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by Hannah Faulkner

This article was originally published on Half Moon Yoga and Art Blog.

As I was walking out of Yoga One studio on a lovely July day in San Diego, a posted flyer caught my eye. “Summer Challenge- Complete 20 classes in 30 days- Ends August 30th.”

The following are the lessons that I learned in August from Yoga One’s amazing instructors:

Never Stop Learning
-Amy Caldwell

Amy Caldwell, co-owner of Yoga One and twice featured on the cover of Yoga Journal, is a beacon of light.  She emanates joy from every angle as she is never seen without a smile.  After over 20 years of yoga practice, she is able to bend her body in ways that I didn’t know was possible.  As a teacher, she emphasizes “playing” around with difficult poses.  She offers options with blocks and straps to begin to open up each body to the possibility of getting the pose someday, but mostly it’s all about the journey.

“They might not be your favorite poses, but they are good for you!” – Michael Caldwell

Husband to Amy and also the co-owner of Yoga One, Michael offers an everyday approach to yoga.  Through jokes and references to popular culture, he leads the class through alignment-based intense stretches that he likes to call “Brussel Sprouts.”  These essential postures might not always “taste” the best while we are doing them, but they offer the ease that we need in our everyday life and more challenging yoga poses.  Through deep breathing, we stretch our wrists, feet arches, and shoulders as well as building core and arm strength. My favorite postures in his class were the subtle airport stretches for our shoulders, using the wall, as he imitated waiting around in an airport and joked about the individuals who make a scene doing Downward Facing Dog in the center of the waiting area.  I laughed because I love doing subtle yoga in the airport.

Amy Freeman has been teaching yoga for almost 15 years. Amy’s goal is to help her students find and maintain a peaceful mind and body through effort and ease and she leads as a beautiful example. She starts each class with a slow meditation and develops in to a powerful alignment flow. One of the most unique prompts that Amy gives during Savasana (final resting pose), is reminding us to relax each part of our body individually. “Feet, knees, legs…relax. Hips, back, shoulders…relax. Ears, nose, tongue…relax. Eyelids, eyebrows, space between your eyebrows…relax. Forehead, scalp, chin…relax. Everything relax.”

I’ve been going to Sarah’s class for years. There’s a familiarity and sense of home in the setting that she offers. Her playlist is always the same, but sets just the right mood for connecting your mind and body through sounds. Every week she sets a different inner focus on non-reaction, compassion, or contentment. She has guided me through detailed alignment adjustments as well as encouraging me to pause at the end of every exhale, or squeeze my glutes. During every class at some point she will remind us to soften our tongue and not hold tension in our face, but instead to breathe deeply through any slight discomfort.

Kairou is an enthusiastic and energetic instructor.  I attended her class after hearing students say that they got their butt kicked in her class.  They were not kidding.  Her classes are filled with intense arm strengthening repetitions and core poses.  She creates an interesting flow with side plank and tiger variations that will build your sweat quickly.  One day she started class with explaining how sometimes we struggle through a yoga class because we forget to eat or drink enough water.  She said that she came to this realization this morning when she was light-headed after practicing this sequence.  Then, about halfway through teaching the class she corrected herself and admitted, “or maybe this sequence is just really that hard!” However, because of these intense sequences, I have been able to use my new core strength lift into tripod from the center of a room.  Also, as a Licensed Massage Therapist, she surprised me with a totally relaxing Savasana massage!

Dina has a strong voice of a leader that reminds you to breathe. In her class, I feel that we hold poses a bit longer than in some of the other classes that I attend. However, she challenges me to find the ease in this stillness, after I’ve found my expression of the pose with some tension. This inner concentration is the key part of yoga called Dharana that leads to peace and oneness.

Inspired by an extensive background in the movement arts (Acro-Yoga, Tai Chi, Contact Improv Dance, African Dance, and Rhythmic Gymnastics), Mara creates new poses as we constantly flow with our breath. I feel like a dancer in her class as she radiates the beauty of being one with your body. In Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose with the variation in wide leg stretch, she instructed us to reach up and feel that our knees are facing the same direction and protruding for the same amount. Mara highlights the importance of being balanced and equally stretched on both sides.

I admire Zaquia for her intricate choice of words throughout her class. She has a detailed understanding of human anatomy and she strongly underlines the concept of the greater your effort, the greater your reward. She teaches a power flow, connecting breath with movement, in the early morning that quickly awakens my heart and concentration. From her I’ve learned Fallen Tree and seen that it is possible to rise from Low Squat, Malasana, to Bird of Paradise, Svarga Dvijasana, using a strong balanced core. She has inspired me to take the extra chaturanga.

I only went to one of Terri’s classes during this month, but I enjoyed her emphasis on stretching with the blocks and straps. Instead of giving us the option to use block or not, she gave solid instructions to use the block even if you think you don’t need it. The flow was slow and she accentuated the importance of closing your eyes and focusing on your steady breath in each pose. She used a variety of interesting transitions to slide from one pose to another. I ended up feeling lengthened and spacious throughout my day.

by Amy Caldwell

This piece originally published on Yoga Digest

Dance

We’ve moved four times in the past year.  I’ve packed and unpacked, made hundreds of lists, sorted and simplified.  At times, amidst the chaos, I’ve wanted to drown myself in a good bottle of red wine (and done so).  Yet I’ve also danced, joyfully and lovingly, with each family member; a slow sweet dance with our eleven year old daughter to Sean Hayes in the kitchen of our tiniest rental, merengue to “Suavemente” with my husband, and our seven year old son learned to waltz near the Christmas tree at our final move, our new (very old) home.

At these times particularly, I remember that which we seek is already at hand. Feeling at “home” wherever we are is our true nature. No matter where we are or what we are doing, that which we seek is already inside each and every one of us…and all around us. However, it seems as humans we often forget this essential truth. That’s where suffering enters. Dancing can help us embrace the present moment.

Find Your Space

Special people, places, situations or activities may help facilitate easier remembrance. Some meditation teachers recommend looking at the sky to reconnect to the big energy. Often being in nature or resting in Savasana (corpse pose a.k.a. final resting posture) after a balanced yoga practice can open the doors of perception to the deep peace of what being “home” feels like.

For me, as strange as it may seem, Coachella music festival is one of those places where deeper connection happens. A sea of diverse peoples, sights, smells, and of course sounds – Coachella can be akin to world traveling. Although it’s not far in terms of actual distance from my San Diego home, it is worlds away from my day-to-day experience (caring for a family and owning / operating a yoga studio).

Get Out of the Rut

While perhaps one might think, “Ah, yoga teacher, her life must be fancy free…” I encounter the same responsibilities as many adults. I pay bills, aim to conscientiously raise my children and maintain a healthy relationship with my husband of 20 years while managing teachers and staff, growing our business and making it a priority to maintain my own yoga practice and self-care.

In our day-to-day lives, there is often a routine, a rhythm that becomes like a groove on a vinyl record (“samskara” or “samsara” aka conditioned existence or stored mental and physical aversions).  When we step out into a new or different situation or environment, there is no blueprint. This phenomenon can provide an opportunity to be connected to our child-like, open presence. So for me, an out of the ordinary experience such as Coachella is like a reset button, reminding me to wake up and truly embrace the moment.

Listen to What Speaks to You

One of my first yoga teachers advised, pay attention to that which speaks to you. I agree it is essential question to ask our selves, “Where do I feel connected to the ‘big energy’? What helps me feel at ‘home’?” Then equally important, is to really listen for your unique personal answer.  Another technique to arrive in the present (where, of course, we already are) is to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and fully pay attention to the complete inhale and complete exhale – why not give it a try and notice how you feel (so simple but effective!).

Yoga practice is a useful tool to help us recognize our connectedness to each other, all living things and ourselves.  It isn’t about changing anything or adding anything. And, we definitely don’t need to constantly try new things to feel enlivened. But we can fully enjoy the many journeys of our life while remembering the comfort of our inner “home”.

So whether at Coachella with your best friends immersed in a sea of 90,000 plus pulsating, dancing, smiling fellow humans, on your yoga mat, or even driving your car, as my favorite teacher Diana Beardsley says, how wonderful “that every moment is an opportunity for ecstatic reunion.”

– Originally published at: http://yogadigest.com/ecstatic-reunion-tips-remembering-connectedness-present-moment/#sthash.oIfcgqjc.dpuf

 

Head Yoga Teacher and Co-Founder of Yoga One, Amy Caldwell has dedicated herself to the practice, study and teaching of yoga since discovering its joys and benefits in 1997.

by Laura McCorry

Have you always admired that person with the clutter-free, minimalist home but assumed it was a mythical ideal you’d never achieve? Minimalism doesn’t have to be a complete lifestyle change that has you throwing out all your stuff!

Increasing your awareness of how you interact with objects in everyday life can be hugely beneficial to your yoga practice, too. Minimalism is essentially the practice of Aparigraha – the yogic principle of non-hoarding, or non-possesiveness, and one of the five Yamas which describe a code of moral behavior.

Here are five easy steps you can take to make a minimalist impact on your day to day:

1. Identify everyday chores and do them everyday. Make the bed. Do the dishes. These will be different for everyone, but choose no more than five chores that you consider essential to enjoying your time at home. Take the time to accomplish these tasks first and then allow yourself to enjoy their completion. Learning to appreciate the everyday maintenance work you do is an important step towards feeling content with what you already have.

2. Take note of your shopping and buying habits. When do you accumulate more items in your home? Write down or think about everything new to cross your threshold in the last two weeks and decide if these items were things that you needed or things that you wanted. Becoming aware of the accumulation process will help you reduce the number of new things you bring into your home in the first place, which goes a long way towards eliminating the need to sort and downsize.

3. Start a give-away box and actually give it away. One of the major tenets of minimalism is actually down-sizing and living with less (surprise!). Pick a room or a closet or even just a shelf and get rid of any object you haven’t used in the last year. You can even start this task by mentally sorting ahead of time and then moving quickly through the manual sorting into keep and giveaway. Anything you couldn’t remember being in that location should automatically be considered for giveaway.

Another technique is to take everything out of the space, clean it thoroughly and then only put back what you want to keep. At the end of the day, take the box to your local thrift store. Take the time to enjoy your newly refreshed space.

4. Identify and eliminate redundancies. It’s natural to desire change and to update items in your home with the newest or trendiest version. If this is important to you, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a minimalist! The trick is to let go of the older version or the excess of what you already have.

Pick a category of items and decide how many of those items you need for your household to function well. Some categories to consider: cleaning supplies, linens, clothing, mugs or dish ware, and entertainment items like books, CDs and DVDs. When you change your focus from trying to carefully re-organize a closet to fit all the things to identifying the function of each thing, it becomes easy to see duplicates (or even triplicates) that can be let go.

5. Use sorting as an opportunity to give a gift to a friend. Sometimes just giving away items can feel overwhelming, especially if they were a gift or have sentimental value. For example, I recently decided to significantly downsize my jewelry and only keep what I regularly wear. There were many pieces with meaning from an earlier time in my life which I didn’t wear anymore and a surprising number of pieces I’d never liked in the first place. Some went straight to giveaway but others I chose to send to close friends who might enjoy them, writing a short note to say hello at the same time. It was a great way to pass on the jewelry I didn’t want to give away as well as reaffirm old friendships.

If you’re just getting started on your minimalist journey, start small and feel proud when you attempt even one of these suggestions. It takes time and dedication to see all the ways our mainstream “more is better” culture influences daily life. If you get stuck along the way, repeat this minimalist mantra: have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

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

by Monique Minahan

“Yoga is the only thing that makes sense right now,” a student commented to the teacher before class.

It was a simple yet powerful statement that most of us can relate to. We’ve all been there at some time in our lives. Life becomes so busy, overwhelming, crazy, problematic, or stressful, and yoga provides a kind of virtual sanctuary that allows us to rest, recharge, and refuel on a deep internal level.

Physiologically, when we experience stress, anxiety, frustration, or other negative emotional states our breathing is impacted. Our breathing rate increases as our depth of breath decreases. This change in our respiration has a direct impact on our heart rhythm, which in turn affects our entire body.

When we go to yoga we are asked to do something very simple. We’re asked to turn our attention to our breath.

When we consciously lengthen and deepen our breath, such as through ujjayi pranayama, we are actually changing our heart rhythm and thus the neural patterns that are sent to the areas of our brains that regulate our emotional and mental functioning.

Effectuating positive change on the level of the breath, the fourth of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga, we find ourselves better equipped to face our inner and outer worlds after an hour of yoga.

On top of this breath awareness we layer asana, the postures we practice and the third limb of yoga. Asana has been shown to raise our brain’s GABA levels. GABA is a neurotransmitter in our brains that has a calming effect on our central nervous system.

It makes me wonder what would happen if we practiced all eight limbs of yoga instead of just the two most common ones, breath and posture.

The phenomenal thing about yoga is that it never changes. We change.

The poses don’t change, the breathing doesn’t change, the process doesn’t change. Where we are in our lives changes, where our body is at changes, what we’re experiencing on emotional, physical, and spiritual levels changes.

Your first down dog at the beginning of class doesn’t feel like your last one. Tomorrow’s hip or heart openers may be easier or harder than today’s. Each movement and each breath is a doorway into your present moment, your present body, and your present state of being.

Yoga brings us home to our bodies, although I find it’s sometimes more like a vacation home than a real home. I visit it when I do yoga and sometimes leave it uninhabited when I head back (literally head back) out into my “real” world.

B.K.S. Iyengar says, “It is through your body that you realize you are a spark of divinity.”

Through our body and through our breath we tap into deeper, freer levels of being that get buried under the stress or busyness of our lives.

This is unmapped and uncharted territory that requires vulnerability, compassion, courage, and a willingness to meet ourselves where we are on any given day.

Our yoga practice brings us to the doorway of our body and welcomes us home. How long we choose to stay is up to us.

 

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

This has been a month full of celebrations! On October 7th, we celebrated Yoga One’s 10 Year Anniversary with old and new students, our wonderful teachers and many dear friends. (If you missed the slideshow, you can see it here.) And this Tuesday, October 23rd, marks Yoga One Blog’s first birthday!

It all started one year ago when yoga student and teacher Laura McCorry fell in love with Yoga One and wanted a way to get to know the studio better. Many yogis have personal blogs but not many yoga studios publish a blog and Laura saw a real opportunity to take the amazing sense of community at Yoga One and bring it to a virtual home for a much wider audience.

From our humble beginnings last October with only 49 page views to last month’s record 561 views, Yoga One Blog has been growing steadily! In the next year, we’ll be adding more awesome yoga stories, interviews with instructors and students, guest posts from experts on yoga philosophy and Ayurveda, and more.

In honor of this very special day, we encourage you to –

• Share this page with your email list, facebook friends or twitter followers
• Check out our very first post – Welcome Home 
• Enter the Giveaway! After all, what good is a celebration without presents?!

To enter, answer this simple question: Why Yoga?

Post your answer in the comments section and be entered to win free classes and other fun Yoga One goodies! Winners will be chosen on November 1st and announced on the blog and on our facebook page. We look forward to reading your responses!

This week we’re checking in with what the most recent Yoga Teacher Training alumni have to say about the course! They spent eight weeks putting their intention into action: learning about yoga’s history, philosophy, practice and many varied styles. Through lectures, readings, classes and time spent practice teaching, they’ve grown as individuals and teachers and we’re excited to share some of their experiences here on the blog. It’s never to soon to act on your intention. Click on the following link to find out more and sign up for the 2013 Yoga One Teacher Training Course.

Liz H: At Yoga One, I really feel like we were encouraged to explore the uniqueness of our own yoga. We were taught to tune in and honor what was going on inside of us as individuals, moment to moment, day to day, without judgement. What yogic paths appeal to us? What kinds of practice work best for us in this moment? Who are we and what do we bring to class as yogis? Yes, we’ve learned proper alignment, how to appropriately adjust poses- these are important things, without a doubt, but at Yoga One I learned that wherever I am in my practice is a beautiful, honorable place. When I honor my own practice with sincerity and if I share this in my teaching, that right there is a powerful, inspirational class. I can take this with me for the rest of my life and I believe it will never cease to serve me.

Karen A: I’m so grateful that I had the amazing opportunity to be part of the 2012 YTT. Amy and Michael have always been so welcoming with students at Yoga One; they make you feel as family and are always encouraging you to push your limits. In order for this to become a fulfilling experience you need great mentors, both Amy and Diana were amazing. They helped us learn a lot about yoga, its philosophy and proper alignment, but this experience goes way beyond the physical body, it encompasses the spirit and your true connection with what lies within. It was a life transforming experience that has taken me to a more spiritual and mindful way of life.

Mariellen M: Yoga One’s teacher training course was exciting, exhausting and exhilarating! I recently experienced a trying time and was surprised at this stage of my life to feel insecure, doubting myself. The course provided me with self confidence and reminded me that I do not need to doubt myself: I am capable, I can learn new things and face challenges. The challenge, the support and nurturing nature of the teachers and other students will stay with me always.

Valerie H: The YTT program is transformative, pure and full of love. I had many expectations because I typically have very lofty and imaginative expectations; all were met and surpassed. The bonds that are made are everlasting and priceless. The experience is only what you make of it, enjoy it while it flashes by you. It’s an extremely intense program with more information than you’ll ever ask for, with an overflowing combined knowledge of Diana Beardsley, Amy Caldwell, and Michael Caldwell. As always with very potent situations for growth there are even more difficult obstacles to overcome. Without fail I faced more challenges during these eight weeks than at any other time in my life! It was as if life wanted to not only test me but this teacher training and the practice of yoga itself. The web of life is spun in incredibly magical ways, you just have to open your eyes to see it.

Missy D: Yoga One’s teacher training course can be summed up in three words: dedication, community, compassion. I would definitely recommend YTT to a friend! Try to set aside your expectations and go along for the ride. Every weekend you’ll uncover another level of your self. I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be, exactly when I was supposed to be there at the first information meeting. Amy, Michael, Hillary, & Diana just felt like family and the people that I was supposed to spend an important part of my life with. And every class, no matter how exhausted I was, it felt right, it felt like this was an experience that would affect me for the rest of my life. The welcoming nature of everyone at Yoga One makes me feel like I’m at home. No other studio makes me feel this way. And I hope to continue to make people feel at home through my interactions with them, too!

Shawna F: The yoga teacher training at Yoga One was one of the most transformational experiences in my life. I’ve always been naturally flexible, able to twist and bend into many poses without strain. I thought this was great and my ego definitely got a boost from this natural “ability.” What I didn’t realize prior to the training was that I lacked the strength to find safety and stability in most poses. As a result, I frequently injured myself or felt slightly unbalanced after practice. Throughout the training, I realized that this aversion to strength was a common thread in the way I lived my life. I remember once hearing a yoga teacher say, “people do their yoga in the same way that they live their lives.” I started to notice how I lacked strength in my life in small ways. I didn’t always speak up when I was hurt or I buried my feelings when I felt them inappropriate. The basic principles of alignment gave me a new perspective on the physical poses as well as new inspiration for way I want to live my life. I realized that I need a balance of flexibility and strength. For me, that means moving past fear of judgment to make decisions from my heart, speaking up about what’s important to me and doing things that may be a bit scary – like teaching yoga to a room full of strangers!

I also realized how much I love to help people feel good about themselves. Following the training I’ve discovered more than ever that teaching and sharing yoga feeds my soul. I feel like I’m serving my purpose in life when the session is over and the student is glowing. The experience of the training helped me realize that there is so much more that I want from life. From the alignment concepts, to pranayama (breath control), to the wonderful people who shared my experience, the training was truly an event of coming home for me. I’m so grateful to Amy, Diana and Michael for sharing their love and skill of the yoga practice. I hope I can continue to learn from them and many others.

Yoga One will hold a free and informal Yoga One Teacher Training informational meeting on Sunday, May 6th from 5:00-6:30pm. Please RSVP to info@yogaonesandiego.com or 619-294-7461 and let us know if you will be able to attend by Thursday, May 4th.

Light refreshments will be provided. Meet instructors and previous and potential participants. Check out the manuals and texts. Begin to act on your intention to be the change you wish to see in the world.

Whenever I walk into REI I’m simultaneously excited about all the wonderful outdoors-y things that people do, things that I could be doing if I only had the right gear, and amazed that there’s an industry dedicated to taking something as simple as say, hiking, and making it complex by selling things to enhance the experience. Granted, there are many activities that simply wouldn’t be possible without the right gear – whoever heard of canoeing without a canoe, or skiing without skis? But there are other activities like hiking, running or (dare I say it?) yoga that require next to nothing when you really get down to basics.

What do you really need in order to practice yoga? I found this thought running through my head while I was out of town on vacation for two weeks. I had dutifully packed my suitcase with my ipod, yoga pants, a few sports bras, travel mat and even some essential oils to take with me, fully intending to keep up my regular practice even while bombarded by family and friends and baked goods. But when I sat down in the living room before everyone else was awake and thought about it, yoga doesn’t need those things. As long as you have comfortable clothes that move with your body, you’ll be able to do the poses you usually do. And sure, having a mat is nice, especially when your hands start to slip on the carpet in downward facing dog – but is even that necessary?

As I moved through a sun salutation in silence, I realized how stiff my joints felt and how my muscles didn’t bend the way they usually did. Listening only to my body, without the voice of a teacher nearby, I decided to do another sun salutation, then another and another until I felt limber enough to try something else. By the time I finished my practice, I realized I’d done much less than I usually would have done in a class. It wasn’t a full hour of practice and I’d only opted to do five or six standing poses and double the number of lying down poses as usual. Maybe it wasn’t the best practice ever and I know myself well enough to know I do not prosper without the regular guidance of teachers and established class times at the studio – but it was yoga on my terms, the kind of yoga my body told me to do – which is yoga in its most basic form.

There are many things in life that would be nice to have. I find myself thinking all the time about how a particular new mat would be better than the one I have, how my workout clothes are wearing out and I should probably buy some new ones, and that maybe I would be better about practicing at home if only I had a block, strap and woven blanket like at the studio. It’s nice to take a step back and think about the things that are really necessary for yoga practice: a quiet space, comfortable clothes, a heart willing to listen to the teacher within.

namaste,
Laura

Some of the best words you can hear in life (other than “congratulations, you’ve just won the lottery!” of course) would have to be “welcome home.” Two simple words that express so much: first, that you were somewhere else before and secondly, that someone was waiting at home to welcome you back. I’ve moved around a lot in life and consequently the word “home” has taken a beating. It becomes next to impossible to hang on to the old definition of home as a specific location. Instead, home is elevated to an idea, a feeling, an experience created by the presence of those you love.

Just over a year ago, I moved to San Diego from the east coast and I immediately liked the city. But for awhile, it didn’t feel real to me, much less like someplace I could call home. Every day felt like I was on vacation (am I right, fellow transplants?) and by the time Fall rolled around I was itching for leaf piles and scarves and that smell in the air that means it’s going to snow.

A funny thing happens though, when you settle in somewhere and establish a routine. You meet new people, find a social circle, maybe even a few good friends. Looking back on all the moves I’ve had, there’s a common theme: the moment I start to feel at home in a new place happens concurrently with the moment I find a new yoga community. It’s no accident, either. The yoga studio is a place where people bring all of themselves and where they find the practice they started to feel better in their bodies leaves them feeling better in their hearts and minds as well.

When I finally started to feel at home in San Diego, I read these words in an email, “we look forward to having you in the Yoga One family!” Family. A word so closely associated with home. There’s something really special happening at Yoga One and you can feel it from the moment you step through the door. With your family, you have a shared history of experiences so that every time you meet up, you don’t need to explain everything that’s going on. There’s continuity there, a never-ending conversation, if you will.

Here’s a place where we can keep that conversation going; to take what happens in class and spend some more time on the details or reflect on the bigger picture. I’m excited to offer the Yoga One community a new place to call home on the internet. I invite your regular participation on this blog and I look forward to creating new memories together.

namaste,
Laura