Posts In: private yoga class

Part 3 of how Yoga One founders Amy & Michael Caldwell turned their love story into a thriving yoga community! Read Part 2 here.

It was early morning. The concrete floor was stone cold. Swami Shivananda, who we would call Guruji, showed up for our first daily private yoga lesson. He was younger than our 27 years, but his big, black and bushy mustache made him look older and certainly more authoritative. As he stood in the center of what was our single room living quarters, he said something about feeling stiff. To loosen up, he jackknifed forward with both legs straight and touched his head near the top of his feet – then, in a flash, he bent backward and brought his head between his legs.

“Uh oh!” I thought.

We had recently arrived in Varanasi from Nepal. One day wandering the streets looking for an Internet cafe (remember those?) we met a man asking if he could be of assistance. His name was Ravi and he invited us to stay with his family. In addition to allowing Amy to learn to cook with the women of the family and finding a tabla drum teacher for Michael, Ravi introduced us to Guruji.

Guruji had us take our positions on the rice bags we were using for mats.* There was a blur of new and intense poses (for us) and the occasional comment from Guruji, including, “After some time, pain finished.”**

And then he was gone, leaving us wide-eyed and astounded. Did we just do what we think we did?

Knowing he would be back the next morning, we immediately established a routine. Re-practice what we had learned, right then and there. Re-practice on the rooftop in the evening and get up extra early to warm up before he arrived the next morning. The weight of our bodies as we laid down on our hard bed increased the soreness. Yet we were keen to learn and explore…and we were having fun.

After some time, the pain finished. Growth and openness to keep learning remained.

*Don’t try this at home, kids. Rice bags are rough and scratchy.

**We encourage listening to your body, not pushing past your edge, and we definitely don’t encourage tolerating any sharp shooting pain.

It’s the start of the new year and the time when many people make life goals or resolutions for the year ahead. If your goal is to eat healthier and exercise more – you are far from alone! The top New Year’s resolutions each year focus on health.

If your goal is to practice more yoga – welcome to the club! Yoga provides a uniquely holistic approach to health, strengthening body, mind and spirit.

Our mission at Yoga One has always been to help as many people as possible enjoy healthier and happier lives. Our instructors meet you where you are in your practice and we offer several classes suitable for absolute beginners. (See our full schedule here.)

When it comes to health and wellness, we believe that there is no single prescription for every body. Therefore we also offer excellent private yoga instruction. For some people this is their primary practice and for others, they use private sessions to get more out of their group class experiences. Whatever your motivation, we would love to connect with you! Call 619-544-0587.

Whether you are an experienced practitioner or an absolute beginner, the only thing you may ultimately really want is that special one. Here is a carefully curated comparison of many of the top yoga mats. We hope it helps you to pick the perfect mat* to support your practice.

*There is a “winner” listed, but each mat has a description of its best qualities and reviews based on how it performs in the studio.

We hope you find “the one” yoga mat for you – but even more, we hope to see you soon and often at Yoga One!