Posts In: OM

Do you take your yoga with you when you travel? 

Our Yoga One family has spread to all corners of the globe and we’re excited to share some of their adventures.

Caitlin McPhee:

Anjanae and I, left and center, met during our YTT at Yoga One. This summer we went backpacking in Colorado together! While hiking, we reflected on the ease of practicing mindfulness while hiking and camping in nature (in the sense of our heightened ability to focus on the here and now) and how these activities perfectly compliment our yoga practice.

No matter where you go, you can Keep OM Trucking with Yoga One! Visit Yoga One at 1150 7th Avenue to get your own hat and while you’re there, join us for class. 

Do you take your yoga with you when you travel? 

Our Yoga One family has spread to all corners of the globe and we’re excited to share some of their adventures.

Amy Freeman, Yoga One Teacher:

We were in Telluride, Colorado over July 4th week on a family trip. That was a beautiful waterfall hike we did called Cornet Creek Falls. I also took a few yoga classes there at a studio in the village called Mangala Yoga.

No matter where you go, you can Keep OM Trucking with Yoga One! Visit Yoga One at 1150 7th Avenue to get your own hat and while you’re there, join us for class. 

by Olivia Cecchettini

The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul

by: Danielle LaPorte

Summary: Part workbook, part engaging read, The Desire Map may change the way you think and feel about your goals – which in turn will change the way you pursue them. Danielle LaPorte challenges you to look within and to be honest with yourself about your desires. Consciously or unconsciously, many of us hide our true desires by trying to please others or detaching from our own truth. This book will help you identify your core desires and create not just a goal line, but a “soul line” of how you want to feel and be in the world. This is so powerful!

Why I love It: I always wanted the ability to manifest my desires but it never worked for me in the past. The Desire Map helped me identify my Core Desired Feelings (CDF, as LaPorte calls them) and this change in perspective allowed me to see incongruent intentions and actions that were holding me back. When my goals came into alignment with my higher self, I started to see those goals manifest in my life… very cool!

One of the best tools to clarify your intentions and goals is simply to put pen to paper. By writing them out, I began to see which goals and CDFs were the most important to me. Here are a few questions from LaPorte that I thought would be encouraging and fun to share along with my answers:

I crave…. new places, long conversations, sunsets, and sometimes sugar
Other than time or money, what I want more of is… experiences and memories
I need to give myself more permission to be… more reclusive
The colour of joy is… light, darkness, and blue
If I whisper the word bliss… I close my eyes and think of the longest sunset over the ocean
I feel vulnerable when… I share my deepest feelings
In crisis… I breathe, freak out, stay calm, or cry, depends on the day.
When feeling free and strong I tend to… practice a more challenging flow, my personal practice is very gentle at the moment, but every now and then I crave a very strong power class.
If delight were an animal, it would be… the cutest pug ever named Z
I am proud of… completing my Masters in Spiritual Psychology and paying for it as I went along by myself. No debt.

These are just a few of her excellent questions to help you dive deeper in knowing your inner self and your feelings.

Recommended For: Anyone feeling blocked or held back in life, whether it’s mental or physical or emotional. Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world, so all change must start within! This book can help you take an emotional inventory, which will create more awareness of what you can let go and where you can make space for new ways of being and feeling. The Desire Map has been called a dream-fulfilling system that harnesses your soul’s deep desire to feel good – I hope it does just that for you.

Olivia Cecchettini
Contributing Writer

Olivia’s yoga journey began in 2003. She is certified in Vinyasa, Hatha, and Aerial Yoga and holds a Masters degree in Spiritual Psychology. She believes the mind, body, soul connection is sacred and encourages her students explore and expand within their own bodies and consciousnesses.

by Laura McCorry

Becoming a parent can you leave physically exhausted and sore all over at the end of the day. Here’s a run-down of all the yoga poses you may not have realized you’re already doing!
Plank Pose – Might as well do your own ten minutes a day of tummy time while the little one is down on the floor.

Crescent Pose (dynamic) – Keep baby upright while you pick something up off the floor. Pro tip: remember to alternate which leg is in front.

Boat Pose – Your baby is sleeping on your chest but you need to burp her, gently move from high to low boat and pat her back.
Chair Pose – Load your laundry machine because your darling baby can’t be separated from you for even ten minutes at a time.

Seated Forward Fold – You can play with baby while seated if your hamstrings allow your torso to move forward.

Child’s Pose – Baby gets to feel snuggled in close and you get some relief for your lower back!

Ujjayi Breath – Babies actually regulate their breathing based on their caregiver’s breath. When you’ve done everything you can but baby is still crying, a nice, loud ujjayi will keep as least one of you calm.

Om – No lie, my partner would lean over our fussy baby on our bed and om and she would instantly quiet down. Magical sound of the universe indeed!

Savasana – Nope, sorry, this isn’t compatible with baby. It’s just called sleeping whenever you get the chance.

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

I start with ajna, the third eye chakra. It might seem like any chakra practice should proceed from bottom-up, but working with the lower chakras can dig up some dirt… so to speak. Connecting with ajna first helps me step back and observe the meditation process as it unfolds.

“Ommmmm,” I chant it slowly, visualizing the sound vibrating at the center of my eyebrows, waiting until it fades completely to begin the next one.

Each chakra has what’s called a beeja mantra or ‘seed sound.’ Om is the seed sound for ajna chakra.

This practice is settling and slow. Questions about my vision begin to float to the surface. Literally my vision (I started wearing glasses at 7 years old); metaphorically my vision (where do I see myself in five years); and spiritually my vision (who do I think I am and who am I really?)

Instead of reaching for the answers with my mind… I just sit with the questions, letting the om soothe my need to know, my need to define myself.

Each chakra has a color associated with it. Ajna is a two-petalled silver-grey lotus flower. I imagine silver beginning as a small dot of color in my belly and watch as it expands through organs and limbs until my whole body is filled with silver, until I am radiating silver. Until the sound of om and my silver being fill all my senses.

The oms naturally begin to wane. The silver color dims and fades completely.

The silence that follows is so crisp, so clear. As if I can hear the everything in the nothingness.

I blink my eyes open slowly, pausing as I take in my surroundings with my actual eyes, grateful for the ability to see where I’ve been, where I am now, and to discern my next step clearly.

This is the first of a 7-part series on the chakras. Check back soon for the next installment!

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. Contact: moniqueminahan.com

Did you know we now have not one, but two amazing classes held outdoors every week? For more information and to see our full schedule, go here.

10am Saturday poolside at the Sheraton on Harbor Island

9am Sunday at the Porto Vista Hotel rooftop in Little Italy

Yoga in all its varied forms and styles is so beneficial for overall wellness in body, mind and spirit. Practicing yoga outside with the sun on your face and the wind in your hair has some extra benefits you may not have considered:

• Remember how your mother always said fresh air and sunshine was good for you? Well she’s right: exposure to a limited amount of sunshine each day improves production of vitamin D (which helps ward off disease), elevates your mood and can even improve concentration. Just be sure to wear sunscreen for prolonged exposure like an hour-long yoga class!

• It’s way cooler to practice tree pose in front of an actual tree. We’ve seen you on vacation standing in front of a redwood in tree pose – it’s practically irresistible. Plus, science has found that trees emit vibrational frequencies that help decrease stress and improve creativity. Seriously! Om with me now, ooommmmmmmm

• While many people bring plants into their homes or offices to improve air quality, it’s important to completely immerse yourself in the natural world. Walk barefoot in the park, gaze out over the bay, listen to the sound of the ocean, join us for yoga this weekend! When we take the time to let all five senses enjoy the experience of being in nature, the entire body is rejuvenated.