Posts In: cat yoga

May is National Pet Month and we’re celebrating by showing off some of the wonderful pets in the Yoga One family! Do your furry friends like to join you on your mat? If they’re anything like these cuties, they can’t resist a good downward-facing dog!

Name: Kitty a.k.a Waker of Humans, Demander of Massages, Bringer of Unwanted “Treats,” Queen of Cuteness.
Favorite yoga pose: I-have-no-time-for-this-asana
If you practice any of Yoga One’s On-Demand classes filmed at our home during quarantine, you might catch a glimpse of Kitty! – Amy and Michael Caldwell

This is Teddy, an 8 year old, poodle/fox terrier mix. Teddy loves yoga and rarely misses an opportunity to join me on my mat, even if it’s to distract and earn attention. He enjoys downward facing dog followed by upward facing dog every morning before we put on his harness for a park trip. But his favorite posture, the one I most often find him in, would be supta baddha konasana. – Ben Clarke

This is Sammy! Her favorite yoga pose is side-lying savasana. Her other top choices are down dog and upward dog, and she enjoys practicing all poses on my mat… during the exact moment when I’m trying to practice yoga on the same mat. ? – Jackie Liu

This is Sheldon! His favorite pose is cow pose. – Lori Miller

Some of the funniest moments with my fur babies happen on or around the yoga mat! Brizo (black and white pup) is the best yoga partner – she spots her mom during inversions and is quick to jump out of the way on the occasion her mom comes tumbling down. She loves Savasana, because she’s in prime position for belly scratches! 

Zeus (brown pup) loves lying on his mom’s props and mat, and especially loves to get in the way during her down dog (he feels he should be included, as he is the pro, see picture of him and Brizo for evidence)! 

Hades’ (white kitty) favorite pastimes are: A) hiding behind the curtain in the yoga room and attacking his mom’s “hind legs” in her downward facing dog, & B) play fighting his brother, the actual dog (especially when Mom is trying to relax in Restorative).

These fur babies love to be included in Yoga One online classes! When their dad kicks them out of the room so Mom can practice alone, they listen and wait outside the door, hoping to be let back in. I personally love them hanging out with me during class…It’s never a dull practice with my favorite 4-legged yogis around! – Ariana Lizotte

Yoga One’s month in review, in response to Covid-19.

by Laura McCorry

Just last month (although it feels like eons ago!) the Yoga One team was full-steam ahead getting ready to open our new Mission Hills location  We were busy teaching a full schedule of classes at our Downtown location, half way through our Winter/Spring, 8 weekend 200 Hour Teacher Training Course,and leading classes at multiple off-site corporate locations. 

Our teachers were sharing the joys and benefits of yoga with students who walked into our studio off the street, with students who had never practiced yoga before, with students who popped into an empty conference room for a lunch-time practice, with students who have been building their yoga practice for years – all of whom trust Yoga One to guide them with depth of knowledge, skill, heart, integrity, and compassion.

Enter Covid-19. California and many other states rushed to issue stay-at-home orders and the world as we knew it was turned upside down. So many more people were working from home. Schools were closed indefinitely. Businesses scrambled to put protective measures in place, some closed their doors, and still others decided to offer their services online.

Our Downtown studio, a place that since 2002 has been an oasis that admits the city, a h-OM-e way from home for so many, was (for the moment) no longer a place we could congregate. We have long believed that sharing the practice of yoga was not just good for the individual, but good for the community.

How could we continue to offer yoga to help people live healthy and happy lives and to foster connection between individuals, building community, right now when people need it the most?

In just two days, we pulled together with staff and students to transition all of our classes online. Questions regarding Zoom ID#s were now as common as namaste. Because our online classes are live and interactive, they have the same feel as practicing in the studio. Teachers and students greet each other in real time. Teachers can watch their students’ alignment and provide feedback and encouragement. Soon we had our groove on and it was inspiring to see everyone really utilizing their yoga practice, way beyond the physical asana –

Holly Wright and David Lloyd got their cat Zimbo to attend classes online!

Allison Page roped her sister Caroline into rolling out her mat regularly next to her.

And the graduates of the Yoga One Teacher Training Winter/Spring 200 Hour course stayed after class for a Catch-Up Party.

It’s been amazing to see the outpouring of love and support from within our community during these challenging times. Small businesses everywhere are hurting right now. When you shop or support a small business like Yoga One, you’re taking one step forward towards the kind of world we all hope to emerge from isolation to find. (Tweet that)

In recent days, we’ve been reviewing our class recordings, trying to determine how and when we might be able to offer them for a streaming service – so students could access quality yoga instruction whenever is most convenient for them. 

What we’ve found is not just hour-long yoga classes: We’ve seen our whole community encouraging each other, sharing updates about their families, offering each other blessings and messages of hope, checking in on teachers and students and neighbors alike. Despite the upset of Covid-19, we have found each other and forged a real, human connection through the portal of the internet.

Our community has adapted and our connection is intact and strong. Yoga means union, or to yoke together. Thank you (yes, you!) for showing us through your presence and your support that we really are all in this together.

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