle courses, games, feathers, straws, great music, dancing and dinner breaks at local restaurants!

“It felt like a party. It felt like a family. And best of all, we were accessing that open, curious, fun-filled aspect of ourselves that consumed us as kids. We were behaving like children in the best possible sense.

“We made life long friends and memories. Of course we learned and developed new skills, techniques and confidence to teach yoga to children… nay, to share the joys and benefits of yoga with children, because in many ways, children are natural yogis and the Rainbow Kids Yoga Teacher Training taught us to remember that and to embody it ourselves.”

– Michael Caldwell

“You’re missing out on LIFE!” the woman next to me sharply stated as I finished typing a text message into my phone. We were standing at La Jolla Cove where I went for my morning walk before class. 

It was a rude awakening, but she was right. What I missed while staring at my iPhone was a baby whale emerging for a brief moment right in front of where I was standing. I have been swimming in those waters for over 5 years and have never seen whales in the cove! Luckily, he resurfaced and I got a second chance. It was a beautiful moment.

I turned my phone off and continued looking around as I walked. This time I noticed a group of seals huddled together on a rock basking in the morning sun, a family of pelicans cleaning their wings and a hummingbird pausing in mid air as if to say “hello.”

With all our attention being pulled in many directions, it has become more and more difficult to just be present and notice what is happening NOW. Yoga and meditation help bring us back to all we really have: this moment, this life. Staying in the past and worrying about the future only creates stress and dis-ease. The way to peace is PRESENCE and the path to presence is by SLOWING DOWN, one breath at a time.

Join me for my upcoming Advanced Yoga Anatomy Course at Yoga One where we will explore the true healing power of Yoga.

In the meantime, turn off your ringer, check email one less time a day and take a yoga class!

To your well being,

Rachel Krentzman

School Field Trips. Summer Sleep-Away Camps. Honeymoon. Mission Trips. Pilgrimage. All of these are trips taken with other people for a specific purpose but more often than not, the participants experience greater benefits than they anticipated.

School trips and summer camps take students to museums or teach children a skill like riding a horse – but everyone remembers the friendships they formed.

A honeymoon cements the love and devotion of a newly married couple away from their family and everyday life.

Mission trips are designed to help the needy all over the world, but the volunteers learn the value of giving and empathizing with others. Pilgrimages may be about following the path to Santiago, but the journey truly happens within.

In order to witness true transformation, it is necessary to break with routine. Going away, creating a geographical space between you and your old life is one of the easiest ways to create the necessary conditions for change.

A favorite poem, “Ithaka” by C.P. Cavafy begins:

“As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.”

Through Odysseus’s travels, Ithaka was the one place he wanted to be: home. But it took him ten years and numerous battles and setbacks before he was able to complete his journey. It was those encounters that changed him and made his story into a legend.

This new year, invite change and transformation into your life not merely by planning a trip but by taking a journey. Go on a retreat. Meet new people. Try on a new way of being. Even if you can only get away for a few days, hope the journey is a long one.

“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine: it is lethal.” – Paulo Coelho

Interview with Paisley Close On Backbends, Pranayama and Her Upcoming Workshops at Yoga One

by Monique Minahan

I first noticed the transformative quality of yoga while practicing backbends. The steadiness and strength they demand revealed to me both the power and the past housed in my back body. The vulnerability and expansion they require in the front body revealed to me my full capacity for open-heartedness.

The more I practiced this opening process physically, the more I found myself able to open more fully to the people in my life.

While I love backbends now, I didn’t always feel this way. Initially they brought up a lot of fear and disorientation for me. As one of my teachers puts it, “backbends are like strong medicine.”

One of the first teachers to guide me along this road of discovery was Paisley Close. In the years I practiced with Paisley my yoga practice deepened on many levels, both internally and externally, thanks to her expansive knowledge base, precise alignment cues, and unique approach to yoga. Many of the “refinements” she’s offered over the years allowed me to settle deeper into yoga, whether through asana, pranayama, or taking my yoga off the mat.

While Paisley doesn’t teach locally anymore, she offers up inspiration, insight, and all things yoga through her blog and will be paying Yoga One a visit August 18th to teach two workshops: Intermediate Backbends and Seated Poses & Pranayama.

She shares some of her insights with us in the interview below:

*****

Mo: Paisley, how long have you been teaching yoga and what do you love about it the most?

Paisley: I began teaching yoga in 2000. When I teach, I love witnessing the moment a student breaks through and does something he or she didn’t think they could.

Sometimes it’s physical, like recently when two students balanced in headstand for the first time, in the same class. Other times it’s the more emotional moment, when I can see and feel that students are connecting with themselves and finding peace and quiet internally. I also love that teaching creates the opportunity to live my practice.

Mo: Pranayama practices are often overlooked in modern yoga classes. What are some benefits of including pranayama in your personal practice?

The major benefit of including pranayama in your practice is that it calms and clears your mind. When your mind is agitated, your breath is usually short and shallow. When you deepen and elongate your breathing with pranayama, it pacifies your mind, which makes it easier to connect with your inner awareness.

Prana, or life force energy, is latent in your breath. By increasing your breath, you increase your body’s ability to hold prana and, therefore, vitality. The prana is like an electrical current and yoga asana, or poses, clear the blocks for the currents to flow freely. Asana also builds the necessary insulation, just like you’d have on an actual electric current or wire. It keeps you from short-circuiting, so it’s important to have an asana practice before developing a pranayama practice.

Mo: What made you choose these two topics for workshops: backbends and pranayama? Is there a connection between the two?

Paisley: I like teaching what’s not already being offered or elaborating on what is. I see very little emphasis on breathing these days, and so much more push to just flow through yoga classes. So I wanted to teach about this vital limb of the practice and thought they deserved a workshop all their own. Pranayama and meditation are such great ways to slow down and unplug from our busy lives.

As for backbends, I chose intermediate backbends to offer a chance for the more practiced student to try new and challenging poses with guidance and in a fun, community atmosphere.

One key to pain-free backbends is to keep a lot of lift and length in your spine. Pranayama can give you that. Also, the backbends open your chest and lungs and make it easier to take in more breath.

Mo: You’re a climber as well as a yogini. How does climbing in Mother Nature influence your yoga practice and vice versa?

Paisley: Oh my gosh, I don’t even know where to start! Both climbing and yoga push me out of my comfort zone and require me to be present. Climbing has a much bigger fear factor, so the stakes are higher. I need to be more aware of how I’m directing my attention and what I’m thinking. Yoga has given me the tools to do that, but climbing makes me practice harder.

In both cases, when challenge and fear arise, I go back to the breath and use my senses to increase awareness. With climbing, my senses are often on overload: the wind is howling, the sun is blazing, my feet are standing on dime-sized edges, my hands are gripping rough rock and the gear is clinking on my harness. Combine that with the heights and exposure and it’s really easy to revert to old patterns of thinking and operate out of the past; i.e. fear.

When I’m on my mat, I allow those fears to come up completely, and see what they’re really about, because they’re never really about the heights or the falling. I practice breathing deeply and watching how my mental patterns weave through my movements and either distract me or help me be more present. I also use my yoga practice to unravel all the tight muscles I get from hiking on uneven, rolling terrain with a 30-pound pack and using my fingertips to cling to the edge of a cliff.

I find a lot of freedom and inspiration in nature. We go to stunning places to climb and I try to fit a practice in when we’re there. It’s much easier for me to feel connected with the world around me when I’m in the wild.

Progression-based training focuses on establishing a thorough understanding of safety and alignment for each posture, then builds to higher degrees of difficulty and creative variations, allowing you to progress and explore at your own pace and comfort level. You will train the basics of handstand, forearm stand, headstand, shoulder stand, front and side arm balances, arm balance and inversion transitions, and partner body balancing. By week 4, gravity will be an afterthought!Click on the image above to find out more and to register. You must sign up for at least 2 of the 4 sessions, please call our office at 619-294-7461 if you have any questions.

Happening this weekend and there’s still time to sign up for the early bird pricing! Explore meditation techniques for taming your wild mind and wild heart and experiencing inner peace. Go here to register online.

Partner yoga with your significant other or a friend is so rewarding because you get to co-create the experience. (Why taking a cooking class does more to enhance relationships than watching a movie.) Sharing the joys and benefits of yoga with someone else is fun and fosters deeper bonds. Practicing with a spouse or romantic interest adds an additional sensual element to the mental and physical sensations encountered in a regular yoga practice. Plutonic friends equally prosper in a partner practice – imagine having an instructor spend the entire class giving hands-on adjustments just for you!

Join us on Sunday, July 1st, for a fun-filled and challenging practice with Jo Zukovich from 3 until 5pm. Jo has been teaching yoga for over 30 years and has taken five journeys to India to study with the Iyengar family. She recently moved back to San Diego from Hawaii and she’s excited to offer this workshop at Yoga One. Be sure to sign up soon because space is limited! $35 in advance, $40 at the door. To register, follow this link and click on the “workshops” tab.

To entice you even further, here’s a little bit more about Jo and her upcoming workshop:

Jo writes, “I love yoga and I love teaching yoga as an art. My own practice feels like an art form to me. My teaching comes from my heart and it is full of joy. During the workshop, I hope to introduce you to better alignment and more freedom in twists and standing forward bends. Yoga is a journey and just like the journey of life, it’s important to have some fun along the way!

“I started my journey with Iyengar yoga in 1979. Almost immediately, I was sure I would practice yoga the rest of my life. The impact it has had on my own life is amazing. I feel so blessed to have had such truly great teachers and mentors to help me along the way. Yoga is something that opens you to new experiences. The work may start physically, but travels to the mental and spiritual. It is with great gratitude for B.K.S. Iyengar that I teach and practice. I hope we can all become more compassionate through the practice of yoga.”

This weekend, the one and only Diana Beardsley will be down from Los Angeles for a special workshop: Backbends, Hips & Shoulders, Explore and Celebrate Embodiment. You may have heard her name around the studio before because she co-leads the Yoga One Teacher Training. Diana has trained with Ganga White, Anna Forrest, Shandor and John Friend and she’s taught thousands of students herself during a teaching career that spans three decades. We think Diana ROCKS and trust you will, too. Keep reading for a sneak peek into the thematic elements of her workshop this Sunday, May 27th from 3:30-5:30pm and be sure to register online to reserve your spot!

When asked to define “embodiment,” Diana Beardsley wrote, “embodiment is when spirit and matter are recognized as One.” She took the time to share with us her thoughts on embodiment, yoga and how the two practices will work together in her workshop to create one incredible experience.

“Being a body is such a gift! That’s something we often forget as we deal with the challenges of living. Our responses to difficulty, disappointment and pain can lead to the belief that we are alone, that life is hard and that our bodies are alien and a source of suffering. Through Yoga, we realize our wholeness and our connectedness. Our bodies become an expression of nature and a connection to spirit. Through them we experience our connection to all of life and the energy that flows through the body is essentially joyful. When we lose touch with our bodies and our breath, we lose touch with our connection to all of nature and to the present moment.

“During the workshop, we will reclaim and enhance our connection to who we truly are, with what is already present, which is an expression of all existence. Yoga is a “what” but also a “how.” The “what” are the poses that help us open to the bigger flow of energy. The “how” is the culmination of the attitudes we hold and the way we receive our experience moment to moment, which ultimately defines our experience. The workshop on Sunday afternoon will be a full spectrum class designed to open up the entire body to pranic flow, with an emphasis on the shoulders and hips in preparation for backbends. We will examine the breath, moment to moment awareness and the ways in which our habitual attitudes may diminish our daily experience. Through our yoga practice, we will release those negative attitudes and restore the natural joy of embodiment to fully experience being alive.”

Diana is a true inspiration, please join us for this special treat. $35 in advance, $45 at the door.

As many of you already know, master teacher Sherri Montgomery has returned to Yoga One with not one, but two fantastic workshops. The first, An Exploration into Asana, was this past Saturday evening but there’s still time to register for this Saturday’s workshop, Devotional Movement from 4-7pm on April 14th. Go here and click on the “workshops” tab to register and pay in advance, note that pre-registration is required for this event.

Coming back to visit San Diego has been a big homecoming for Sherri who started teaching yoga in the 1980’s and taught at Yoga One from 2004 until 2009. With strong roots in the Iyengar style, Sherri credits Michael and Amy Caldwell for helping her find her own teaching style and expression. “I felt like my style really matured,” Sherri said about her time at Yoga One, “I could break out of the rigidity of classical yoga into ‘how does my body want to move?’” Sherri’s teaching style today is definitely about movement!

On Saturday evening, Sherri greeted each of us individually and started out the workshop by instructing the class to lie down in savasana, quieting the body so that we could be wholly present. When we started to move, she guided us through child’s pose, cat and cow, and downward facing dog, breathing within and in between each posture and cycling back to the beginning several times over. It was the first signal that this was different, that Sherri was different. How many instructors return to child’s pose after coming to downward facing dog? Throughout the class she would lead us through a series of poses only to bring us back to the beginning then return, exploring further, trying something new.

She led us through the class as though leading an expedition up the Amazon. When the waters of her playlist grew calm, she led us into gentle, restful postures and when the music became more energetic, we moved with the flow. There was even a spontaneous dance party when Big and Rich’s song “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy” came on. Sherri started swaying her hips, waving her long, expressive arms overhead, “Can’t you feel the ecstasy rising?” she called out excitedly. From dancing and calisthenics to the peaceful surrender of legs up the wall pose, she was our fearless leader, champion, guide and inspiration.

This Saturday, Sherri will be leading a workshop that’s even more personal and intimate in nature. She’ll be teaching what she calls Devotional Movement, a meditative flow to connect mind, body and spirit. Pre-registration is required because she wants to connect with each participant before the workshop and have them reflect on an area of their life in which they’d like to experience change. The process of her moving meditation will uncover the deep experiences of the heart and allow the participants to move through any limitations they feel are holding them back from expressing true devotion, love, joy and ecstasy. Don’t miss out on this transformative and inspirational journey!

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already past the midway point for the first month of 2012! Even though the new year is still so fresh, I know I’m not the only one day dreaming about a vacation. (I see you in the back, nodding your head, don’t be ashamed to admit it.) Not the midwinter vacation to visit family or the summertime road trip type of vacation, either. A true vacation getaway. Indulge me for a moment, if you will:

Picture yourself lying on the beach. Not the beach twenty minutes from your house where the distractions of errands and schedules can creep into your mind. A beach far away, a white expanse of sand before you and the sound of the surf in your ears. Beneath the warmth of the sun, buffeted by waves and salt you’ve come back to the primordial blank canvas. The elements batter you down into a more basic form of yourself. You let go of the way you used to define yourself at work, at home, to your friends and for a short period of time, you simply are. At one and the same time, you reconnect to the earth, to the greater community of life that surrounds you and to the life within, the true definition of who you are.

This May, let Yoga One take you away to Mexico on retreat. When you travel and transcend the physical locations of the everyday, the emotional and psychological dimensions start to blur and disappear as well. Yoga One’s Mexico retreat will allow you the opportunity to redefine or rediscover who you really are, with daily yoga led by your favorite instructors, Amy and Michael Caldwell and Paisley Close. For five days and nights, you could be relaxing on the beach, taking yoga classes overlooking the ocean, indulging in freshly prepared, healthy meals and staying in eco-chic accommodations at Xinalani, outside of Puerto Vallarta.

You could miss out and stay in San Diego this spring, which we all know is just this side of paradise. Or you could dream big, demand more and receive so much more. A retreat is not just a vacation, but a journey. A magical place where you encounter personal transformation, but also group transformation. People who go away together return different than they were, they build close relationships over days that would usually take years. Think it over. How much would you like to go to Mexico on a journey of self-discovery through yoga, supported by a community of love? When you say yes, give us a call.