Posts In: present moment awareness

Flashbacks from Yoga One founders Amy and Michael Caldwell on how they nurtured a family-owned business and a thriving yoga community.

Yoga focuses your attention and heightens sensation. 

Those two qualities are why yoga has been paired with so many different activities – from aerial yoga and paddleboard yoga to doga and yoga with goats. 

So imagine our excitement when we were invited by Kelly Carlson of @mountainhomeyoga to participate in the Beyond Van Gogh exhibition held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds!

Beyond Van Gogh is an immersive art exhibit that has traveled across the country. It utilizes cutting-edge projection technology to liberate Van Gogh’s masterpieces from their traditional picture frames. 

Visitors walk upon and are literally surrounded by large-scale projections of the Starry Night and the Wheatfield with Crows, among other iconic Van Gogh paintings.

Add a symphonic score and a yoga class to the proceedings and the viewer literally becomes one with the artwork. 

Van Gogh’s flowers, landscapes, and portraits wash over and around the yoga practitioners. Art and individual join in a symbiotic swirl, breathing and flowing together.

This was such a stimulating and special event! We’re grateful to all of the organizers and participants who made it possible. 

from Yoga One Teacher and Co-Founder Amy Caldwell

I wanted to share a great acronym that we can use in our yoga practice but also anytime in our daily life:

A-G-E 

No matter when you were born, change is constant and we’re all aging. But the letters are really powerful when you use them as a way to center attention and arrive in the present. 

A – Arrive. It could mean a little bit of physical movement, rolling the shoulders, taking a few deep breaths. Maybe closing the eyes and listening to the sounds in your environment. Whatever it is that helps you to arrive right here, right now.

G – Gather. Wherever we are and whatever we’re doing, gather your attention on the breath. If it’s helpful, you can close your eyes. If you’re driving, or whatever it is you’re doing, just keep the eyes softly open. 

E – Engage. Once we’ve arrived more fully and gathered our attention in the present moment on the breath, we can choose to engage more consciously with our lives and the people around us.

I hope that helps in your practice and in your life. Have a great day! 

~ Amy Caldwell

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. 

by Amy Caldwell

One morning, while I was practicing in my usual spot outside on our back deck, I took a photo to see if the backbend looked like it felt. In the photo, I see strength and openness, I feel presence and persistence. I also see and feel a place adjacent to my heart that is challenging to bend.

I’ve been focused on the physiological theme of back-bending and its alignment: long torso on all sides with balanced core engagement. The corresponding mindfulness theme I am exploring is conscious participation:

How can we arrive in the present, allow ourselves to be OK with what we are feeling, then to engage in the next moment with openness, curiosity, presence, and kindness?

As I physically and energetically explore opening my heart, there is intense love intermingled with fear. Not fear of my own death or harm, but fear that the safety of my beloveds is out of my control. We continually seek to be equally grounded and spacious, strong and open, balanced with present moment awareness and love. As we age, we have to work harder at both – not to become set in our ways, closed and rigid.

“Every movement toward flexibility, there must be an equivalent movement toward strength.”

– Diana Beardsley

What is it that you need more of in your practice? In your life?

How can we metaphorically open our hearts while remaining strong and grounded in the present?

How can we stand up for what we believe is true and right, while simultaneously loving our adversary as a fellow human who is also doing what they believe is true and right?

As Pema Chödrön advises, we can let go of fear and control… even while embracing the groundlessness of being human. Sometimes the way forward is not without, but within.

Amy Caldwell
Contributing Writer

Amy (E-RYT 500) has dedicated herself to the practice, study and teaching of yoga since discovering its joys and benefits in 1997 while backpacking throughout Asia, Australia, and parts of Europe. Amy is a Co-Founder of Yoga One and lead teacher for their yoga teacher training program.

by Laura McCorry

When I think about meditation, I think about sitting down someplace like this: quiet, peaceful, with yellow butterflies (the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail) flitting from blossom to blossom.

But being Mama to two little ones, I don’t always get to sit down when I meditate.

Sometimes meditation is simply the awareness of my own breath, breathing in, breathing out. Answering a question about turtles. Bringing my focus to the warmth of the sun on my back. Feeling a small fist close in a vise around my index finger as we walk further along the path. Breath in, breath out.

Even if I had arrived to this spot without the children, who both pull me away and bring me back to the present moment, the world interposes itself.

I can hear the rumble of a backhoe across the street, and the rush of traffic on a major road just on the other side of the park. I stay focused on the butterflies, and the dragonflies, but then come the bees, and the mosquitoes, and the ticks.

It’s hard to welcome it all in, to simply brush away the undesirable (and sometimes it’s scary). But this is the practice – of both meditation and life.

It’s not just quiet and butterflies. Life is also noise and chaos and the wide kaleidoscope of living things all sharing the same living earth and life-giving sun. Breath in, breath out. Can you see that we are all one?

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

How do yoga teachers feel about their practice? What inspires them to keep teaching and keep practicing yoga? Get to know your Yoga One teachers outside the studio and off the mat. This month’s interview is with Karen Beers.

1. Why do you practice yoga? 

Yoga helps me reset and reenergize. Each time I step onto the mat, I access an internal sense of self through simple breath focusing techniques. The practice of yoga quiets the chatter of the mind, softens emotions, and encourages present moment awareness. I am able to reconnect with myself, peeling back layers of stress until I feel grounded, refreshed and balanced within.

2. What was the most intimidating aspect of teaching when you first started?

Being an educator, I’m quite comfortable instructing a class. However teaching in a classroom is vastly different from teaching yoga. When I first became a yoga instructor, reaching students of all ability levels was the most intimidating aspect. It takes a lot of preparation to ensure that all students are guided well. By providing options and modification of postures, I ensure that all students can have a rewarding experience.

3. What gives you the most joy as a yoga instructor? 

Providing space for community and connection brings me great joy as a yoga instructor. So much of our days are spent focused on individual tasks, it’s very important that we take time to acknowledge each person with whom we share the yoga experience. This connection with others promotes a more relaxed state of present moment awareness. The end result then can be a collective sense of calm and tranquility that brings a smile to everyone’s faces.

4. If yoga were a food, car, smell, planet, song, artist, flavor, it would be…

“In a Sentimental Mood” by Duke Ellington & John Coltrane: This song is the essence of positive energy. It has a slow, smooth introduction, progressing into a layered melody that transports you on your own personal journey. It’s filled with incredible talent, improvisation, and inspiration.

5. What’s your yoga inspiration?  

Besides yoga philosophy and principles, master yoga instructors are my inspiration. I’m enamored of people who have practiced and devoted themselves to sharing the gifts of yoga, including Tao Porchon-Lynch, Kia Miller, Jason Crandell, and Shiva Rea.  Each of these individuals have their own specialization and depth of understanding that they impart through their teaching. Yoga has so much knowledge to share.

6. What classes do you teach at Yoga One? 

I teach Level 1-2 Flow, Sundays at 10:30am.

You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

by Laura McCorry

It’s been said that life is about the journey, not the destination – but if you’re traveling with a toddler, just packing for the journey can feel like outfitting a polar expedition. Getting on the road with the family can be the hardest part!

I recently attempted this challenge, on an annual trip to the mountains to visit loved ones. The car ride itself is five hours without stops, and we wanted to arrive well before the two year old’s bedtime. I very quickly felt stressed about remembering everything to bring and anxious about keeping the kiddo entertained.

We have a cd of kid’s tunes we play in the car and this is one of the songs:

“Try to move a moose in the middle of the road, he’s much too big for you.
He’s ten feet tall and that’s not all, he weighs a ton or two.
When you can’t drive under, you can’t drive over, and you can’t drive around,
you have to wait for the moose to move although it slows you down.
But what’s your hurry, don’t you worry, don’t you know it’s true –
it may take a month or two, but the moose is bound to move.”

If you keep listening, the moose decides to take a nap, cars pile up on both sides, and eventually, everyone gets out of their cars and befriend the moose, taking pictures with him and scratching his chin.

In my yogic journey to the present moment, always trying to arrive, I don’t often embrace the obstacles in my path. I think that’s hard for most of us. What would happen if we did? Would the obstacles change, would we ourselves change, or both?

Yoga teaches us to observe the present moment, to sit with discomfort, to notice our reactions before acting upon them. All of these mindfulness techniques run counter to our culture of more, better, faster. Before you get caught up in the busy-ness of the last months of the year, try to observe the obstacles in your path. Maybe the “obstacle” is an important part of the journey.

As it turned out, we had everything we needed for the trip, the toddler didn’t have a single meltdown in the car, and we even enjoyed stopping to stretch our legs while appreciating the crisp air and fall colors. I hope you find the same joy in whatever journey you undertake.

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

by Laura McCorry

I’m still rather new to minimalism. I love the concept – a clutter-free home that invites both unexpected guests and private relaxation. But the practice of de-owning often feels overwhelming and exhausting.

In July, I was invited to participate in a 30-day declutter group hosted online. It was great to have the support of other people in the group and to have a pre-set monthly schedule of different areas of the house to tackle each day. It usually didn’t take me more than ten or fifteen minutes, and every day I found items I could place in a large cardboard box marked for donation.

Then the cardboard box sat in a corner of my bedroom for three months. Does this sound familiar? Sometimes the follow-through is the hardest part. But just last week – last week! – I made a trip to a household hazardous waste site (don’t throw your batteries in the trash, people!), electronics recycling, and a local charity that accepts household and clothing donations. It only took about an hour.

When it doesn’t take very much time, why is it still so hard to let go?

So often in life, I find myself clinging and grasping. I keep letters from loved ones, gifts that remind me of people, books that remind me of people. I try to hold on to the idea and experience of my toddler as an infant, and I feel a kind of desperation every time I realize another day has finished, never to return.

One of the eight limbs of Yoga is Aparigraha, which translates as non-greed, non-attachment, non-grasping. Fear teaches us to cling tight, even to things which can’t be held. When we let go, maybe prying open one finger at a time, we find Trust, Plenitude, Equanimity. (These words that don’t have an everyday coinage because they’re so frequently out of circulation.)

To what (or to whom) do you find yourself clinging most often? Is there physical or emotional baggage holding you back from feeling a sense of peace with the present moment?

Yoga’s emphasis on the present moment actually helps me to be a better minimalist. When I shift my focus to what actually matters, right this very moment, it’s easier to see how so many objects in my life belong to the past or to an as-yet-unrealized future. As Autumn’s full glory approaches, I intend to simplify my home and my routines, letting go of excess to better appreciate the things, people, and routines that serve me best right now.

Thoreau himself embraced yogic values with his injunction to “simplify, simplify.” Let go of grasping and see what fills your hands and your heart.

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

An interview by Yoga One student Stacey Ebert with Yoga One owner and co-founder, Amy Caldwell. 

As a practicing yogi, I’ve seen and felt the benefits of sharper awareness, greater strength and flexibility, better posture, and overall improved health firsthand. The more than 5,000-year old philosophy encourages a practice of health, wellbeing, and attention. No, you don’t have to flexible. No, it’s not super expensive. Yes, you can practice anywhere. Yes, it offers something for everyone. Never once have I regretted a moment spent on my mat.

To see what someone with more detailed knowledge had to say, I chatted with Amy Caldwell, who along with her husband, Michael, owns Yoga One in San Diego, California. In addition to practicing, studying, and teaching yoga for two decades, Amy has collaborated on the best-selling iYoga Premium for iPad and iPhone. She also leads the annual yoga class aboard the historic USS Midway, is the head teacher for the acclaimed Yoga One Teacher Training, and has twice been featured on the cover of Yoga Journal. Here’s what she has to say about yoga and its benefits.

SE: How does the idea of ‘getting out of your own way’ merge with the practice of yoga?

AC: Yoga, an ongoing practice of inner listening, works to find a balance between being grounded and remaining open. These tools help us “get out of our own way” by deeply connecting to our Self (“Self” with a capital S indicates big energy and spirit, a higher self). By the time the student makes it to a yoga class, she has already taken the first pro-active step towards self-care.

SE: How do you encourage students to “take their first steps and then leap?” 

AC: Life happens during our present moments, and the practice of yoga teaches people to consciously participate in those present moments. Students are invited to notice with increasing attention what is happening here and now. The next step is to balance that awareness with relaxing into what is: meeting yourself where you are each and every day, and moving forward from there.

The intentions and tools experienced and developed in a yoga practice carry off the mat into daily life.

SE: What are some beginning, advanced, and intermediate actionable steps women can take to lessen fear and add more joy to their life?

AC: Practice self-care. Take a few minutes every day to simply “be” rather than to “do.” This can be going for a walk, a few yoga poses, five minutes of meditation, or really, doing anything at all with the intention of being fully present.

Schedule something weekly that strengthens the muscles of careful listening and being present. This can be as simple as listening to whomever is speaking to you without interruption and with full attention, a yoga or meditation class, or any art form that encourages mindfulness.

Make time for things that bring you joy (for me it can be spending quality time with my family, being in nature or taking a fun dance class). Pay attention to whatever it is that helps you connect to a deep sense of vibrant aliveness and make time to do it! We can all carve out an hour or two a week for our well-being and healthy enjoyment.

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 Amy Caldwell

Meditation

What is the point of all this if not to be here now?
How can I remember sooner when lost?
Remember more often?

Portals into knowing slip away
separation, loneliness, depression, anxiety
sometimes accompany the loss

Running doing running doing

I want to remain in being
in peace
in oneness

I want to trust, completely
to learn how to dance gracefully with fear

To love with abandon
this moment
everything
right now
always

 

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.

Thanks for the feature! Click on the image below to read the whole article.
To find out more about our Yoga One Teacher Training with these incredible instructors, go here!

 

by Laura McCorry

The body positive movement means finding ways to respect, honor and love your own body as a daily practice. Feeling positively about your body has nothing to do with your health, fitness or size. (Can we repeat that about a thousand times across the twitterverse?)

The culture we live in is always ready to tell us that we’re not good enough. Sometimes all we see in the media are airbrushed and photoshopped images of women and men that misrepresent the natural body of the model. Not only have we elevated one type of body to an ideal, but often the thin/fit/flawless body is a complete illusion.

So what does it mean to step out of this culture and onto your mat to practice yoga?

Every belief you have about your body will follow you onto your mat. If your thoughts are predominantly negative, this can have disastrous consequences for how you feel about yoga and your likelihood of maintaining a regular practice.

But yoga teaches present moment awareness – which means paying attention and honoring how your body moves that day, without comparison to how it moved in the past or how you’d like it to move in the future. The more you practice this mental shift into the present, the more you can circumvent negative self-talk.

Body positivity doesn’t mean complacency in the face of health risks. It means rejecting the “not good enough” mantra and replacing it with affirmations of love, acceptance and encouragement.

When we feel positively about our bodies, we create an atmosphere of nurturing protection for the body and prompt the desire for more positive change. Sometimes the biggest physical challenge you encounter in life is not the super hard workout or the discipline to stay active – the bigger challenge is the radical acceptance of your body. All of it, without exception.

You are only given this one vessel with which to experience the world. Treat it kindly. Allow it to feel the warmth of the sun and the caress of the breeze. Take it on adventures and let your body carry you through a world of new experiences.

Know that all change starts within. If you can change one thought, you can begin to change your way of thinking. If you change your thinking, you can influence others to do the same. Maybe one day the cultural legacy we leave behind will be one that affirms the value of all bodies and contributes to the health and happiness of all.

(Here’s a great place to start, 10 Ways to Practice Self-Love.)

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 Olivia Cecchettini

“Be Love Now: The Path of the Heart”

by Ram Dass

Summary: Part memoir and part spiritual guide to simple living, Be Love Now offers a fascinating glimpse into Ram Dass’s path following his personal Guru, Marahaji-ji. Guru, in the West, is a word laden with many connotations. In the East, the word still carries an energy of devotion and service. Be Love Now is the third book in a three part series, beginning with Be Here Now (written 30 years before this book) and Still Here, written after Dass suffered a stroke.

Ram Dass’s message remains the same: just BE. Be without judgment, be without attachment, but most of all, just be.

Dass reflects on his journey through India and the deep, profound effects it had on his life. Dass describes the power that can be cultivated from surrendering the ego and following one’s heart. Be Love Now challenges the reader to dig through his or her layers of consciousness and find deeper truth, meaning, and purpose in their life.

Why I love It: I especially enjoyed reading about Ram Dass’s spiritual journey, his words felt more relatable and human than in his previous books. He writes in detail about a six month period when he lived in an ashram and learned to completely surrender to his Guru’s guidance. I found it easy to connect with his true humanness as he shared private opinions and stories about Marahaji-ji and their time together.

Marahaji-ji is a guru in the tradition of Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion and love. I attended the yoga festival Shaktifest in Joshua Tree, California, and though I’d been in years past, I noticed for the first time the images of Marahaji-ji everywhere as a way to stay connected to his energy and message. It was so powerful to make that connection through yoga lineages.

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

What does it mean to practice yoga when your physical practice is greatly diminished or taken away entirely from illness or injury? 

Yoga grew out of a tradition that includes eight limbs (or tenets) for a complete practice. Asana, or the physical postures of yoga, is just one of those eight limbs. The others show up during yoga practice as well and contain the philosophical groundwork of the ancient practice. (You can do your own search to learn more or come to our upcoming 8 Limbs for a Whole Being workshop on May 3rd.)

I’ve experienced long withdrawals from my physical practice due to long-term injury and more recently, a period of several weeks wherein I’ve caught one virus after another. Neither condition is any fun because you’d much rather be well and able to move your body freely.

So what does it mean to be a yogi who cannot practice asana?

I started out feeling very sorry for myself and disconnected from most forms of yoga displayed on the internet. I didn’t want to see photos of handstands on the beach or “inspirational” videos of complicated pose transitions. But this is the showy side of yoga and if you dig deeper, there’s so much more.

Physical limitations give you many opportunities to practice non-attachment, or aparigraha. You must let go of what you used to be able to do. You learn to guard your heart against jealousy when others do what you cannot. There is always a choice in how and whether you respond to any given circumstance. Non-attachment means letting go of feeling bitter and lost and broken.

Yoga becomes a more internal experience. During asana practice, teachers often tell you to listen to your body. Without asana, you must listen to your state of mind. (tweet that) The lessons learned on your mat become even more important when you cannot use the gross tool of your body to process them. The mind is slipperier and harder to control.

I found new ways to measure my yoga practice. I could no longer count the number of sun salutations I did in class, but I could ask myself if I spent some time sitting in silence. Did I make the most loving decisions I could make? How long was I able to forget about myself while being present for another? Sometimes yoga meant doing something just because it brought joy into the world.

If you really practice yoga outside the studio and off your mat, you realize that you always have your breath. I learned to make time just to breathe consciously. This was my practice – to be aware of my breath moving in and out of the body, sustaining my life. To allow myself to be carried away by the sensation of breath until the mind gives up listing its grievances and to-do lists. Then you move beyond the awareness of breathing and for an unknowable space of time, you simply are. This is the good stuff. This is samadhi, or oneness with the universe, that all yoga practice seeks to achieve.

Asana is wonderful. It can help transform both body and mind. But it’s not the only path. If you must take a break from asana, do not mourn it for too long. The real work of becoming who you are meant to be is internal and the other limbs of yoga can reveal the process. Stay connected to yourself and to the experience of each moment. This is how yoga moves with you and carries you through times of adversity.

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 Laura McCorry

It’s easy to get caught up in living a moment to moment existence (which is not the same as existence in the present moment). You do the things that must be done to move from one day into the next – putting off until tomorrow everything but the essential. Until there is only enough space in the crowded shuffle of your brain to process the next step.

This is when life is hard. When a deep feeling of unease settles around your heart. If you could step back, you might see the problem, but you feel stuck. The body will tell you something is wrong and its strongest language is pain. 

Yoga helps. Get on your mat and start to move with your body. Listen. Find your alignment by what feels good and not how it looks. A hot cup of tea can do wonders. So can a phone call to a friend. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Do whatever it is you need to do to let the light back in. 

Open your hands and release everything you’ve been grasping and clenching tight. Turn your face to the sun, which can be the actual sun or your closed eyes summoning up all the loves in your life –

Your romantic partner. Your mother. Your dog. Anyone who has ever shown you kindness.

Think of them and feel the corners of your eyes crinkle. Let the light shine deep and illuminate the furthest reaches of your heart.

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

If walking down the street was a yoga pose, how would we do it? Would we walk more mindfully, consciously, and with attention to how our breath informs our every step?

by Olivia Cecchettini

“The Book of Awakening:  Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have”

by Mark Nepo

Summary: Mark Nepo is a writer, poet, and spiritual pioneer of our time. In The Book of Awakening, he shares insight from his own journey after being diagnosed with cancer and provides daily inspiration for being present to and grateful for the life you have. This book is a daily ritual that has given me direction in times of struggle, grounded me in times of flight and brings me joy everyday. I believe that only by staying connected to our spirits and to the things that truly matter can we begin to live the lives we have always wanted. It takes less than 5 minutes a day to read a small section and this book can make a lasting impact on your life.

Why I love It: I love this book because it speaks to my soul. That is my true answer. My hope is that it touches you in some way as well. I read it (almost) every morning, and I’m not a morning person! Having something real and grounding that I connect with to engage my mind and heart first thing is so important to me.

Recommended For: Everyone. What I’m realizing as I type this is that what’s most important here is the ritual. Yes, this book does it for me (and I really hope you check it out!) but more importantly, I want you to find something YOU connect with. Make time to check in with your guide and with yourself as often as possible. Maybe everyday, maybe not, pick it up when you need it and it will speak to you. Xo, Ciao!

“A year’s supply of inspiration every day and the perfect gift for your friends.” – Oprah Winfrey “Mark Nepo has written a beautiful book about life, informed by the shadows of death.” – Marianne Williamson

Olivia Cecchettini
Contributing Writer

Olivia is a yoga teacher based out of San Diego. With a love for people, life, spirituality, reading, and, of course, yoga she spends her days connecting with students and nature. Getting outside whenever she can to enjoy all the beauty this life has to offer.

Yoga One Family Member, Frank Richardson, has been sharing his practice with our community since October of 2011. We love his positive energy, easy smile and kindness. He writes about how his yoga practice has supported him while traveling in Italy.

For me, Yoga is closely linked with meditation. One has more movement than the other, though both come from the physical mechanics underlying the act of breathing.

Being still in meditation causes us to open up from the rhythm and flow of breath, the expansion and contraction of the diaphragm and lungs starting at the root and progressing up through all the chakras, pausing at the crown, then flowing down again.

Focusing on this flow and letting thoughts go without locking on to them allows us to be aware of the continuing presence underlying the static paths of thoughts.

Yoga builds on this breathing practice by extending the movements created by breathing into practiced cycles that bring the flow throughout the body. Yoga brings Prana, or breath, wherever there is constriction or “stuck-ness” or even pain.

Flow, I am coming to realize, is essential to joy. Yoga opens my body and mind to being joyful by connecting to the flow of life that is happening from moment to moment.

The yoga I am doing now while traveling is not formal. There are no classes defining “practice.” I watch my breathing and my quality of alertness or presence.

How I am standing or sitting? Am I leading with my heart? Is my head up or am I looking down? What’s the level of anxiety I am experiencing right now? Can I breathe through it to get to the other side?

I most likely won’t be able to practice either yoga or meditation formally again until I get home; but the moment to moment check-ins keep me in balance and moving with the flow while traveling through this wonderful and sometimes daunting place called Italy.