Posts In: Mission Hills

Flashback from founders Amy and Michael Caldwell Assistant Office Manager Laura McCorry on how she joined Yoga One to nurture a family-owned business and a thriving yoga community.

You probably don’t know me. I practiced with Yoga One last week, but the last time I set foot in the studio was in 2014, at the old Downtown location. I have never been to Mission Hills, yet I see it and think about it, literallyevery day.

Let’s rewind.

In 2010, I moved to San Diego with my spouse. Ready for a change of career and a fresh start, I enrolled in a yoga teacher training program. Yoga had always been there for me – through the tumultuous final years of high school, to the liberation of college life, and the isolation of being a young military spouse.

I finished my 200 hour training in 2011 and threw myself into the San Diego yoga market. If there was a renowned teacher, I would go to their class. I worked out trade agreements with three different studios in exchange for classes and exposure, hoping one of them would hire me to teach.

Then a friend told me about Yoga One. She said it was a great studio, highly respected, and that the owners were the real deal.

On their website at the time, after all the teacher bios, there was a line – “do you want to see yourself here? We’re always looking for authentic and experienced instructors.”

I had been practicing yoga for seven years, in four different states with countless teachers. But I had only been teaching for six months and I wasn’t getting the experience I needed to truly grow as a teacher. Imposter syndrome reared its discouraging head.

A few weeks later, I got a round robin interview with Amy Caldwell. I was elated when I got their email response – “we think your teaching style and Yoga One are a good match.”

I started subbing for Yoga One. I proposed a trade in exchange for classes, but instead of front desk work or cleaning, I wanted something more in line with my skill set. I offered to write a blog for Yoga One and Michael enthusiastically endorsed the project. Eventually, I got a regular class on the schedule, then I started teaching corporate classes for Yoga One.

For years, Amy and Michael had run a tight ship, keeping expenses low while trying to reach as many people as possible. It wasn’t just a business, they truly wanted to see more people thrive through the practice of yoga, just like they had.

But the time had come for the business to grow. By August of 2012, our smart, savvy, uber-friendly office manager Missy had more work than she could handle alone. I joined the tiny staff of Yoga One as assistant office manager, working in the retrofitted dumbwaiter shaft turned office, affectionately called the Nook.

It was everything I had ever wanted. I was doing meaningful, paid work, and with people that I truly admired.

Then in the spring of 2014, I moved away from San Diego. I lost my classes, my students, my administrative position, and worst of all, I lost working alongside my friends. It was the closest thing to a career I had ever experienced, and it was all gone.

All except the blog. Yoga One Blog became my thread of connection to the vibrant community Amy, Michael, and Missy were building. I checked in with Michael once a month or so, mostly over email. It was a shadow of what I once had, but it was real. And it lasted.

Fast forward to January, 2020. Michael called and asked if I’d like to return to the Yoga One staff, working remotely to facilitate opening the Mission Hills location. I had barely begun when March 2020 upended the whole world with the spread of Covid-19. Already familiar with the Zoom platform, I suggested Yoga One use their video chat to broadcast yoga classes to students at home. We transitioned the entire schedule to virtual classes in just two days.

These days, my role at Yoga One is mostly behind the scenes. I manage the blog, our social media schedule, and the On-Demand video library. Like a sous-chef, I do a lot of prepping to lighten the load for Amy, Michael, and Missy. Not only do I enjoy my work, I love working alongside these amazing humans I’ve been blessed to call friends for over a decade.

Flashback from founders Amy and Michael Caldwell Office Manager Missy DiDonato on how she joined Yoga One to nurture a family-owned business and a thriving yoga community.

Yoga found me in Kentucky, of all places. It was 1997 and I was going through the trials and tribulations of being a young teen. I needed a way to channel the pain and angst I felt, so I tried many of the worst avenues – drugs, self-harm, etc.

Nobody could tell me what to do. Yet somehow I knew that the more harmful choices wouldn’t give me what I needed long term.

My mom had a yoga VHS tape. One day, I popped it in. I practiced on the carpet of our living room. I loved stretching and moving my body according to the rhythm of my breath.

We moved back to California two years later. I practiced yoga through high school and into college. Yoga offered me more than temporary relief. 

I started to think yoga might play a bigger role in my life. I began a two-year yoga certification through UCSD in San Diego and became an official yoga teacher in 2010.

At the time, I was working at Pier One. I had great colleagues and I loved that it helped put me through college and allowed me to rent in San Diego. But after six years, I was ready to step back from the retail world. I took a huge pay cut and stepped down from store manager to assistant manager so I could focus on teaching yoga. 

My first group yoga class was at the PAC in La Mesa. It was a medical marijuana distributary focused on wellness. When you’re just starting out, you have to say yes to every opportunity, so I did. 

Students came to yoga looking to relieve their pain and feel more comfortable in their bodies. Many of them had chronic issues or physical limitations and I learned so much from teaching and caring for them. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why they often had a three second delayed response to my cues. Eventually I realized they were stoned! It’s hilarious looking back on it now, but then I wasn’t prepared.

I started to find work as a yoga teacher at a Buddhist retail store and through UCSD Recreation at Rimac. I was feeling more confident and saw that I could make teaching my career, if I found a place that would support my growth and aligned with my long-term goals. 

Then I went to Yoga One. I knew they had been in the yoga business since 2002 and that Amy and Michael were well-respected, but I worried they might be “too cool for school.” 

It was nothing like that! The studio was warm and inviting and the people were even better. I met Michael and yoga teacher Hillary first, falling in love with their friendliness, positive attitudes, and humor. Then I met Amy and yoga teacher Laura and loved their dedication and expertise in yoga. 

It felt like home. I signed up for classes right away. 

I decided to take Yoga One’s Teacher Training to solidify my teaching skills and began a work-trade agreement for part of the tuition. I worked in the Yoga One office, called the Nook (shout out to anyone who remembers why!). 

When my trade hours were finished, we all still wanted to work together. Amy and Michael asked if I would be interested in the position of Office Manager, or OM for short. That was 10 years ago this May. 

I can’t imagine my life without Yoga One. Amy and Michael have been there for me through some pivotal life moments, through the loss of my step-mom and my dog, and the birth of my daughter. As a team, we’ve weathered a pandemic and the opening of a beautiful new studio. 

Yoga helped me find my calling for helping people. Yoga One supported me as I grew into a confident and capable teacher and healer. I can’t wait for our next chapter. 

This interview originally published on Canvas Rebel

CR: Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Michael: Amy and I had just returned to the United States after backpacking abroad for three and half years. She got a job working at a great family-run produce distribution company and I became the account manager for a boutique graphic design studio.

One of the first clients I worked with at the studio was Mitchell Repair Information Company. The company innovated “the automotive industry’s first collision estimating guides to include parts illustrations, prices and part numbers.”

During our staff brainstorming sessions, names were offered and debated. Thinking of premiere cars world-wide, Formula 1 racing seemed to me to be the pinnacle, and so I suggested the name, “Mitchell 1.” It stuck.

Not long after that, Amy was getting ready to open up our yoga studio. Since it worked well for a nationwide company like Mitchell, I suggested “Yoga One.”

Additionally, we had recently gotten married. Instead of wedding rings, we had the “eka” symbol tattooed on our ring fingers, symbolizing “we are one” (see the flower like image growing out of the “Y” in the Yoga One logo). Furthermore, yoga means “to yoke/join” or “union.” One divided by one is one and the practice of yoga helps individuals to become more “one” with themselves and the world.

Plus, we always strive to be the best studio in the world, numero uno, number 1! So the name is also aspirational.

In short, Yoga One came from an automotive manual writing company. (:

CR: Can take a moment to introduce Yoga One to our readers?

Michael: Since 2002, Yoga One has been helping people to live healthier and happier lives. We share the joys and benefits of yoga, but what we really provide is a forum to increase self-awareness, skills for individuals to be their best selves, and a positive, open, non-competitive, welcoming, and supportive community. We foster relationships – the individual with self, and with others. We offer a beautiful space for people to set aside their worries, responsibilities and stress so they can return to the world refreshed, stronger, more flexible and with increased mindfulness.

Yoga One is a woman and black owned family business. We treat our staff and students as family. We are fortunate to have been practicing yoga since 1997.

Our vibrant, airy studio with canyon views in Mission Hills is also a community space for workshops, classes, gatherings, events, exhibits, book clubs, acoustic concerts, learning, growing, sharing, laughing, loving and connecting. We look forward to seeing you there!

CR: How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Michael: It was March, 2019. For the previous 18 years we had shared the joys and benefits of yoga with thousands of San Diego residents and visitors via our award-winning Downtown studio on 7th Avenue. For several years, it had also been a dream of ours to open a studio in our neighborhood of Mission Hills. Our children attended the public schools in the area and we wanted to connect with and give back to our community.

With the help of our friends, Johnny and Renee of Wolf in the Woods wine bar, we found the perfect spot to open our second studio, on the beautiful Fort Stockton Drive. We were planning a grand opening celebration for April 1st, 2019. Then Covid-19 hit and San Diego, like so many places, went into lock down.

Our new studio was put on ice and our Downtown location locked up. Within two days of the stay at home mandate, and thanks largely to our amazing team – Missy and Laura, we brought our entire schedule online via zoom. We were able to quickly shift some of our corporate clients online as well. We will be forever grateful to our generous and wonderful students who maintained their memberships and stuck by us throughout such challenging times. In turn, we were able to keep our full staff and maintain their pre-Covid schedules.

Yoga teaches us to be strong, flexible and present. The circumstances surrounding Covid-19 certainly put our practice to the test. We feel so fortunate to have these tools to take care of ourselves mentally and physically. All of us at Yoga One look forward to continuing to offer and grow our services – enriching the well-being of as many people as possible! We now are offering classes in-studio, in Presidio Park, live online and on-demand, with some of our students and companies across the country.

Read the full article here!

Thanks to CBS 8 for featuring Yoga One in a segment on Mission Hills, San Diego. We’re proud to be located in such a beautiful and historic neighborhood, not to mention our beautiful and historic building! Yoga One is excited to offer this space back to the community – for movement, for meditation, and for gathering.

Watch the whole segment here on CBS 8

Yoga One was so excited to celebrate with our neighbors and neighboring businesses at an Open House this month! The 1920 Fort Stockton Building has been many things over the years, and we’re proud to represent its next chapter. We wish a hearty welcome to the newly opened Wolf in the Woods Wine Bar.

Yoga One Teacher and Co-Founder Michael Caldwell answers This or That? Yoga Edition

?Vinyasa Flow most of the time, Restorative when I’m wise enough to attend.

?Lounge pants for me, please and thank you. Shorts when it’s hot.

?Morning, afternoon and evening. Any time of day I’m practicing is the best time of day!

?Let’s simultaneously sweat a little and have lots of fun.

?While it’s difficult to know which came first, the chicken or the egg or why the chicken crossed the road, it is likely universal that inversions should precede Savasana. And inversions before Savasana are like peanut butter and chocolate. Better together!

?Our new Mission Hills studio is so wonderful it feels like we are practicing outside (and with the benefits of inside! Yay!

Visit us at 1920 Fort Stockton, San Diego, CA 92103 or Yoga One San Diego to see our full class schedule and plan your visit!

“Hi friends of Yoga One! I know some of you have seen our beautiful new space in Mission Hills, but I just wanted to welcome you in again and let you know that we’re super excited to see you in studio, online, and in Presidio Park.

We’re really looking forward to continuing to build and enhance community and wellness. Wishing you a beautiful day!” – Amy Caldwell, Co-Founder and head teacher of Yoga One

Jackie leads a Levels 1 & 2 Sunrise Flow class on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:30am Pacific. Join us in person at our Mission Hills studio or online via Zoom. Visit www.yogaonesandiego.com to register or for more information.

1. How does yoga show up in your life right now?

Yoga provides balance in my life. I live with generalized anxiety disorder, so when it feels impossible to settle my mind and like my chest is going to explode, I’ll do a quick flow of half sun salutations. Even a 5-minute practice helps me regroup, focus on my breath, and connect with the present moment.

In this past year, yoga has given me a sense of community in a time of isolation. With so much violence and hate in our world, yoga continues to teach and to remind me that love, compassion, and empathy still exist. 

2. Where are you experiencing growth as a yoga teacher and/or practitioner?

As a practitioner, I’m learning how to enjoy lying in savasana. Yoga teaches us to connect our internal and external experiences together. Lingering in an external experience (like a physically restful pose) can be challenging for me because of what happens internally – heavy thoughts and feelings often ruminate in my mind and heart. When I’m able to connect to these feelings through an asana practice followed by the stillness of savasana, the flood gates open and I start crying. However, I’m growing and learning to find joy in this experience rather than constantly fighting it out of fear.

3. What’s your favorite kind of burrito and why?

All burritos are my favorite because I love food! I just love eating, especially anything that can be nicely wrapped inside of a giant tortilla. If I’m feeling like a homebody, the one thing that’ll get me to put on my shoes and leave the house is if someone says, “hey, wanna get a burrito?” Doesn’t matter what kind, I’m there. 

Ben leads an All Levels Candlelight Flow class on Wednesdays at 7pm Pacific. Join us in person at our Mission Hills studio or online via Zoom. Visit www.yogaonesandiego.com to register or for more information.

1. How does yoga show up in your life right now?

Yoga is showing up for me in more subtle ways than before, in more of my daily, ordinary life tasks and routines. The differences between on and off my mat are becoming less stark and more fluid. Yoga is showing up in my relationships and interactions with others, I’m seeing myself in more and different ways and seeing myself in more and different people. My practice of yoga is becoming a practice of life.

2. Where are you experiencing growth as a yoga teacher and/or practitioner?

The most noticeable growth is how I’m finding my authenticity, both as a student and as a teacher. The more authentic I can be as a student, the more my teachers are able to see ways to offer assistance. And the more authentic I can be as a teacher, the more my students are able to see my skills and limitations; where I can offer assistance and where I cannot. It’s a practice, but I find I have more time to discover my authentic self when I’m not trying to be what I think others expect from a student or a teacher.

3. What’s your favorite kind of burrito and why?

My favorite burrito is a bean and cheese, add rice and guacamole with a side of sour cream for dipping. My best friend would order one like this when I was younger. One day I ordered it and I was hooked ever since. And now, whenever I eat this burrito I think of her.

 

Thank you for 18 OMazing years!

We are so grateful to all of you outstanding teachers, students and friends. We hope to continue to share the joys and benefits of yoga together for many more years to come! Thank you, thank you! We feel so grateful.
Namaste, Michael & Amy

Thank you to all of our students, now and throughout the years, for your presence and help in building this vibrant and diverse community called the Yoga One family. Thank you, thank you to everyone who contributed to this video and the following testimonials.

I wish the Yoga One family an amazing 18^th birthday – so thankful for the great instructors, the empathy they show and the calm they bring to our harried lives, especially these days! – Sandeep A.

Congratulations on 18 years! Yoga One teachers and community have pretty much saved me. I was going through an extremely difficult time in my personal life and their classes kept me sane. I appreciate them working so hard to make the online classes work. I am looking forward to the Mission Hills studio opening and seeing everyone in person again. – Emily W.

Happy Birthday to Yoga One! While I’m fairly new to the studio, it’s no surprise that Amy and Michael have been so successful. Their love of the practice and genuine interest in fostering student and instructor well-being shines throughout every aspect of the experience (even in Zoom). I have practiced yoga off and on throughout studios across the country and this is the first time I’ve felt like I found “the one”. Special shout out to Missy and all of the instructors that make Yoga One so fantastic 🙂 Thanks for all that you do and looking forward to Mission Hills opening soon! – Kelly B.