Posts In: San Diego

Q: What do you love about teaching yoga?

One of my favorite ways of sharing the gift of presence in service to others is teaching yoga. This ancient Indian system provides a pathway toward self-actualization through practices that merge the physical and spiritual aspects of ourselves.

It gives me joy and purpose to share the traditions of yoga and mindfulness as ways of cultivating clarity, insight and equanimity. Together, we create a more harmonious world by allowing these practices to heal us from the inside out.

My classes are carefully curated to help you build strength, focus and balance on and off the mat. As a facilitator, I hold space for your personal journey of self-discovery and well-being, both individually and in community.

Q: What drew you to Yoga One?

My intuition! I’ve practiced and taught in many places over the years, and Yoga One holds a special feeling to me. Not only is the physical space gorgeous and filled with light, but the energy is welcoming, grounded and invites a sense of interconnectedness.

Perhaps you’ve heard me say that practicing yoga is coming home to yourself, and this aligns with the Yoga One ethos. I took a couple of classes in the early years at the original location, and then I stumbled upon the current location in 2023. As I peered in the window, I knew that I would teach here someday.

When my inner compass points me towards something, I trust that it will unfold at the right time. Two years later I was given the opportunity to join the powerful teaching staff at Yoga One, and here we are!

I teach regularly on Thursdays 5:30pm All Levels Flow and I love subbing for other teachers as needed so that I get to interact with more of our students.

Q: What do you love about teaching yoga?

I love being able to create a space for people to slow down and reconnect with themselves. In today’s fast-paced world, being able to guide students to ground down and be reminded of the beauty and sacredness of life is such a gift.

Q: What drew you to Yoga One?

The community! The people at Yoga One are some of the friendliest and most welcoming I’ve ever met. That sense of connection and support is what makes it such a special place.

Sophie teaches Vinyasa Flow, Level 2 on Tuesdays at 6pm

Q: What do you love about teaching yoga?

What I love most is helping students find a space where they can fully engage in the present moment. I find so much joy in empowering students to explore their body and mind.

Q: What’s your favorite little treat?

Ice cream!!

Follow-up Q: What’s your favorite ice cream flavor or place to get it?

That’s such a hard question for me! I love all the ice cream. I’ll say my go-to is An’s Gelato in North Park! There’s always a line there, but yes, I’m always willing to wait in it.

Take a Stretch, All Levels class with Abby on Tuesday at 7:15pm and Sunday at 9am.

Q: what do you love about teaching yoga?

It allows me to creatively give something meaningful and positive back to the community. For me, it’s a process of continual self-discovery and learning to ensure that what I share is valuable, authentic, and beneficial on multiple levels. 

I love being able to create a space where students can explore their own paths of curiosity, growth, and self-discovery. 

Q: what’s your coffee shop order?

A pour over with almond milk. If it’s good coffee – no need to get fancy ?

Take class with Kristen on Thursdays at 6:30am, Vinyasa Flow, All Levels

What do you love about teaching yoga?

For me the practice of yoga is an inroad to an infinite exploration of self-discovery. Being a guide and a witness to people’s transformative journeys is an incredible gift.

What’s your go-to summer drink? A paloma

Evan teaches Gentle Yoga Saturdays at 9am, hope you can stop by and say hi! 

by Michael Caldwell

Many, many years ago, I was in a writing group and presented a poem which described the challenges and possibilities of beginning a new story, poem or article. Here it is: The enormity of the 8.5″ x 11” page. That was also its title.

Since 2002, Yoga One has collected a healthy history/waiver form from each student who attended class via an 8.5″ x 11” piece of paper. 

We asked for standard information, name, address, email, phone number, etc. The waiver portion represented to us far more than data – it symbolized a commitment to a unique individual who was joining our community and entrusting us to help them enhance their well-being. 

Students now complete an online health history / waiver form. So we decided to recycle the old paper forms. I took them from the file cabinets and had a nice time leafing through the stacks, looking at names, and enjoying memories.

A single piece of paper weighs 4.5 grams (more or less depending on stock quality).

We had 180 pounds. 

180 pounds equals 81,646.6 grams. That equals about 18,143.6889 students we were lucky to have in our community, sharing the joys and benefits of yoga. 

Thank you all for the honor and opportunity!

I wonder, how many kilobytes is an online health history / waiver form?

Michael Caldwell
Contributing Writer

Yoga teacher and Co-Founder of Yoga One, Michael has been practicing yoga and incorporating its philosophy into his life since 1997. His kind and gentle manner is well suited to leading students of all levels. Michael has published numerous articles on a variety of subjects including yoga, meditation and rock n roll.

For 20 years, Yoga One has been the site where thousands of people, from beginners to
experienced practitioners, have learned about asana and vinyasa, perfecting moves like downward dog, sun salutation and other poses.

The Caldwells began their business in earnest in 2002 in a second-story spot in downtown San Diego, opening the practice to meet a growing demand of students attending outdoor classes in Balboa Park taught by Amy Caldwell starting in 2000.

you can find the full feature here

Cozy up to this Fall edition of Yoga One teacher interviews all about transitions, tips for staying centered, and their ideal Fall mornings… Get to know Nazli who teaches a Vinyasa Flow, Levels 1 & 2 class on Sundays at 10:30am.

Visit www.yogaonesandiego.com to register for classes.

Q: What’s your ideal cozy Fall morning?

Nazli: Give me a cold and rainy day and this is my set-up: my cozy couch, fireplace on, a cup of cacao, a wonderful book, and my journal. I’ll probably throw on a face mask too and feel extra luxurious as I read and relax. Hopefully someone is serving me food because I am not getting up from this! ??.

Get to know Nazli who teaches a Vinyasa Flow, Levels 1 & 2 class on Sundays at 10:30am. Nazli is an experienced teacher with a light-hearted approach to yoga.

Visit www.yogaonesandiego.com to register for classes.

Q: How does yoga show up in your life right now?

At this point in life, yoga is a way of being. It’s a deep breath when life gets weird, it’s a trust that life is moving along as it should, and it’s an array of tools when things are overwhelming and I need help or guidance, and an added bonus when everything is going my way ??.

Q: Where are you experiencing growth in your life?

Where am I not?! Haha … seriously though… one piece is that I am evolving my career and work and am growing into a sense of firm confidence and a clear vision of what is sustainable for my future and goals. TBD what that looks like!

Q: What’s your favorite burrito?

I’m a simple bean and cheese gal —  with too much hot sauce!

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. 

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. 

Cole teaches a 30 Minute Core Challenge class, Mondays at 4:45pm and Thursdays at 8:15am. Join us in person at our Mission Hills studio or online via Zoom. Visit www.yogaonesandiego.com to register or for more information.

1. What’s your approach to life and movement?

My approach to life and movement is simple: I believe in strengthening the body and mind to work as a unit. You must have a strong foundation in order to be graceful and efficient in both your thoughts and actions.

2. Where are you experiencing growth in your life?

I am currently experiencing growth in my business as I moved to San Diego only 8 months ago. I had a professional hiatus and an opportunity to relocate because of covid and the need for knee surgery. I am now recovered and I’m ready to build my clientele base here in San Diego!

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

My favorite burrito is an al pastor super burrito from La Taqueria in San Francisco. I haven’t found a super burrito here in SD yet. If anyone has any recommendations I would appreciate it.

Flashback to Yoga One’s 15th Anniversary

One of the special characteristics of Yoga One is that we’ve never been wholly confined within the walls of the main studio. 

We’ve always hosted off-site classes (in board rooms, gyms, restaurants, hotels, you name it) and we love the unique relationships we get to build in those spaces.

We had been providing weekly rooftop and poolside yoga classes at the @hotelsolamar for some time when, in the summer of 2017, they graciously agreed to share their space with us for our 15th Anniversary party.

It was a wonderful, sunny, San Diego day. Amy led a thoughtful and relaxing flow class. Zaria Salkind accompanied class with soulful songs and a sweet, soaring voice.

A human tower was constructed to host Yoga One’s resident student performer Alissa Montalvo skyward as she held aloft the celebratory 15 year anniversary balloons. Hotel Solamar offered a full brunch with drink specials, including frosé (frozen rosé), margaritas and mimosas. 

Once again, Julie Moore, our first-ever yoga student was on hand (with her son Paulo and daughter Isabel). Teachers that had been with us since the early days and new staff alike were embraced. Stories and smiles were shared, hugs and laughs relished. Good times were had. 

It’s not surprising (but still wonderful) that often the best days are when you simply take time to enjoy life with loved ones and celebrate being part of community. ?

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

“Approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first ten years.” – data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shared on Investopedia 

Needless to say, in 2012, we enjoyed a collective and long exhale while celebrating Yoga One’s 10th anniversary. 

We knew there would be more hard work ahead. We knew nobody would be handing out laurels upon which we could rest  (though we did enjoy a lovely savasana.) 

More than any other emotion, we were grateful.

Amy and I were grateful that our labor of love had, for a decade, sustained both our immediate family and our extended family (the community).

We were grateful to be supported by so many caring and genuine individuals. The struggle and effort of running a business has been worthwhile, in no small part, because of the wonderful people we’ve met and have come to know over the years.

Our 10 Year festivities were held on the rooftop of the Porto Vista Hotel, where we had been providing regular rooftop classes. The multi-talented Jennifer Tipton led a strong and well-sequenced flow yoga class. As an added bonus, our massage therapists  Jacintha Roemer and Amber Largent offered complimentary chair massages. 

While reveling in and enjoying each other’s company, we took the opportunity to highlight particular individuals, including the amazing Julie Moore (a.k.a. Student #1). Julie was our very first Yoga One student – she attended Amy’s initial classes in Balboa Park, even before our downtown studio was an idea and before we had thought of the name.

We also passed out dedication and consistency awards to the Summer Yoga Challenge participants (those students who took the most classes in a given period of time).

Michael made a speech and we passed out prizes. We took selfies and staged photos with silly accessories. We leafed through an anniversary scrapbook assembled by Missy. Students left kind messages on a guest board. 

Food and drink were served. Merry-making ensured. 

Thank you to the Yoga One Family for enhancing our lives, we love, appreciate and are grateful for you!!

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

It was a classic instance of being in the right place, at the right time. 

May, 2014. The terrific Terri Hobbs, representing Yoga One, meets representatives from the Downtown San Diego Partnership and a wonderful relationship is forged.

Over the past 7 years, Yoga One has offered a weekly, complimentary class to the Downtown San Diego community. Classes are held in a variety of outdoor locations. During most of the pandemic, we continued to offer class live online.

It is a pleasure to provide these services to so many residents of Downtown and beyond!

One of the most unique yoga events to arise out of our collaboration was teaching aboard the historic USS Midway. Yoga One was honored to lead the first-ever yoga class aboard ship and 4 subsequent annual classes. 

EXT: San Diego Harbor  – DAY: June 12th, 2014

A bird’s eye view pans across the enormous aircraft carrier, decommissioned and now serving as a nautical museum. 

Planes and helicopters cover the deck. To the west, scenic San Diego harbor glistens like so many scattered jewels. To the east, skyscrapers stand and salute.

Like an army of ants, yoga students by the hundreds file up the ship’s stairs.

On deck and snuggled between the planes and helicopters, a wide assortment of vendors replete with stocked tables and tents are in place to greet the arriving students.

The sun is shining, the weather is sweet, yogis smile and spread their mats and good vibes across the tarmac.

A news crew captures and relays the inaugural occasion to the greater population. Kris Michell, then President and CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, takes the mic and kicks off the proceedings. Scripps Health is the main sponsor. Dave Kemp of DTO Music provides a soothing ambiance.

Then Yoga One’s own Amy Caldwell steps to the platform with the ship’s command tower rising behind her and an illuminated sign reminding all to: BEWARE OF JET BLAST PROPS AND ROTORS.

Amy is calming, inspiring and poised. Strong, flexible, prepared and awesome, she leads the over 400 individuals in a community re-affirming, one hour flow yoga class.

AMY

Thank you all so much for your positive energy. It is an honor and a pleasure to share this experience with you. Thanks again to all the sponsors and organizers. Namaste.

HAPPY STUDENTS

Namaste, yay! 

Thunderous applause

Camera pans from the many colorful mats and happy people to take in the 360 view, then pulls back up into the sky to reveal a special day in a special city.

Fade to black.

EXIT

Over the next four annual classes, attendance continued to swell. The last class hosted over 1,100 yogis! This event was always re-affirming and special. Whether we’re sharing yoga with one person or thousands, we are grateful to be helping people live healthier and happier lives.

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!

We love our community! This week, we’re shining a spotlight on Yoga One student Heather 

Q: Who are you in 10 words or less?

I’m a public interest attorney who loves yoga and hiking.

Q: What’s the biggest benefit of yoga in your life?

The biggest benefit of yoga in my life is that it teaches me balance and focus, both on and off the mat. I’m also very grateful for the sense of community Yoga One fosters.

Q: Do you have a favorite class or style of yoga?

Whatever Yoga One class I’m in at the moment feels like my favorite! I love how fun Missy’s Saturday morning class is – it helps me remember to not take everything too seriously and just enjoy the moment. 

Thank you for sharing Heather and thanks for practicing with us!!

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

Some of the dates and details have dimmed, it was likely late 2002 or early 2003, Amy and I were at Twigg’s Coffee shop in University Heights with some fellow yoga teachers and a few representatives from City of Hope.

We were brainstorming ideas for how the yoga community could raise awareness and support for City of Hope’s mission to research and treat cancer.

It was exciting to be a part of something that could facilitate serious health advancement and relief not just locally, but worldwide. We were honored to be included. 

There were a few more meetings and then the City of Hope team went off to figure out their next step.

Towards the end of summer, it was agreed that Yoga One and other studios would host yoga classes and donate the proceeds to the organization. Here is a snippet from our press release: 

“September 12, 2003, Yoga One will be offering an expanded schedule and donating all fees collected that day to the City of Hope, a world-renowned biomedical research and treatment facility dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

“”In addition to the strength, flexibility, increased concentration, balance and coordination the practice of yoga provides, it is first and foremost a healing activity. Raising awareness and support for the kind of work the City of Hope is doing is a natural step for us. We want to extend the well-being our students receive in class to the community at large,” stated Amy Caldwell, Owner/Director and Head Instructor at Yoga One.”

With the increased popularity of yoga and lots of good work, City of Hope’s yoga collaboration blossomed into Yoga for Hope, a multi-city phenomenon with events held in such locations as Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. 

For the 2014 San Diego iteration, Amy was invited to co-teach over 800 students during the Yoga for Hope class in the outfield of the Padres’ Petco Park. In addition, Yoga One put together a donation team and offered classes with the proceeds supporting City of Hope. That year, the event raised over $80,000 to fund the research and treatment of cancer. 

It was heart-warming and hug-inducing to practice yoga in the lush, green outfield with so many fellow yoga lovers. It was especially poignant to have Amy’s mother Sally, a cancer survivor, practicing with the Yoga One group alongside her grandkids, Raya and Myles. Three generations together. 

Over the years, many wonderful yoga teachers led the Yoga for Hope classes, some who did so in San Diego included: Stacy McCarthy, Michael Fukumura, Claire Petretti Marti, Sean Corne and Dominic Mineo. Thanks to all the teachers, students, and organizers for sharing their time and energy to help others!

Please have yourself and your loved ones regularly checked for cancer. Some cancers can be found early, before they have had a chance to grow and spread.

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

Many of you know the story of how Yoga One began in the early 2000’s with Amy practicing Vinyasa yoga in Redwood Circle, Balboa Park. And how people would interrupt to ask what dance routine she was doing. 

How she explained that it was yoga and they asked to join her. And when it got cold, the little community found a place to practice inside. Many adventures ensued and we eventually found our space at 1150 7th Avenue, in downtown San Diego.

Word of mouth was and continues to be the supreme method for spreading the love and growing the Yoga One Family. This is the story of how we grew beyond that initial group of Balboa Park students.

This is the story of how Amy was, for a little bit, a marketing maverick.

Back then, to make a flyer we chose a fun font in a word document, then literally cut and pasted an image likely found in a magazine (remember magazines?) Then we went to Kinko’s (remember Kinko’s?) and made copies.

Amy rode her bike around town and posted the flyer at coffee shops, newspaper stands, mom & pop businesses, etc. In those days, circa 2002, there was ample space on the Whole Foods bulletin board. So alongside guitar lessons and roommates wanted, Amy hung her homemade flyer. The fact that it was photo copied and had a graphic of some sort was already ahead of the curve.

Then one day, like lightning, it hit her. If she was printing flyers at Kinko’s, she could do it on colored paper. BLAM, it was a revolution! Her yellow flyer leaped from bulletin boards all over downtown.

Of course, others were quick to get hip and colored flyers became all the rage.

Fortunately, Amy’s good friend Mel Z had just visited a studio in Connecticut and seen their professionally printed postcards. So being on the vanguard again, Amy arranged to print a postcard. It was a slightly laborious task and the printers, who were more used to working with rock bands, were scrappy and often made mistakes. But we grew together and our first card was raw, rough and a little drab, yet it was double-sided! Whoa! Minds were blown. And the marketing race was on. 

Michael wanted the cards to look like Pink Floyd album covers and our friends Summer and Karl lent their graphic design skills and vision. Super yogi Heather F. became our go-to model. The photo shoots were a little rogue (we were yoga posing in places we probably weren’t supposed to be) and it was so much fun. 

Printing postcards was such a new medium, in this context, that for a hot minute, people (non-yoga practitioners included) sought out and collected the postcards. We were told they were pinned at work stations and on home refrigerators. 

In time, coffee shops and other businesses reduced places to place postcards and the Whole Foods bulletin board became overrun. Marketing all around became glossy and sophisticated. Almost as soon as it began, the golden age of postcards had passed.

Still, we like postcards and produce them from time to time. Are there any collectors out there who have all of the Yoga One postcards ever made? (;

Let us know and we’ll take you out for a drink! 

by Laura McCorry

Yoga doesn’t care if you have tattoos… or not.

Yoga doesn’t care if you wear glasses or dye your hair.

Yoga doesn’t require a specific gender or identity or weight or mobility…

Yoga means union.

Yoga means all are welcome, just as you are.

Yoga means following the breath, this moment.

Yoga means small glimpses of the oneness of the universe.

Yoga is for you. And me. And everyone.

Because we are all one.

Yoga One Teacher Training – January 2022
Go deeper – Become ONE

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.

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

The vast warehouse was drafty and cold. Perfect for Amy. She was dressed in a black bodysuit with a hood and covered in electrodes. Over the next few hours, Amy generated plenty of heat as she demoed over 190 yoga poses. Total badass!

It was the spring of 2011 (I believe) and a couple of weeks prior, we had received a phone call from Niall Johnson at Scotland based 3D4Medical inquiring if we were interested in collaborating on a yoga app. Yes! Following a brief brainstorming session, production got underway. I was responsible for monitoring alignment and angles. 

Pendulum, the motion capture crew, was known for helping to render high quality video games. They demonstrated their skill creating a superhero type avatar for Amy that was projected onto a large screen as she did the poses. Ultimately, for the iYoga Premium app, Pendulum processed over 340,000 frames of motion capture, rendered over 50 million frames and delivered 8.7 hours for the final video to bring the virtual yoga teacher Amy to life!

“It was surreal to see my movements in real time displayed on a huge screen,” Amy said. “The whole process reinforced for me that yoga is as much a moving meditation as it is a physical activity. The stage was freezing and the motion capture suit was a little constricting. The conditions were challenging, but I quickly got into a rhythm and focused on my breath to stay centered.” Amy was exhausted but exuberant about the project’s future. 

Yet there was more work to be done. Amy recorded the voice over instruction for each and every pose and each and every sequence she put together. In the end, there are 16 different sequences students can follow, or you can create your own – all with Amy’s vocal guidance.

Finally, Amy and our friend, physical therapist, and fellow yogi Rachel Krentzman (author of Yoga for a Healthy Back and Scoliosis, Yoga Therapy and the Art of Letting Go) broke down the anatomy of each pose. They notated when muscles were contracting, stretching, or both – one by one, for nearly 200 poses! They included the English and Sanskrit pose names, contraindications, pose difficulty level and category, ie.  standing, seated, etc. Needless to say, it was an intense labor of love.

Upon release, iYoga Premium had over 15,000 downloads in the first month and topped Apple’s world-wide Health and Fitness paid app list. The app received positive press in Yoga Journal and Amy was interviewed and featured in Pacific Magazine, among others. In 2016, iYoga Premium won Health Line’s Best App award.

There were some technical limitations, for example, the avatar always needs to come back to Tadasana (mountain poses) during the sequencing.  

Some years later, we came full circle and held a class at the studio and projected the app onto the wall and let virtual Amy lead the class with actual Amy offering enhancements.

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

Back in the early 2000’s, if there was music in yoga class, in our experience, it was often heavy new age or Indian classical. As yoga continued to permeate our lives, the lines that separated on and off the mat kept melting. At some point, we wondered why we weren’t playing music in class that we were enjoying at home. So we tried. All of it.

I [Michael] had a great group of tri-athletes on Thursday nights who were up for anything. We did yoga to Heavy Metal (before it rightly became a thing). We offered a hip hop and yoga class with the wonderful Dina Weldin. We did live music and yoga. Once we hosted a class with the Hypnotic Gurus (drums, sitar and drone). We created many playlists (and I admit, the playlist often influenced the sequence). It was an exciting time, full of musical possibility. 

At a Zero 7 concert at the House of Blues (with Sia singing before she became a household name), it dawned on Amy and me. “If we are striving to find the perfect music for yoga class, others are probably searching as well. Why don’t we create a CD?” 

So that night, I looked at the liner notes of the Zero 7 “Simple Things” CD and found the record company information. The next day I contacted them.

Amazingly, they agreed to meet us at their office on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Bruno Guez, the President, had worked with Chris Blackwell from Island Records / Bob Marley and the Wailers fame (among other artists) so we were in great company.

On the spot, we agreed to work together. Amy and I would select the artists from Quango Music’s roster and our artist friends and put together the sequence. The record company would handle the licensing, production and distribution. We selected an unused image from Amy’s cover shoot with Yoga Journal taken by the amazing and acclaimed dance photographer Lois Greenfield. Lois generously agreed to let us use it and the fun began.*

Hours and hours of selecting tracks, ordering tracks, writing the liner notes and PR descriptions, creating the yoga class sequence that would be included in the CD’s jewel case via tiny figures and intended to accompany the music. It was certainly a labor of love.

Some of the artists included: Thievery Corporation, Zero 7, Bliss and Cantoma.

You can listen to the Yoga One CD on Spotify, download it on iTunes and Amazon or get the actual CD (if you still have a CD player).

* fun note, Lois included the cover image in one of her annual dance calendars.

Marketing Text:

Take a journey into tranquility with Yoga One; a collection of world, dub, and chillout meditative grooves, each consciously chosen to remind you to breathe and to help you become one with yourself and your surroundings. 

Chillout masters Cantoma, Bliss, Thievery Corporation, Christophe Goze and Bitter:Sweet all provide a hypnotic soundtrack to today’s modern yoga experience. Get away from the stress of everyday life and slip away into the next level of your consciousness with Yoga One.

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!

Brittany teaches a Level 2, Flow class on Thursdays at 5:30pm. 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?  

I find yoga showing up almost everywhere. I channel my yoga practice to keep me balanced in both life and work. Sometimes I’ll enjoy a strong tadasana (mountain pose), while standing in line at the grocery store or even try a fun balancing pose! 

While working through a challenge at work, the practice of intentional, deep breathing allows me to stay present. Yoga also shows up as yoga whenever I teach and/or take an online or in-person class with my favorite peeps at my all-time favorite studio, Yoga One 🙂 

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

Amy Caldwell once said: the quality of your foundation relies on presence. This really hit home for me. Although I am not focused on this as often as I would like, I find that when I am present, soaking in all that is around me (the good and bad), I can work through challenges with a little more ease or enjoy those heartburst moments with a little more gratitude.  

3. What’s your favorite kind of burrito and why? This is a tough one!  I cannot choose… so instead, here are my go-to’s in San Diego:

Best Cali Burrito and Pollo Asada Quesadilla: La Perla

Best Taquitos: Don Carlos

Best Carnitas Plate and Plain Quesadilla: Los Dos Pedros

And Why??? They all just taste so great, or bring some wonderful memories; which are usually connected to a good surf session and a tasty brew.

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

Amy was pregnant with who would turn out to be our daughter Raya (aka da Rula). Realizing that travel in the near future would be challenging, Amy booked a flight to attend a Yoga Journal conference in San Francisco. The thought of participating in classes with inspirational teachers while also being liberated from daily responsibilities for the weekend sounded too sublime to skip! 

After a pleasant practice with some hundred other yoga aficionados, Amy was approached by a man with a ponytail who had been practicing behind her during class. He introduced himself as Todd Jones, the senior editor for Yoga Journal magazine*. 

Jones thought Amy had a nice asana practice and wanted to know if she would be interested in doing a photoshoot at some point. They exchanged information and Amy returned to San Diego where she resumed nurturing Yoga One and planning for the arrival of our first child. (Second, if you count the studio).

Amy’s first overnight away from baby took place when Raya was 10 months old. Amy was back in San Francisco holding deep yoga poses for extended periods of time and having to take breaks during the shoot to pump milk.

On this first shoot, taken by David Martinez, Amy posed for a seven page “home practice section” on how to work up to Pincha Mayurasana (Feathered Peacock Pose). 

She would return to San Francisco just a year later for two cover shots taken by acclaimed dance photographer Lois Greenfield. One of the shots was eventually used for the Yoga Journal’s 30th anniversary edition. 

Some time after the publications, Amy received an email from an individual who had seen her on the cover and wanted to know, not what her favorite yoga pose or book was, but about her shoe size. She does have very nice feet!

* A magazine is a collection of words and photographs that the reader can hold in their hand and typically comes with pages that can be turned.

Do you remember your first yoga class ever? We’d love to hear about it!

“When I was sixteen, I went to a low-income high school. They offered a weekly Ashtanga yoga class for kids who wanted to stop smoking. The teacher who organized the class loved yoga and wanted everyone to have the chance to practice, whether or not they smoked. At her encouragement, I fibbed on the intake forms and joined the class.

I fell in love with Ashtanga. I learned how to breathe consciously. I felt like there was some power locked within my awkward teenage body that I never knew existed before. Students gathered in the classroom and sometimes spilled out into the hallway. Once the lights were dimmed and practice began, the room was transformed into another space altogether. I am so grateful to that class and my first teacher who made such a deep impact on me.”

– Yoga One Student, Allison Page

Part 5 of how Yoga One founders Amy & Michael Caldwell turned their love story into a thriving yoga community! Read Part 4 here.

After backpacking around the world for 3.5 years, Amy and I felt that returning to LA seemed too familiar and too intense. So we settled in San Diego. I became an account manager at a graphic design studio and Amy worked for a family business coordinating the distribution of vegetables.

A few times a week, Amy practiced yoga in the Redwood Circle area of Balboa Park. With increasing frequency, people would stop and ask her what kind of dance she was doing (it was 2001). When she told them it was yoga, many asked if they could join her. As her following grew and winter approached, Amy and company started looking for a space to practice inside.

We tried out residential community centers, dance studios, and friends’ living rooms. For a period of time, Amy even led classes in a Hillcrest night club undergoing renovation. To access the space, everyone literally climbed over a pile of rubble. 

Eventually the classes migrated to 1150 7th Avenue downtown, in the exercise room of what was then Bodyworks Gym. The owner, Rich, allowed Amy to lead classes rent-free as long as his members could attend complimentary. It was a great arrangement, except that there was no direct access to the space. Amy and students had to go up the steep gym stairs, down the back stairs, through the long, narrow hallway and then wait until the spin or aerobic class let out. It was worth it since the room had high ceilings, sky lights and a beautiful hardwood floor. (Sound familiar yet?) 

However, it also had some challenges – the massage therapist working for the gym could only access her treatment room by walking through the exercise room. Often she would walk through multiple times during class – going to meet her client, going to wash her hands, leading her client out, even during savasana! Amy became adept at deep conscious breathing (: 

Still, classes were going well – the people and space had good energy. Rich suggested Amy lease the space directly. After not too much thought, Amy gave up the distribution of lettuce to teach full time.

PS. We loved our time in Redwood Circle so much we got married there. <3

“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. 

Do you remember your first yoga class ever? We’d love to hear about it!

“My first yoga class was in San Francisco, on the recommendation of an ex-boyfriend. In my mind, “yoga was for hippies” lol, but I went to a local YMCA and enrolled for a month. After my first class, I was in love.

“Before that, I had been working for my state’s Human Rights Commission. I was 21, fresh out of college, and I wasn’t ready to see the reality of my country, Mexico, first hand. I became extremely anxious, depressed and got into toxic behavior with myself. 

“But then a small miracle happened. As part of my job, I went to an orphanage where most of the kids had been taken away from their parents because of addiction or legal custody battles. I thought to myself, I can’t come in here looking like this. The kids need to see healthy people around them.

“I stopped drinking and smoking on the weekdays. It took me two or three months until I decided I needed to quit my job for the sake of my mental health. And I wanted to travel – which brought me to San Francisco. I went back to that YMCA for yoga every day for six months. Then everywhere I went, I enrolled in classes.

“I started to think seriously about taking a yoga teacher training. I realized I wasn’t interested anymore in trying to help the people around me with politics and social work. I wanted them to feel the way I did after every single class. So I looked for a good yoga teacher training in San Diego and the rest is history…

“It’s been almost seven years since I took my teacher training at Yoga One. Every day I go to work with so much happiness and fulfillment that I can’t put it into words. Thanks Yoga One!”

– Yoga One Teacher Training Graduate, Alejandra García Mac Naught

May is National Pet Month and we’re celebrating by showing off some of the wonderful pets in the Yoga One family! Do your furry friends like to join you on your mat? If they’re anything like these cuties, they can’t resist a good downward-facing dog!

Name: Kitty a.k.a Waker of Humans, Demander of Massages, Bringer of Unwanted “Treats,” Queen of Cuteness.
Favorite yoga pose: I-have-no-time-for-this-asana
If you practice any of Yoga One’s On-Demand classes filmed at our home during quarantine, you might catch a glimpse of Kitty! – Amy and Michael Caldwell

This is Teddy, an 8 year old, poodle/fox terrier mix. Teddy loves yoga and rarely misses an opportunity to join me on my mat, even if it’s to distract and earn attention. He enjoys downward facing dog followed by upward facing dog every morning before we put on his harness for a park trip. But his favorite posture, the one I most often find him in, would be supta baddha konasana. – Ben Clarke

This is Sammy! Her favorite yoga pose is side-lying savasana. Her other top choices are down dog and upward dog, and she enjoys practicing all poses on my mat… during the exact moment when I’m trying to practice yoga on the same mat. ? – Jackie Liu

This is Sheldon! His favorite pose is cow pose. – Lori Miller

Some of the funniest moments with my fur babies happen on or around the yoga mat! Brizo (black and white pup) is the best yoga partner – she spots her mom during inversions and is quick to jump out of the way on the occasion her mom comes tumbling down. She loves Savasana, because she’s in prime position for belly scratches! 

Zeus (brown pup) loves lying on his mom’s props and mat, and especially loves to get in the way during her down dog (he feels he should be included, as he is the pro, see picture of him and Brizo for evidence)! 

Hades’ (white kitty) favorite pastimes are: A) hiding behind the curtain in the yoga room and attacking his mom’s “hind legs” in her downward facing dog, & B) play fighting his brother, the actual dog (especially when Mom is trying to relax in Restorative).

These fur babies love to be included in Yoga One online classes! When their dad kicks them out of the room so Mom can practice alone, they listen and wait outside the door, hoping to be let back in. I personally love them hanging out with me during class…It’s never a dull practice with my favorite 4-legged yogis around! – Ariana Lizotte

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.

Take a few minutes out of your day to enjoy this healing sound bath offered by Yoga One teacher Amy Freeman and her son. They play chakra tuned crystal bowls, hand pan and tongue drums, and a rainstick in the beautiful San Diego, California sunshine. Please also enjoy the unscripted bird calls. 🙂

This article first published on NTCH magazine
Words by Victoria Derr / Photos by Vivian Morellon

Think back to your first yoga class. Was it a crisp studio space? A room with abstract murals on the wall? Was it a relaxing yin yoga class, or a high powered vinyasa class? A YouTube video? An Instagram clip? Or what about a friend encouraging you to do a few cat and cows? 

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For Yoga One studio owners, Amy and Michael Caldwell, their first yoga class was far from the norm.

It was on a searing hot blacktop, ambianced with Malaysian marching band music, taught by a dude doing headstands from New Zealand. They both laugh at the memory.

Rewind years earlier, before being studio owners and even before their first yoga class, Amy and Michael were both working in the music biz in LA; Amy, working for Budd Carr, seeking music to place in movie soundtracks and Michael, at Broadcast Music Inc., promoting songwriters and composers. They met at a record release party for Stanley Clark, and from there the yin-yang duo was born. Michael was promoting music to people like Amy, who placed music in movies and television. Already, their meeting seemed synchronistic – a balance of give and take.

Their dynamic duo energy only revealed itself more as the interview progressed. Much like the ebb and flow of an inhale and exhale, their journey with yoga had its moments of collaboration combined with solo self study: from discovering yoga in a book together, to living in separate cities as they deepened their practice.

Shortly after meeting, they wrapped up loose ends in LA and spent the next three years traveling. Between apple picking, bartending, and updating the Lonely Planet guides, the two lived a budget friendly, free-spirited life abroad. 

“I mean,” Amy shook her head as she spoke. “This was before the time of smartphones and instant communication, if we wanted to talk to people back home we had to find an internet cafe. Our parents must have thought we were crazy.” 

During the last year of their travels, they discovered yoga. For these two, their first encounter with yoga came from a few poses found in a book, Fit for Life. As they continued their travels, they met other individuals who were practicing yoga who would share different parts of yoga, the philosophies, the pranayama. 

NTCH sat down with the two yogis, who shared stories of going to JTMF with their kids, driving over tumbleweeds, Vipassana meditation, and balancing their everyday life through yoga.

NTCH: So how did you two come to yoga, or how did yoga come to you?

MICHAEL: It really was super organic. There’s the phenomenon that once you become aware of something, you see it everywhere. So as soon as we did the few poses we found in that book, Fit for Life, we were in Malaysia walking in the forest, and we look down into a valley and there was this guy who was doing something down there. We had never seen a video, or been to class, so we asked ourselves, “Is he doing yoga?” That night we saw him at the coffee shop, and went over to him, and he invited us to come join him the next day.

So my first yoga class ever…he takes us to the edge of a Malaysian high school, and we’re on the blacktop, in the summer, and it’s about eighty degrees, and we took off our t-shirts and put them onto the ground as mats. And we practiced on the blacktop. And in the distance, just across the way, was the Malaysian marching band [Michael imitates tuba sounds for emphasis] And that was my first yoga experience.

AMY: As we kept going, we would find books and other people who practiced. Two years later when we got to India, we were very much ready to immerse ourselves in that experience. We studied with a private instructor for six weeks that came to our house every morning for an hour. 

MICHAEL: We were on an exploration. I mean, we both went to college in LA, worked in the music business. How fun, it doesn’t get more fun than some of the experiences we had. But the fact that we were looking for more in terms of personal growth set us up to be open for something like that. Trying to engage with your body for its own purpose rather than as a vehicle to get something done. That was a revelation for us.

Read the full interview with NTCH here.

Part One: Yoga One Co-Founders Amy and Michael Caldwell weren’t always yoga teachers in beautiful San Diego… Here’s a flashback story of how they fell in love and the seed for Yoga One was planted. 🙂

Check out this Throwback pic of Yoga One co-founders Amy & Michael in Kala Patthar, Nepal in 1999! 

Seeing as ?Valentine’s Day ?is right around the corner, we wanted to share a little background on how their love story brought Yoga One to life in San Diego. 

“It was 1995 and I was working for Broadcast Music Incorporated in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd. We were throwing a party for jazz bassist extraordinaire and film composer Stanley Clarke. Amy and her co-workers from Budd Carr’s music supervision team were attending the event. With Budd and company, Amy had helped with the music for such films as Twister, Heat, Nixon and Natural Born Killers. Since Amy and her team often frequented such events as a group, someone remarked that she’d never find a boyfriend because it always appeared that she was in a relationship. Amy replied that there wasn’t anyone at the party in which she was interested in, anyway. That is until I walked around the corner. Insert angelic music swelling, a warm breeze blowing my hair, and soft lighting caressing my face. A few years later, we were at 18,800 feet on Kala Patar and with Mount Everest as our witness, I proposed. Amy, cold and oxygen deprived said, “Of course!” We then hiked to base camp for good measure.”

This is ~obviously~ Michael’s version of events! But that party was the start of it all. Stay tuned for the next installment about how Amy & Michael discovered their love of yoga in an Australian apple orchard and the seed for Yoga One was planted! ??????

It can be hard to think of fun and safe date ideas these days. Thankfully our friends at Eco Boat Rentals have complied a list of 7 Outdoor Date Ideas San Diego Has to Offer and Yoga One is #2 on their list!

“If you and your date like yoga or want to try something new together, do an outdoor yoga class. Yoga One San Diego hosts yoga classes live online via Zoom and outside in Presidio Park in Old Town. You can even book a private yoga session for two!”

Or join us this coming Saturday, 2/13 for a special 2 hour Valentine’s Day Flow & Restore class with Nicole Schwander Riel on Zoom from 2-4pm.

This special, two hour soulful practice is designed to fill your heart with love. The first hour will focus on a light-hearted flow to lift your spirits, move with intention, and open your center through backbends with options and modifications for all levels. During the second hour, we will drop into a juicy restorative practice, supported with props to connect with compassion and love for yourself and all beings. This longer class format is a special treat for your body, mind, and heart!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9OpkzLm-9/

THANK YOU to everyone here and the wider Yoga One community! The Yoga One blog has become a place where we showcase the people who make our community so special, where we share life, humor, and reflection, all with the goal of helping others live healthier and happier lives.

Let us know what you’d like to see more of and where you think we’re doing a good job or need to improve! We welcome all comments, questions and submissions.

Here’s a look back at our top 5 Posts from the past year:

Dive Into the Details – How to Practice Warrior III Pose (Virabhadrasana III)

Yogi Reads: Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously

Yes to You: A Yoga Teacher’s Poem

Yogi Reads: Living Your Yoga

Calling Savasana By Its Name

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.

 

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.

Yoga One’s month in review, in response to Covid-19.

by Laura McCorry

Just last month (although it feels like eons ago!) the Yoga One team was full-steam ahead getting ready to open our new Mission Hills location  We were busy teaching a full schedule of classes at our Downtown location, half way through our Winter/Spring, 8 weekend 200 Hour Teacher Training Course,and leading classes at multiple off-site corporate locations. 

Our teachers were sharing the joys and benefits of yoga with students who walked into our studio off the street, with students who had never practiced yoga before, with students who popped into an empty conference room for a lunch-time practice, with students who have been building their yoga practice for years – all of whom trust Yoga One to guide them with depth of knowledge, skill, heart, integrity, and compassion.

Enter Covid-19. California and many other states rushed to issue stay-at-home orders and the world as we knew it was turned upside down. So many more people were working from home. Schools were closed indefinitely. Businesses scrambled to put protective measures in place, some closed their doors, and still others decided to offer their services online.

Our Downtown studio, a place that since 2002 has been an oasis that admits the city, a h-OM-e way from home for so many, was (for the moment) no longer a place we could congregate. We have long believed that sharing the practice of yoga was not just good for the individual, but good for the community.

How could we continue to offer yoga to help people live healthy and happy lives and to foster connection between individuals, building community, right now when people need it the most?

In just two days, we pulled together with staff and students to transition all of our classes online. Questions regarding Zoom ID#s were now as common as namaste. Because our online classes are live and interactive, they have the same feel as practicing in the studio. Teachers and students greet each other in real time. Teachers can watch their students’ alignment and provide feedback and encouragement. Soon we had our groove on and it was inspiring to see everyone really utilizing their yoga practice, way beyond the physical asana –

Holly Wright and David Lloyd got their cat Zimbo to attend classes online!

Allison Page roped her sister Caroline into rolling out her mat regularly next to her.

And the graduates of the Yoga One Teacher Training Winter/Spring 200 Hour course stayed after class for a Catch-Up Party.

It’s been amazing to see the outpouring of love and support from within our community during these challenging times. Small businesses everywhere are hurting right now. When you shop or support a small business like Yoga One, you’re taking one step forward towards the kind of world we all hope to emerge from isolation to find. (Tweet that)

In recent days, we’ve been reviewing our class recordings, trying to determine how and when we might be able to offer them for a streaming service – so students could access quality yoga instruction whenever is most convenient for them. 

What we’ve found is not just hour-long yoga classes: We’ve seen our whole community encouraging each other, sharing updates about their families, offering each other blessings and messages of hope, checking in on teachers and students and neighbors alike. Despite the upset of Covid-19, we have found each other and forged a real, human connection through the portal of the internet.

Our community has adapted and our connection is intact and strong. Yoga means union, or to yoke together. Thank you (yes, you!) for showing us through your presence and your support that we really are all in this together.

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

Our mission at Yoga One is to help you live a healthier and happier life. Through mindfulness and movement, yoga supports your overall wellbeing while also releasing fear, decreasing anxiety, and cultivating a sense of peace. Yoga is a powerful force for connection.

3 Ways to Practice Yoga and Foster Connection at Home

1. Stream Yoga One Classes Online

Yoga One is happy to be able to continue sharing the joys and benefits of yoga and community with you online via Zoom live interactive classes. See our full class schedule here.

Here’s how to practice with us online: When you pre-register for a class online, you’ll be emailed a unique viewing link to practice alongside your favorite instructor live. Download Zoom on your device (tablet, phone, computer) and have your charging cable nearby if needed. Then simply roll out your mat, test your audio, and enjoy your practice!

All memberships, class packages, and drop-in rates will apply – click here for more information.

2. Private Instruction over Videochat

Did you know you can set up a one-time or recurring private lesson online? It’s a unique experience from an in-person lesson and there are some serious benefits: tailored instruction for your body and how you’re feeling that very day, practice in the comfort of your home, enjoy deepening your knowledge of yoga from one of our highly trained teachers. Email info@yogaonesandiego.com to find out more.

3. Home Practice

If you’ve ever wanted to practice yoga at home, now is the time! Practicing yoga by yourself deepens your relationship to yoga, to your body and to mindfulness. How long to hold a pose? It’s up to you! Move and breathe in the moment exactly the way that serves you best. Yeah! Here are 6 Ways to Build a Home Yoga Practice. 

fiction by Laura McCorry

It was almost time. Christine Tran took a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching her face in the mirror. Her straight, black hair was starting to grow back, just as thick as before chemo, which surprised her. It felt weird that she was no longer visibly marked by cancer; even weirder to realize that people she met now wouldn’t know about that chapter of her life unless she told them.

A month ago, she’d decided to try a yoga class with a friend. It was a community class, led by a new instructor, and maybe that partly explained their experience, but from the moment Christine walked in the door, she had felt nervous about reconnecting with her body.

In the middle of class, when the instructor tried to physically assist her into a deeper twist, Christine wanted to run out of the room. Instead, she told the instructor quietly but firmly that she physically couldn’t twist any deeper. What Christine didn’t explain was that she was thirty five years old and in the past year, she had undergone major abdominal surgery and lost several organs, as well as a football-sized tumor.

After class, her friend had been incensed on her behalf. “Did the instructor ask you about injuries before the start of class?” No, Christine shook her head. Her friend wanted to complain at the front desk but Christine stopped her. She didn’t like confrontations and she really didn’t want to explain her medical history in front of everyone.

The clock read almost 4pm on a Friday. The sun was shining out the window, which Christine knew meant it was warm enough she would only need a sweater, even in January, because she now lived in San Diego. Back in Virginia, it could be bright and sunny and still forty degrees outside. Christine shivered involuntarily. It had been more than six months since her last chemo treatment and she still experienced near-daily side effects. It was very nice to live in a warmer climate.

“Are you ready?” Christine asked her reflection. Her dark eyes stared back at her with determination. She knew not all yoga teachers were the same and she knew, or had an inkling, that yoga was a practice that might really help at this stage of her life.

It was a short drive to Yoga One downtown and she easily found a parking spot, most of the offices were emptying that time of day. The instructor greeted her at the door with a friendly smile, “Hi, I’m Missy!” Christine filled out the new student form and briefly wrote out her relevant limitations, not wanting to write down the actual saga. She wondered if Missy would read the form or if Christine would need to bring it up herself.

Upstairs, Missy approached Christine’s mat and talked clearly but discreetly just to her, “I saw you noted down abdominal surgery, do you have any concerns you’d like to share or questions about our class?”

Christine felt a warm glow of appreciation inside her chest. “I still have a lot of scar tissue, so I won’t go very deep into twists,” she told Missy.

“That’s totally okay,” Missy reassured her. “Don’t do anything that doesn’t feel good in your body. Feel free to modify any poses and if you need a suggestion for something else to do, you can just wave at me and I’ll be happy to come help.”

Thank you to each and every reader and student of Yoga One, both online and in person, and we especially love it when those two worlds overlap!

We choose our posts, our writers, and our content with care because we believe that our online presence should reflect the same values we share through our San Diego yoga studio – we value integrity, we are committed to sharing knowledge, and we believe helping the individual live a happier and healthier life leads to happier and healthier communities.

Thank YOU (yes, you!) for being a part of the Yoga One Family!

To celebrate, here’s a round-up of our all-time top 8 posts. Enjoy!

8. Confessions of a Yoga Teacher-Military Spouse
7. 5 Yoga Poses for Your 8-to-5
6. The Potency of Backbends and Breath
5. Top Ten Yoga Myths: Part Two
4. The Power of Intention
3. Yoga Playlist from Amy Freeman
2. Top Ten Yoga Myths: Part One

and appropriately, the number 1 post on our site:
1. The Benefits of Yoga

What better way to experience community and inter-connectedness than by practicing yoga alongside hundreds of other wonderful humans at Waterfront Park in downtown San Diego? We had an absolute blast and we can’t wait to participate again next year!

We asked you, our students, to describe Yoga One using just 3 words and your lists blew us away! We are so proud and humbled, encouraged and challenged, and overall feeling the LOVE!

Thank YOU for making Yoga One a welcoming space for all to enjoy the benefits of yoga and community. Namaste!

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.

Missy is Yoga One’s OM (Office Manager). She’s the big smile and warm spirit that greets you from the studio’s office nook. Missy is the hub that connects all the parts. Here she is delivering the opening remarks for the Festival of Yoga, with the primary class being led by Yoga One’s own Amy Caldwell. Not long after Missy inspired the crowd of yogis, she dropped the mic (figuratively not literally). But either way she rocks! \m/

The next Festival of Yoga is scheduled for June 23rd, 2019 at the Waterfront Park. Click here to register for this FREE event!

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. 

fiction by Laura McCorry

Carl sat on the crinkly paper of an examining table waiting for his doctor. He kicked his feet and glanced around for a magazine. As a grown man, he felt ridiculous when his feet didn’t touch the floor. Carl was there for his annual check up, something his wife (and his health insurance) insisted on since he turned fifty.

He took a deep breath and let it out, slow and controlled. The practiced measure of that breath and the peace that followed marked a groundswell of change in Carl’s life from the year before.

A year ago, Carl had sat in the exact same spot, not knowing what to expect, feeling irritated that he had to take time out of his busy work day to be there.

A year ago, Carl had expected to hear that everything was fine, that he was a marvel of health despite the fact that he rarely exercised and regularly indulged in rich food and drink.

A year ago, Carl’s doctor told him that unless he made significant changes, he would need to take daily medication and adjust his expectations for his future quality of life.

Looking back, Carl could see the signs. But at the time, it was too easy to justify the way he was feeling. His back hurt because he wasn’t twenty years old anymore. Lots of people complained of indigestion. He carried some weight around his middle, but so did nearly all of his colleagues the same age as him. If it was normal, it couldn’t be that bad, he reasoned.

Despite telling himself it was a normal part of aging, Carl didn’t like the way he looked in the mirror. And every time he lay down at night, the aching muscles in his back would start to relax a bit which ironically made them ache even more. Laying next to his sleeping wife, he knew deep down that there had to be something more he could do.

It was that routine visit to the doctor that opened his eyes.

“What do you do to move your body?” Dr. Beamer asked, looking Carl in the eye over the rim of his glasses.

“I throw a tennis ball for the dog in the backyard,” Carl joked to avoid the question. He moved through his life with a minimum of movement, from his bed to the breakfast table. From his car to his desk. From the dinner table to his recliner. From his recliner to his bed.

“What have you tried before?” the doctor’s gaze hadn’t flinched, bless him.

“I used to play basketball with some buddies,” Carl offered.

Dr. Beamer nodded his head. “I’m not saying don’t try it, but go easy. Basketball at your age, after a long hiatus, can be hard on the knees.”

And then he said the fateful words Carl had never expected to hear:

“Have you ever considered doing yoga?”

No, Carl had never considered yoga. In his mind, yoga was something his wife did. But that evening, when Carl told his wife about the doctor’s suggestion, she didn’t tease him or gloat. Instead, she simply messaged him the online schedule for Yoga One, the studio in Downtown San Diego where she’d been practicing for the past five years.

Carl looked at the schedule and thought about his week. Fridays were pretty easy, he could often take a half day or work from home. He scanned the list of classes and instructors and saw one that popped out at him: Level 1 and 2 Flow with Michael Caldwell.

He borrowed his wife’s yoga mat and changed at work into a t-shirt and a pair of lounge pants. Carl felt nervous. He didn’t want to be noticed as new.

Even though he arrived early, there were still quite a few people already picking out spots in the bright upstairs studio. At the front of the room, a tall man in a t-shirt and comfortable pants talked and laughed with the regulars.

“Hi, I’m Michael,” the man introduced himself. He asked if Carl had any injuries or questions and they chatted briefly about the Padres. Carl didn’t know exactly what he had expected from a yoga teacher, but he felt reassured and intrigued.

The yoga class was harder than Carl had expected. Somewhere along the way, he’d gotten the idea that yoga was mostly sitting on the floor stretching and lying down relaxing. Not in this class! These people were moving and sweating and working hard.

There was a lot that Carl couldn’t do, but instead of discouraging him, he only wanted to try harder. Every time Michael guided the class into a difficult pose, he acknowledged it and encouraged each student to stay and breathe or back off and rest. By the end of the class, Carl was beginning to feel as though the yoga was more about what was going on in his own body instead of what the other bodies in the room were capable of doing.

It only took one class and Carl was hooked. At first he was doing yoga at his wife’s studio for his health. Before long though, Carl knew he was practicing yoga for himself. He loved the way it challenged both his strength and his stillness. It was no longer his wife’s studio, Yoga One had become like a second home, a place where they both found friends and community.

There was a knock on the door and the doctor walked into the examining room.

“Hi there, Carl,” Dr. Beamer looked up from a clipboard and raised his eyebrows as he smiled at Carl. “You’re looking good!”

“I feel good,” Carl replied with a proud smile.

“I bet,” said the doctor. “Your chart says you’ve lost some weight and, this I can’t believe, you’re an inch taller than last year. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”

They discussed how to manage some of the health problems Carl was still experiencing but he was relieved to hear that the focus had shifted from management to prevention. Yoga hadn’t cured everything that was wrong, but it had pushed Carl into a long-lost relationship with his body. Now it didn’t matter so much what he looked like, it mattered how he felt — and Carl felt better than ever.

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

Expand and explore your yoga practice with master teacher Amy Caldwell of Yoga One.

Yoga is an experiential process. A regular practice can help you develop a better connection with yourself, others, and the present moment. Yoga can help reduce stress, anxiety, and bad habits. Yoga means union. At Yoga One we strive to connect mindfulness, breath, and action.

These step by step instructions will safely guide you into and out of this yoga pose. We offer precise alignment cues to cultivate conscientious movement and to keep you safe, so  you can refine and benefit from your practice and the subsequent understanding for a lifetime.

Throughout our internationally acclaimed Yoga One Teacher Training Course, we dive further into the details to inspire and assist those individuals looking to take their practice to the next level and for those wanting to share the joys and benefits of yoga with others.

Warrior III – Virabhadrasana III

Benefits:

• Strengthening, especially for the abdominal, back, leg and gluteus muscles
• Challenges and improves balance and coordination

Foundation and general alignment:

• Standing foot: Three points of foot grounded.
• Standing leg: Muscles engaged, including glutes. Kneecap lifted and tracking toward middle toe. Bend knee if needed – check engagement and tracking.
• Lifted leg: Muscles engaged, the foot flexed or pointed (different effects).
• Kneecap points downward towards the floor – inner thigh firm and lifted toward the sky.
• Neutral pelvis (in all three planes). Firm outer hips.
• Strong core.
• Torso lengthens evenly on all sides.
• Shoulder blades hug onto the back ribs – widen collarbones
• Arms extend straight alongside the ears, palms facing one another
• Ears are between the upper arms, face is parallel to the earth
• From pelvis, expand out equally in all directions
• This pose is Tadasana or Supta Padangusthasana done horizontally

Common problems and misalignments:

• Most at risk: Standing leg knee and hip, lower back, neck
• Weight imbalances at the base
• Hyperextension / misalignment of the standing knee – OK to keep standing leg bent with lifted leg straight
• Hip of lifted leg flares out to side with knee and foot turning out
• Excessive curve in low back – lack of core engagement
• Low back rounded with tailbone tucked
• Upper back overly rounded
• General lack of engagement to the midline

Contra-indications: Weakness, poor balance, knee problems, low back problems, balance issues, practice with caution if you have high blood pressure

Modifications:

• Hands on the wall or chair (fingertips on two blocks)
• Entry from Tadasana or Virabhadra 1
• Bend standing leg. Easier to maintain muscular engagement and neutral pelvis
• Teach shape of pose lying on back, bottom foot at wall or on all 4’s with one leg lifted

Variations: Arms out to the side, back, Anjali mudra, or hands on hips

Enhancements: In version with arms forward, face student, have them press forearms down onto adjuster’s arm and tone belly, or adjuster stands on standing leg side, hip to hip with student, then squeezes in hip of lifted leg hip for stability.

Prep posture: all fours, with one leg up – press shin down, adjuster resists, lift low belly to find neutral spine.

fiction by Laura McCorry

Ally hadn’t taken a yoga class in a long time. Her first (and last) class had been at her boyfriend Evan’s gym downtown. She had agreed to go on a date with Evan simply because when she moved, he was the only person she knew in San Diego. Before she knew it, they’d been dating for six months.

Things didn’t work out with Evan. Ally was the kind of girl who wanted a plan in life and Evan found the whole concept of planning not just unnecessary, but, somehow fundamentally wrong. Just before they broke up, he’d invited her to try the yoga class.

What do you mean you’ve never done yoga? How long have you lived here now? You have to try yoga at least once if you’re ever going to call yourself a local. Evan had pleaded with her. 

Evan was right. Yoga was just as much a part of the air in San Diego as salt from the Pacific Ocean. The yoga class itself was fine. The instructor was a thin, bendy woman with her hair gathered in a messy ponytail. Ally copied the poses as best she could and at the end of an hour, she felt tired both physically and mentally from trying to keep up. She wrote off yoga as just one of those things that wasn’t for her.

About two years later on a Saturday morning, Ally was sitting at an open air table at one of the trendy brunch restaurants downtown. Across from her sat tall, lean, dark-haired Tyler. He lived in her building and she mostly saw him in the elevators. 

They had the kind of conversations that were always upbeat, slightly humorous, and usually referenced the weather. Ally thought it was strange to talk about the weather in San Diego, where the temperature only varied about ten degrees in a year, but she guessed some things stayed the same no matter where you lived.

After their first conversation, Ally ran into Tyler all the time. Once she even thought she saw him walking out of a coffee shop near her work, but she couldn’t be sure. Each time they met, she caught herself smiling more and touching her hair. Then, just when she was sure he must not be interested, Tyler asked her out.

Most of the men she dated wanted to go out for drinks at night. Tyler had asked her to brunch. And now he was asking her to go to yoga.

They had finished their meal and the bright midday sun struck the awning overhead and made everything in the street blur and their table feel comfortably secluded. Ally couldn’t remember the last time she had so enjoyed a getting-to-know-you conversation.

“Look, I know we don’t know each other very well,” Tyler was saying, “but I’ve got a super good feeling about you. I feel like we understand each other without trying too hard.”

Beneath the table, Ally stretched the cloth napkin between her fingers and smiled at Tyler encouragingly.

“I’m big into yoga and there’s this class that I’d love to go to, but it’s a partner class. I know you said you don’t do yoga, but I was wondering if you would make an exception. I’d love to introduce you to my studio, it’s called Yoga One.” Tyler looked at her earnestly, his eyes bright.

At that moment, Ally thought she would probably agree to go wind-surfing or dirt biking or any other improbable activity that Tyler proposed but she didn’t want to seem too eager.

“Yea, okay, I mean, I can probably give yoga another try,” she replied with a smile.

“Great!” said Tyler. “It’s next week and you’re going to love the instructor. I promise, this class will make up for every mediocre yoga class you’ve ever attended.”

“Well I’ve only been to one…”

Tyler laughed as if she were joking. “Okay, one more thing. Please don’t read anything serious into this, but it’s called a Valentine’s Yoga class. There are plenty of people coming who are just friends though, it’s really just a partner class and you can bring your valentine, or you can just bring someone you like, totally chill.”

Ally floated through the rest of that afternoon and evening but by the day of the yoga class, she had come down to earth. She worried one minute that Tyler was too serious. She worried the next minute that he wasn’t serious at all. Then she worried about not knowing anything about yoga.

Somehow Ally made it to the studio, signed the registration form, and was ushered upstairs into an airy, skylit yoga room where everyone spoke in soft voices and walked about gracefully on the hardwood floors. Ally saw Tyler already setting out a mat for her and she was glad they would be away from the front. 

“Hi, you must be Ally,” said a bright voice at her elbow. Ally turned to see a trim woman with a friendly, open face and loose dark hair. “Tyler told us he was bringing someone new. Welcome, I’m Amy.”

Amy reassured her that the class would be appropriate for beginners and encouraged her to go at her own pace. It was such a nice touch, a personal welcome. Ally stepped onto her mat and smiled a bit nervously at Tyler. But when she heard Amy’s voice invite the class to begin she felt curiously at ease.

They moved through some opening stretches and deep breathing before starting the partnered poses. Ally was deliciously conscious of Tyler’s body near hers and she loved that he always asked or looked to her for consent before touching her back or holding her hand during tree pose. Every move they made was no more intimate than anything she would do with a friend, but Ally felt the current of attraction running between them.

After some time though, Ally became aware of another sensation. Her breath was slow and steady, which cleared her head and brought a small feeling of lightness in her habitually tight shoulders. 

The yoga poses were changing the way she felt in her body. Underneath all the layers of her everyday life, working at her desk, leaning against the wall in the elevator, curled up on her couch at night, she felt a latent brightness in her body ready to break free. As if this way of moving and breathing called yoga could make her feel again the way she had as a kid, easy and unselfconscious.

When the class ended, Ally pressed her hands together in front of her heart and softly said “namaste” with the group. She turned to Tyler and smiled. He smiled back with a knowing look. 

Ally wasn’t sure what would happen next between her and Tyler. But she did know that this time, she was ready for a serious relationship with yoga.

*****

Experience for yourself our Valentine’s Partner Yoga Playshop

led by Amy and Michael Caldwell

Get in touch with your partner or reconnect with a good friend through the joys and benefits of yoga. Come practice poses together, share some quality time and celebrate friendship and love.

By candlelight you will be guided through fun and accessible partner poses, assisting each other with hands on adjustments and optimal alignment cues, go deeper into your practice and the present moment. Chocolate will be provided. No experience necessary.

When: 6:30-8pm, Saturday, February 9th.

Cost: $50 per couple when registered by February 2nd, $60 thereafter. Pre-registration only. The last date to register is February 6th. Space is limited.

Info@yogaonesandiego.com, 619-544-0587

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

Wishing you healthy, happy holidays
from all of us at Yoga One!

The above words are how students have described feeling after practicing at Yoga One!

Give the gifts of Yoga and Massage!

Special holiday offers available until December 21st:
 10 Yoga Classes for only $120
(normally $187, SAVE $67!)*
Click here and use promo code: cheers
*Package expires 6 months from the first class attended (not from purchase date).
No refunds or extensions. Must be purchased by December 21st.

Gift Certificates are also available in any denomination.

Click here for Yoga One holiday schedule.

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 Zoe Freedman.

1. Why do you practice yoga?

I practice for so many reasons! Firstly, because it feels delicious in my body. I love to cultivate more space, shift stagnation, and allow each part of my physical being to stretch and strengthen.

I also love finding a meditative flow with my breath, clearing my mind, and creating mental space for genius ideas to sprout. It’s time away from technology as well, which is an added bonus!

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

I spent two years convinced I didn’t have anything unique to offer my students, and that took a lot of patience and commitment to break through.

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

First and foremost, connecting with incredible humans. Secondly, assisting my students in feeling more comfortable in their bodies. We only get one… life is too short to stay stiff and uncomfortable!

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

5. What’s your yoga inspiration?

My yoga inspiration is anyone who shows up for themselves again and again, no matter what life throws their way. Those who commit to seeking enlightenment and inner peace, through all eight limbs of yoga. There are too many incredible yogis doing this to name! Many of my students are such yogis, who inspire me every day.

6. What classes do you teach at Yoga One?

I teach Vinyasa Flow levels 1 & 2 on Tuesdays at 4:30 pm!

You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

200-Hours of Study, A Three Week Transformation

guest post by Stacey Ebert

A little over three weeks ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. I couldn’t imagine how I would budget my time and had no clue what I’d do in the training I was about to experience.

Now that Yoga One’s 200-hour Teacher Training has come to a close, I’m having yoga withdrawals. I can’t imagine what I’ll do with all this extra time and I am overwhelmed by the emotions stirred up by this magical experience. Since I’ve known them for well over a year now, I’m sure the owners Amy and Michael Caldwell, and OM (Office Manager) Missy DiDonato knew this would be the case – but I didn’t. Needless to say, I’m eternally grateful.

The transformation is palpable. I’ve heard of it happening, but I didn’t know it would happen to me. I jumped in hoping for a deeper understanding of my practice (with only the smidgeon of thought that perhaps, maybe, I might, someday think about teaching). I didn’t expect what would transpire. I entered with eyes wide open; I leave with a soaring spirit, curious mind, open heart (shoulders and hips, too), and a thirst for more.

Together, the 14 of us went through many rounds of practice teaching. We learned to consciously listen, to accept constructive criticism, to provide positive feedback and to give each other useful suggestions along the way. We grew. My wonky scoliosis came in handy for those who needed a visual and ideas for modifications that work for those with an atypical spine. We learned to ask before adjusting, use props to elevate and elongate, check in with prenatal poses, and wind down in the delight of restorative everything.

Together we saw the changes taking place. Greater strength and flexibility occurred, muscles ached and developed, the shy students grew emboldened, those with questions encouraged, and all of us were empowered and enlightened. Whether on a paddleboard, in a pose, or at a potluck – we were united in yoga, inspired by our teacher Amy Caldwell, and determined to learn the paths and postures of this ancient wisdom. 

Through adjustments, asanas, and alignment details, Amy never waned. She was there through it all with patience, suggestions, knowledge, and experience. Her welcoming, trustworthy nature fostered a safe, risk-free environment for all to blossom. Hers is a classroom of open communication, trust, guidance, and facilitation. Buoyed by Amy’s easy-going demeanor, we, her students, thrived. She guided us through the three week course with kindness, patience, profound wisdom, and much pranayama (breathwork).

When I posted on social media that I was taking this class, a former student replied ‘once a teacher, always a teacher’. I’ve been a student of yoga for almost a decade and taught in and out of the classroom for far longer. I’ve practiced yoga on two coasts and in fun spots around the globe. Of course, year one of teaching (or practicing) is different than year 8, year 15 or year 20, but from personal experience (both as a student and teacher), I know what I believe it takes to be a good teacher… and I can say with confidence that Amy has all that and more.

It’s mind-blowing to know that in such a (relatively) short time, Yoga One packed 200 hours of information and engagement into our brains and our bodies. Fourteen strangers stepped onto their mats in a studio new to many of them. Three weeks later, we’ve left as friends who were united in something greater than ourselves and who experienced moments that none of us will soon forget.

Mindfulness flourished in the studio; and although there’s no telling where all this will lead, I know for certain the light cultivated will not be extinguished. I’m proud of all of us and grateful for the practice and the people. I am indebted to Amy, my friend and teacher, and I will never forget this experience that literally cracked my soul wide open. Namaste.

Stacey Ebert
Guest Writer

Stacey Ebert is a freelance writer, educator, event planner, and volunteer coordinator who has traveled to over 50 of the world’s countries. Writing about adventure, journey and perspective changing life shifts, she encourages travelers to take the leap, use the world as their classroom and get outside their comfort zones. She has lived in Long Beach (New York), Melbourne (Australia) and is presently based in San Diego (California). Connect with her on her blog, The Gift of Travel, Facebook, Pinterest, or LinkedIn.

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 Lauren Christie.

1. Why do you practice yoga?

I practice yoga to cultivate presence, to sense myself more clearly, and to shift my perspective. I practice so I can take what I learn out into the world. And I practice asana (the physical movements of yoga) so I can delight in having a moving, breathing body!

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

Getting out of my head, and accepting that I won’t always get it right.

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

Seeing when things “click” for people. I like seeing people get excited about moving in a new way, and sensing that people are building self-confidence within the practice.

4. If yoga were a food, car, smell, planet, song, artist, flavor, etc… it would be: This is so hard! Yoga is so many things. For me right now, yoga would be like the flavor “umami.” It’s difficult to grasp and define, yet deeply satisfying when you experience it, and necessary for a well-rounded palate.

5. What’s your yoga inspiration?

My yoga inspiration is the world around me. I learn a lot from witnessing the qualities of trees, grass, sky, birds, ocean, etc. The people in my life inspire me too: my students, my fellow teachers, my partner, my family, my friends, the person in front of me in line at the grocery store…

6. What classes do you teach at Yoga One?

I teach Flow 1&2 on Thursdays at 7:30pm. 🙂

You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

When you sign up for Yoga One’s Teacher Training Program, you’re not only choosing to deepen your knowledge and relationship with yoga, you’re joining a supportive community of people on the same journey in life. Go here to learn more and to register for our next training.

Recent graduate Sher Cowie writes:

When I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training last year in July, I did it as a way to understand yoga fully and to deepen my own practice. Through this, I felt that it would transition into my teaching and help me become a better instructor. Little did I know that it would be so much more for me and that it would help get me through one of the most difficult periods in my life.

Yoga One Teacher Training started January 19, 2018. Our first meeting was held at our instructor’s home where we all shared a meal and got to know one another. Fast forward to February 4, 2018 when my world changed.

[I came] to class that night and told one of my instructors, Diana Beardsley, what happened. She hugged me and offered support through comforting words. [Soon] my other instructors found out, as well as fellow students. I received much needed love and support from my new yoga family.

The last three weeks of class have been difficult but if not for the teacher training, the instructors like Amy, Missy, Diana, and Michael, as well as my personal practice instructors – Missy, Jen, Nam and Arati, I don’t think I would’ve made it through this time with such inner peace and strength. They all, along with my fellow peers lifted me up during this darkest time and I will be forever grateful for this experience and the changes it has brought me.

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 Terri Hobbs, who is leaving Yoga One after 8 years of teaching with us in search of new adventures. All the best, Terri! You’ll be missed.

1. Why do you practice yoga? 

I practice for strength, balance, mindfulness, serenity, and because yoga is a creative outlet for me.

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

Remembering the difference between right and left! Also I used to worry that I would run out of poses to teach before class was over. 🙂

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

Whenever a yogi tells me a chronic pain of theirs has disappeared, or the first time a student really “masters” a pose.

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

5. What’s your yoga inspiration?

I find a lot of inspiration from my co-instructors at Yoga One, especially Amy Caldwell and Mara Harris! I look to the internet and classes I take when I travel to help freshen up both my practice and my teaching.

6. Usually we ask what classes you teach at Yoga One – but you’re saying au revoir. What will you carry with you from your time at Yoga One?

Words may fail me in describing the Yoga One family. I’ve never felt so supported, valued, and loved as an employee and as a person. Why leave nirvana? Upcoming opportunities to travel and a desire for new challenges.

7. Anything else you’d like to add, share, suggest?

Be love.
Appreciate grace.
Make connections.

You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

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 Lauren Dickson.

1. Why do you practice yoga? 

I practice yoga for so many reasons – from self-exploration to stress management in my daily life. I love that yoga increases my mindfulness and awareness of myself and the world around me.

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

Not always being able to offer one “right” or “best” way to practice when a student had a specific problem. It was hard to balance the organic and natural openness I feel a good teacher should have, while still being okay with being a student myself.

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

Seeing students find moments of ease and peace within their practice!

4. If yoga were a food, car, smell, planet, song, artist, flavor, etc…it would be: Annie Leibovitz, a portrait photographer. I love that she captures the present moment exactly as it is and celebrates it for what it is.

5. What’s your yoga inspiration?

Working (and practicing) towards living a balanced life, mentally and physically.

6. What classes do you teach at Yoga One?

You can find me in the Nook and subbing at our downtown location, plus I teach offsite corporate classes. 🙂

You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

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 Missy DiDonato.

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1. Why do you practice yoga? 

I practice for the benefit of my mind, body, and all around life issues 🙂

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

Learning to stop expecting people to like me.

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

Seeing the emotional release of a student during or after a class. Also seeing people at their best or most vulnerable.

4. If yoga were a food, car, smell, planet, song, artist, flavor, etc…it would be:  If yoga were a smell, it would be a fart. Because it’s necessary to live and comes in all different varieties!

5. What’s your yoga inspiration?

My 3 year old daughter, Olive. Firstly, because she’s so flexible and that’s proof it’s something we’re born with and it’s only our habits that make us inflexible. And secondly, because she is so present.

6. What classes do you teach at Yoga One?

I teach level 1 & 2 Classic Yoga on Thursdays at 4:30pm and an all levels Restorative Yoga on Fridays at 5:30pm.

7. Anything else you’d like to add, share, suggest?

I am constantly grateful for all of the yogis and non-yogis that come into my life. Thank you from the depths of my heart.

You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

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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.

An Original Yoga One Yogi, Arati Lane has been teaching at Yoga One from day one. Yoga One began enhancing the well-being of San Diego residents and visitors in 2002 and Arati has been with us every step of the way. When she’s not teaching you can sometimes find her riding on her high horse. But her yoga keeps her humble. 🙂

Arati has been teaching Yoga since 1989, completing her first training with Sivananda. Arati currently teaches yoga classes and workshops for fertility, pre- and postnatal, infant massage, couples yoga, healthy backs, flow and hatha. She counsels in AYURVEDA and loves sharing these amazing life-enhancing methods to heal and maintain balanced health in all forms! She teaches at Yoga One Sundays at 10am. You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

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. 

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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.

Denisse Ypina is the go-to yogi. She loves to meet people and get out and about. Here she is rocking the Yoga One lid at the City Center Sessions. During this popular event, Yoga One and other fitness studios provide free classes in a Downtown San Diego city street or park.

The next event is scheduled for February 10th, 8am-noon. Yoga One leads a class at 11:30am. Denisse will likely be there. Click here to reserve your space.

In addition to assisting Yoga One with offsite events and TV segments, Denisse is also a graduate of the acclaimed Yoga One Teacher Training course, an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Zumba Certified Instructor, Nutrition Specialist and Dale Carnegie instructor. Phew!

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. 

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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.

Sometimes you don’t need to travel very far to get a different perspective. Be a tourist in your own town! Longtime Yoga One student Kay Faryan chilling on the Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, California.

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 Hughes

I don’t know about you, but 2017 has been an intense year! To bring myself back into balance, I consciously practice gratitude during the holiday season. Gratitude not only for all my blessings, loved ones, health, and happiness, but also for my challenges and opportunities to expand my heart and awareness.

This Yogi Gift Guide shifts the focus from buying material things to practicing self-care and sharing the gift of presence with those you love. Let everything you do this month be sacred.

1. Yoga One Gift Card

Give the gift of yoga!!! This is hands-down the best yoga studio in the heart of downtown San Diego. They offer a range of classes every day of the week, from never-stepped-on-a-yoga-mat beginner level to an intense sweaty and pretzel-y advanced level. They also have a wonderfully relaxing massage room. This could be your one-stop shop for wellness!

2. Meditation Cushion from Sittin’ Pretty Still

Helping people stay calm one cushion at a time. Each one is made with love and intention and they are truly the most gorgeous meditation cushions ever made! They also double as a comfy yoga block or bolster and are 25% off until December 31st. Check out their awesome natural soy candles while you’re at their website, too.

3. Homemade Coupon Book 

Take the holidays back old-school by creating a coupon book redeemable for all your loved one’s favorite things, big and small. You can include anything from a back rub to offering to pump their gas because you know they hate doing it. Coupon books are a great way to show someone you’re paying attention and that you care about them.

4. Crystal Muse by Heather Askinosie and Timmi Jandro

This will be my first Yogi Reads review of 2018! Crystal Muse: Everyday Rituals to Tune in to the Real You includes different rituals and grids you can create to manifest the energy you desire in your life. I loved learning new techniques for staying connected to my crystals, the moon cycles, and their energy all year long.

5. Quinntessentials Yoga & Beauty Products

Organic essential oil products for yoga and life. Owner Julie Quinn crafts each product with intention. My favorite right now is her Palo Santo room spray – it’s perfect for yoga classes and at home. She also makes a rosemary oil for your hair, stash wax for men, and a yogi bones salve that will soothe everyone’s tender spots. Check her out online or in person at different markets around San Diego.

6. Momma Pots

Buying from local, small businesses is one of the best ways to give back to your community. Instead of buying candy or sweets for a stocking stuffer, how about a small potted (low-maintenance) succulent plant? All of Momma Pots products are hand-poured and painted concrete, right here in San Diego. Her pots are truly beautiful, with a modern, minimalist aesthetic.

“Elegant pots, hand crafted by a mom, inspired by all things that grow.” – Blaine Tiongson, owner

7. Passion Planner

Most of us keep our calendar on a mobile device these days, but there’s still value in putting pen to paper. A passion planner goes beyond a list of activities each day by providing prompts for your dreams and goals. It’s the perfect tool to help you think big and stay accountable for creating and living the life YOU want.

“It’s designed to be a safe space for you to dream, reflect, and grow.” – Passion Planner Team

8. Morse Code Malas

Handmade in San Diego these mala beads are intended to evoke a feeling or ignite a purpose when worn. Each one is carefully crafted with you in mind. A one-of-a-kind gift that helps to calm your mind and connect to your spirit. Follow them on Instagram @morsecodemalas

9. Donate Time or Money to the ONE LOVE Movement

The ONE LOVE Movement is a non-profit dedicated to supporting children in impoverished areas. Founder Kim Bauman is a local San Diego yoga teacher whose passion was sparked by a trip to Haiti where she realized how blessed she was, having been an orphan herself who was adopted from South Korea at only 9 months old. She has now dedicated her life to helping other children in need. The ONE LOVE Movement is currently looking for ambassadors in any city, as well as accepting donations of time, resources, or money.

10. Host a Party for Your Loved Ones with Al Fresco Events

For the host or hostess who loves the joy of community and a shared meal, but not all the work of preparation and clean up, Al Fresco Events will pull off an unforgettable holiday (or anytime) party. Your biggest concern will be picking out your outfit, because all you have to do is show up and enjoy! Jennie Niezgoda brings the decor, creates an amazing vibe, and tops it off with her infamous grazing platters, filled with goodies that will leave your guests talking for weeks! Check out her Instagram page to see for yourself @alfresco_events

11. Energy Healing Sessions with Antoinnette Chirinos

A Peruvian modern day Medicine Woman and Angel Tarot Reader, based locally in San Diego. Sessions with Antoinnette will leave you feeling validated within and connected to your spirit. Antoinnette has a deep connection to nature and creates essential oils, herb offerings, and elixirs with intention to support you after her sessions. She also mixes in crystals, and energy clearing kits to help you stay aligned and protected.

12. Yoga Retreat with Olivia and the OM Experience

Give the gift of a retreat! Getting away from it all for a few days in paradise by yourself or with a loved one can be an incredibly healing and restorative experience. Join me for daily yoga, waterfall hikes, snorkeling, relaxing, hydrotherapy, and more! This retreat is one-of-a-kind in its luxury and service, hosted by The Garza Blanca resort in Puerto Vallarta, a five star hotel that offers an all-inclusive experience. Learn more at The OM Experience.

*These recommendations were chosen by the author from her personal life experience and do not reflect any paid advertisements. 

Olivia Hughes
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.

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guest post by Hannah Faulkner

With the winter holidays approaching, do you ever take the time to notice the world with a unifying perspective?

Are you open to beliefs from people that practice different customs than you?

Are your traditions in line with your evolving values? 

Read the full version of this article on Hannah’s blog, Half Moon Yoga and Art.

Tradition refers to beliefs, objects or customs performed or believed in the past, originating in it, transmitted through time by being taught by one generation to the next, and are performed or believed in the present.

A tradition may be deliberately created and circulated for personal, commercial, political, or national self-interest. Fear of other people, customs, and religions may be politically and culturally manipulated to bring more separation amongst the human race.

For example, only a century ago, “anthropologists at the Museum of Man and the Smithsonian Institution worked together to collect plaster life casts of different racial types. These casts were displayed in San Diego at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition as part of an exhibition about the “progress of man” that presented European Americans as racially superior (Museum of Man San Diego).”

However, in the current exhibit, Race: Are We So Different? artists like Kate Clark strive to connect the dots between the museum’s archive of face molds to the reality of living and breathing people today. She created a series of face molds from museum visitors to break down the stereotypes from these older social constructs. Today, so many different races have blended and moved around that the results are remarkably more united.

This exhibit explains in clear, helpful language the origins of race and racism, and helps us understand how to deal with them in productive, enlightening ways. Most of what we think about race is based on myth, folklore, or assumptions unsupported by genetics or biology. No one is free of misunderstandings about race, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

According to a DNA study posted at the Museum of Man, we are much more alike than we think. In fact, your DNA is 99.9% similar to the person next to you as well as all people in this world now.

In his enlightening Television Series, “The Story of God,” Morgan Freeman announces “Our beliefs don’t have to divide us, they can unite us. We all share the wonder and gratitude that we are here at all.”

Thousands of years ago, Pantajali created a guide towards the path of enlightenment and peace. He suggested the practice of yoga. The asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques) are preparation for Samadhi, which means “to bring together, to merge.” Samadhi refers to union. When we experience these moments of awakening, we realize what it is to be an identity without differences.

There is no longer any individuality of our experiences: gender, personal history, family and cultural values, education, etc. The “I” and “mine” of our illusory perceptions of reality is replaced by awareness of the oneness of the Universe blended with connectedness, forgiveness, joy and love.

Yoga reminds us that we are more than the external body, that our souls are the light that matters the most. Feel encouraged to treat your body like the divine temple that it is, the mind-body-spirit connection. The ultimate goal of yoga is to awaken the spiritual consciousness, the divine energy that connects us all.

Join us for Yoga at the Museum of Man – Yoga in the Rotunda every 2nd and 4th Saturday from 8:30am -9:30am. This class is $10. 

Click here to save your space and arrive at least 10 minutes early to sign in.

(Please note that the Jingle Bell Run is scheduled for this Saturday in Balboa Park and several roads around the Park will be closed. The run route can be found here and we recommend giving yourself extra time to find parking.)

This Saturday December 9th, I will be teaching a class related to the unity of light throughout the winter holiday season as it relates to the Museum’s message, “Are we so different?”

This holiday season, will you choose to see the unity among the world’s traditions, customs, and religions?

Do you know what the world’s major winter holidays have in common?

From a magical Yuletide log, to the bright star leading the way to a savior, a crescent moon as a symbol for dedicated prayers, festivals of lights with rejoicing in gratitude and family, to wreaths and halos that illuminate the way to compassion, all of these celebrations include LIGHT, which translates to joy, devotion, and love!

When we live on light, we are constantly illuminating the path for ourselves and others. The word enlightenment means to provide insight or knowledge, to awaken or become free from ignorance. In other words, if you have knowledge, let others dip their candles in it.

Through a unified approach of physical postures and lifestyle, we can awaken the loving energy of light and unity that is resting within each of us.

See yourself as the creator of your own life, the sustainer of your reality. Breathe in the light of oneness and divine energy and see yourself connecting with life itself. As a daily reminder, we can repeat this affirmation, “I feel lightness and openness to the bigger picture. I move towards light and enlightenment.”

Hannah Faulkner
Guest Writer

Hannah Faulkner draws inspiration from her surroundings and seeks to find relationships between the ordinary and extraordinary daily life through her writing. With 4 years of experience as a flight attendant, and many more travels preceding, Hannah’s curiosity and adventurous spirit have soaked in elements from worldwide cultures while growing in her spirituality. As a yoga and visual arts teacher, she combines her passions to create beauty in a variety of ways through her inspiring stories, bridging connections with deeper yoga philosophy and wellness concepts at HalfMoonYogaandArt.com.

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Julie Moore is one of five sisters, but she’s #1 in our book because she happens to be Yoga One’s very first student! We are so grateful for her friendship over the years and we couldn’t imagine the Yoga One Family without her.

Reflection by Julie Moore

I first met Amy Caldwell at the Center for Moving Arts. It was the year 2000, or perhaps 2001, and my very first yoga class. I was drawn to Amy’s down-to-earth style of teaching and found her voice very relaxing. Ever since that class, I’ve followed Amy wherever she taught including condominium recreational rooms, nightclubs under construction, dance studios, and outdoors in Balboa Park.

When I first started yoga, I couldn’t even touch my toes. During a class at the torn-apart nightclub, I remember enthusiastically showing Michael that I could clasp my hands behind my back in cow face pose – a major accomplishment!

Amy and Michael opened Yoga One in 2002, initially sub-letting the back room of a gym on seventh avenue in downtown San Diego. Over the years, I’ve happily participated in many of their events such as couples yoga, drum circles, 108 Sun Salutations, chocolate & yoga, wine & yoga, and anniversary celebrations. One of my favorite yoga classes was prenatal yoga led by Arati Lane, which started the year I was pregnant with my first child.

Over the past 17 years, I’ve practiced yoga at different studios with many different instructors, but I always find the most comfort back at Yoga One and with Amy Caldwell, the teacher with whom my yoga journey began.

Michael asked me once what I liked best about Yoga One. For me, one of the studio’s greatest strengths is how the teachers provide an open, secure, safe, comfortable yoga space. Even though I’m very inflexible and can still barely touch my toes, because of Amy I have stuck with yoga all these years and will continue to practice the rest of my life. I thank Amy, Michael, and the other Yoga One yogis for that!

by Hannah Faulkner

How yoga cultivated a karmic awareness of life in all its forms and started my journey of veganism.

Read the full version of this post on Hannah’s blog, Half Moon Yoga and Art.

The other day a friend, Ashlee, told me that I must have been a cat in my previous life. She was trying to make sense of the phenomenon of why animals, and oftentimes cats, are so attracted to me. But, I haven’t always been this way. I used to be afraid of animals and tried to steer clear of them for most of my life.

It wasn’t until I started doing yoga (at Yoga One in San Diego), that I’ve made a connection with these beings. The more I became centered and found inner peace and awakening, the more animals liked to be in my aura.

One of my favorite animal experiences was when I was walking along the Camino de Santiago in 2014. JoAnna and I were both missing our pet cats from back home when suddenly, out of the brush, five little kittens approached us. We stopped and started petting and holding them. They just wanted to be loved. Our hearts were filled with so much joy to share this connection with the natural world.

We stayed there for about thirty minutes then JoAnna said, “We should probably stop wasting time and continue walking.” I abruptly snapped back, “This is NOT WASTING time!” We still tease each other about that statement, but the truth is that taking time to stop and connect with nature and our inner source of love is really the best way to spend our time and our lives.

Our crown chakra, Sahaswara, is our source of enlightenment, consciousness and spiritual connection to all that is. This connection takes the form of a circle, like a crown. Feeling enlightened with a balanced crown chakra means experiencing unity that everything is connected at a fundamental level. The other day, when I was meditating and bringing my concentration to this place of inner peace and connectedness, my cat walked over to me and pressed the crown of her head into the crown of my head. Moments like this are enthralling!

At the Living with Animals exhibit in the Museum of Man San Diego, we are reminded that all animals can be our friends. Pets used to be wild creatures that have developed a relationship with humanity over time. We have made friends with dogs, cats, birds, turtles, fish, mice, and even beetles.

However, sometimes the way we live causes separateness and we lose connection with creatures when we label a certain creature as a pest or a taco. Why is it that in the West we can develop laws to protect the treatment of dogs, but we are blind to the way cows, pigs and chickens are treated and manufactured in a factory? The Living with Animals exhibit takes a look at how a pet can become a pest, a pest can become a pet, and a pet can become a pest that ends up on our plate.

Up until six months ago, I have been guilty of disconnecting the animal with the flavor. Then, I became confronted with some yoga philosophy of Ahimsa (non-violence) and how it relates to karma. I finally opened my eyes and heart to the documentaries available on Netflix and other platforms that are trying to awaken us to how we are responsible for torturing animals every time that we buy meat or animal products.

I used to think that we “needed” to eat animals for protein and have since learned that we can find much more healthy nutrients and proteins in a plant based diet. Leo Tolstoy announces, “A man CAN live and be HEALTHY without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he partakes in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite, and to act so is immoral.”

Like an ex-smoker who still desires a swig of cigarette every time they smell one, my mouth still waters at the smell of crispy bacon and tasty hamburger, but then I close my eyes and visualize the whole creature and how it is being treated today, under horrible conditions, with the purpose of companies making more money, and I can no longer partake in this bad karma. Peaceful Mohandas Gandhi, past leader of India proclaimed, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Join us for Yoga in the Rotunda at the Museum of Man San Diego and visit the Living with Animals Exhibit to awaken connectedness and inner peace.

I will be leading the class on Saturday, September 9th, 2017 from 8:30-9:30am in accordance with Yoga One San Diego.

We will be flowing through animal poses like Cat/Cow, Dog, Beetle, Mouse, Pigeon, Fish, Turtle, and more as we cultivate Crown Chakra Connectedness and Ahimsa for all creatures!

Hannah Faulkner
Guest Writer

Hannah Faulkner draws inspiration from her surroundings and seeks to find relationships between the ordinary and extraordinary daily life through her writing. With 4 years of experience as a flight attendant, and many more travels preceding, Hannah’s curiosity and adventurous spirit have soaked in elements from worldwide cultures while growing in her spirituality. As a yoga and visual arts teacher, she combines her passions to create beauty in a variety of ways through her inspiring stories, bridging connections with deeper yoga philosophy and wellness concepts at HalfMoonYogaandArt.com.

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A brief history of the award-winning studio Yoga One in downtown San Diego (with a mission to help as many people as possible live healthier and happier lives and a strong focus on community-building) as told through the eyes of its loving parents and Founders, Amy and Michael Caldwell.

An interview between Michael Caldwell, Co-Owner, and Laura McCorry, Yoga One Blog Master.

Laura McCorry: Many of us have heard the story about you and Amy falling in love, wanting to travel the world, selling all your possessions, picking a country that started with “A” and apple picking in Australia which set you both on the path to yoga. When did you decide to become yoga teachers? 

Michael Caldwell: By the time we were in Nepal we were pretty serious about our yoga practice, meaning we did it whenever we could. Finding time was a challenge because we were trekking to Mt. Everest base camp. That generally meant walking all day until we found some nice family to take us in. Dahl batt and rice was the standard for dinner. With a full belly we almost always immediately crashed, exhausted and satisfied on the first available horizontal surface.

It was in one of these welcoming accommodations with a handful of other travels, including James, Teddy “McChocolate”, and Richard, that we found ourselves with a little extra time and energy. Somehow it came up that we’d been practicing yoga. And since Amy has always been more advanced than Michael, she was coaxed into leading the group. That, as we can recall, was the first class she ever taught.

LM: When did Michael start teaching?

MC: Right. Michael didn’t start teaching until a couple of years after Amy. Yoga One was up and running and we had picked up some corporate classes. We didn’t have enough teachers to cover one of our classes at Cox Communications, so Michael had to do it. And he’s been teaching with decreasing reluctance ever since.

LM: Why not just teach yoga at the park or at other studios? When did you know you wanted to start a small business and open a yoga studio together? That must have taken a huge leap of faith. 

MC: Amy was teaching in the park and at dance studios, etc. The Yoga One studio was originally party of the adjacent gym, at that time called Body Works. When it got cold outside, Amy moved her growing park yoga class around town trying to find a reliable space. Over time, the classes were doing so well that Rich Roe, the gym’s owner, suggested we sublease it from him and start our own studio. So that’s what we did. It was very organic so it didn’t really require much of a leap of faith, just a lot of hard work and love.

LM: You both teach yoga and you both make business decisions, would you describe your roles in similar or different terms? 

MC: Amy was the big boss until we had our first child. Then Michael took over most of the day to day business operations with Amy looking over his shoulder to make sure he was doing it right. Amy still keeps her eyes on things but increasingly she is focused on preparing and leading the Yoga One Teacher Training courses, which now happen up to three to four times a year (including the courses at SDSU / ARC).

LM: Work-life balance is a huge concern for so many right now, especially among millennials. How have you worked to preserve a healthy work-life balance over the years? 

MC: Lots of deep breaths! Like our yoga practice, finding that balance requires constant attention. When we realize we are overdoing the work aspect, as quickly as possible we attempt to swing back to the life side. In order to be as available as possible for our children, we mostly work from home. And we’ve argued about establishing work spaces and times in which it was ok and not ok to talk about “business.”

When you operate a small business the work is never done and when your work partner is also your spouse there is never any out of the office time… when you combine those elements and also work from home, finding balance is a tight wire act. So now we try not to talk about work in bed!

Yoga One is our first baby and initially required all of our attention at all hours. Now 15 years later, the studio is a little more self sufficient but still acts up from time to time like any teenager. When it needs us, we want to be there for it. The fact that we love what we do and the people we do it with helps tremendously.

We always want to be learning and growing. We feel we do a good job with offsite, specialty and corporate yoga classes so we are looking to expand in that direction. Our Yoga One Teacher Training program is truly a life enhancing experience. We’ve had over 250 people attend our course. Many of them want to continue to deepen their practice and expand their skills, so we are working on putting together a 300 hour Yoga One Teacher Training which then will provide graduates with a 500 hour designation. We will be doing more festivals and retreats. There is so much we want to do. (:

LM: Throw it back to the very first class taught at the studio, under the familiar skylights, what was that like? 

MC: Super exciting! Amy was leading class with the students who had followed her from the park and the various around town spots and the gym’s students were there as well. (That was the deal we made for using the space). We had to walk up the stairs through what is the current gym’s entrance, down the back stairs and along the back hallway to what used to be the entrance to the studio and is now walled over. We’d wait in the back hallway while the spin class or something was finishing and talk in the hallway with the students. It was a great time… so new and fun.

LM: You and Amy have always (since I’ve known you) been consistent about calling the teachers and students at Yoga One family, and I know this is intentional and heartfelt. How long did it take you before you realized you were building more than just a business? 

MC: Immediately. We were building a family from the get-go. Remember we had recently returned from backpacking around the world for 3 and a half years so we were wide open and receptive. We were (and still are) about fostering friendships and building community.

People used to come up to us in the park and ask what kind of dance we were doing and could they join us. Classes grew and grew and, as said before, when it got cold we moved around town from space to space, through a lot of trial and error. We used a night club in Hillcrest for a while that was under construction and the entire class literally had to climb over a pile of rubble to get to the practice space. That’s not a business, that’s a family forming.

We’re still working on making Yoga One a fantastic business, but we’ve already (in our opinion) cultivated a wonderful family. And thanks to all of the people who opened their space to us all those years ago. We couldn’t have done it without you.

LM: We all know the different milestones we celebrate for our children. What are some of the milestones you’ve seen and celebrated with Yoga One?

MC: There are so many that have touched us deeply and which we treasure! Those first few classes in the space and Rich, an established small business owner, recognizing we were on to something special and telling us we should sub lease the space. Amy teaching most of the initial classes and riding her bike around Downtown putting up flyers and spreading the word. Building out the back hallway so we had access to a bathroom! Getting voted “Best Yoga Studio” in San Diego City Beat and going to the awards party for the first time (and the other 8 times).

Amy appearing on the cover of Yoga Journal (twice). Creating the iYoga Premium app with 3D4 Medical. Leading a yoga retreat in Santa Barbara. Leading the first-ever yoga class aboard the USS Midway to 400 plus people. Releasing the Yoga One CD via Quango music group (remember cds?). Creating the office nook out of a dumb waiter shaft and closet (thanks Josh aka J-Money! Redoing the front hallway, that previous ceiling was painful to behold.

The 10 year anniversary party at the Porto Vista hotel and the 15th anniversary at the Hotel Solamar. The blog anniversary party and photo shoots. Having 120 people in the space for Y1 Studios Intimate Musical Evenings featuring Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket and Sean Hayes among others. Workshops with fun visiting teachers like Kathryn Budig, Tiffany Cruickshank, Rachel Brathen, David Romanelli, Jill Miller, Diana Beardsley and others. Being on the news and in various publications is always fun.

Offering complimentary community classes and gift certificates so anyone and everyone can enjoy the joys and benefits of yoga. Seeing new students.  Seeing regular students. Seeing long-lost but returning students. Hearing that yoga has helped enhanced someone’s life.

LM: Thank you so much for all the effort, continuing education, investment, time, and love you both pour into Yoga One: a yoga studio, a community, a family.

MC: Thank you, Laura, for birthing and raising the Yoga One blog and thanks to the fantastic Yoga One Teachers, Staff and students!

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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.

On June 17th, Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga and Yoga One will celebrate the International Day of Yoga with a festival of yoga in beautiful Balboa Park in San Diego.

Amy Caldwell, master teacher and co-owner of Yoga One, will be leading an all-levels yoga class from 1:30-2:30pm that you won’t want to miss!

This FREE event will take place between 8:00 AM and 3:00 PM at Park Blvd on the President’s Way Lawn. Join 500+ yogis for 2 all level community classes, breakout yoga sessions, chanting and music for peace to inspire and empower people of all ages and walks of life.

The event is free, but registration is required. To register please visit: http://festivalofyogasandiego.org

From apple picking in Australia to owning an award-winning family run yoga studio in downtown San Diego, Locale magazine interviewed Yoga One co-founders Amy and Michael Caldwell. Go here to read the full article or keep reading below:

Q: What sets Yoga One apart from the competition? 

MC/AC: We don’t think of other studios or yoga offerings as competition. The more people practicing yoga, the better. However, we do take pride in being a family run studio and treating our teachers and students as family. Award-winning Yoga One has been helping San Diego residents and visitors enjoy healthier and happier lives since 2002. We offer depth of knowledge, integrity and heart.

Q: How did you personally get started in practicing yoga?

MC/AC: Our yoga practice began in an organic apple orchard in Australia in 1997. We had both just quit our careers in the Hollywood music business and set out to explore different cultures and lifestyles. While backpacking around Australia, we picked apples to earn extra money and one night, sore from a 10 hour workday, we did a few poses from a book we were reading. We immediately felt better. Over the next three years of traveling around the world and visiting 15 countries, we got more and more committed to deepening our practice. By the time we arrived in India, we were practicing up to four hours a day with some of the country’s top yoga masters.

Q: What advice would you give to a beginner yogi?

MC/AC: Enjoy the journey. Yoga is like a tool kit that can help enhance your life. You can’t use all the tools effectively at once immediately so take your time to understand the basics and build from there. Find good teachers that you resonate with. And if you want to do the advanced version in any pose, simply lift the corners of your mouth.

Q: What’s an inspiring story that you’ve been able to witness as a yoga instructor?

MC/AC: We just received this email from a student who graduated from our Yoga One Teacher Training course at SDSU:

‘Wow, it’s been six months since I graduated. What prompted this email was an abundant feeling of gratitude. I successfully accomplished my first semester as a teacher at University of San Diego. It went so well, they resigned me for the same curriculum section in the spring and extended an offer to three additional group fitness classes! After a successful semester substituting at SDSU, I’ve also received an offer for my very own group fitness section over the winter break and the upcoming spring semester. I cannot thank you enough for the enriching experience I’ve had both as a student of your training and as a teacher in the community.

The by-product of the Yoga One Teacher Training has been tremendous. The insight to my own personal practice alone has gained so much depth…being a teacher, the smiles, gratitudes, blessings, the positivity I’ve witnessed are sooooo fulfilling, and it wouldn’t have been done without you.’

Q: How does it feel to be listed as one of the top yoga studio in downtown San Diego?

MC/AC: Humbling, but after all, we are named Yoga One!

by Laura McCorry

When my military husband was deployed, I kept a list on a whiteboard of things I could do to boost my spirits when I was feeling down and lonely. Some were aimed at fostering good mental health, like connecting with other people, while some were simply indulgent treats I was giving myself pre-permission to have and enjoy.

I highly encourage everyone to make your own list and keep it handy! It doesn’t matter if you’re going through the toughest season of your life or if you feel on top of the world –

No matter who you are, no matter what’s going on, you are here and you are deserving of love, especially from yourself!

Here are some suggestions if I had to re-write the list today:

1. Call a friend
2. Buy a treat at a bakery
3. Go for a walk
4. Get a massage
5. Take a yoga class
6. Make a coffee date
7. Make a wine date
8. Write a letter
9. Make a pot of tea
10. Be a tourist in your own town
11. Go outside
12. Visit a state park
13. Video chat with family
14. Make art
15. Read a book
16. Go to a museum
17. Listen to music
18. Meditate
19. Start a gratitude journal

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 Heather Fenwick.

 

1. Why do you practice yoga?

I practice yoga these days more for the mental and emotional benefits. I love combining the idea of sthira and sukha (effort and ease) while sitting in a traffic jam, or during a difficult conversation.

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

My first teacher training didn’t include any actual practice teaching, so putting together the words and phrases was a great challenge for me. It wasn’t until later that I was even able to observe a classroom properly so that I could give appropriate feedback! (I can’t blame my teacher trainers though, as that program was jam-packed with useful information!)

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

Teaching yoga is often the best part of my day! I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can make the world a better place, and while I would love to wave a magic wand so that every single person is driven primarily by empathy and compassion, I realize that teaching yoga takes a close second. When we feel good, when we can observe our strengths and our faults, when we can approach pleasure and suffering with equanimity, then we can spread joy, acceptance, and altruism out into the world around us.

4. If yoga were a food, car, smell, planet, song, artist, flavor, etc… it would be: Jim James’s voice of My Morning Jacket. I melt into bliss as my heart cracks open and spills forth.

5. What’s your yoga inspiration?

Every single moment is my yoga inspiration. We are here to perfect the art of living, but not necessarily to live “perfectly.” When I’m in line at the grocery store and catch myself planning out my next 8 steps in my list of things to do – I try to take a single conscious breath, look around me and notice what is true in the Here and Now.

For me, living my yoga is when I can hold my head high in times of disappointment or “failure,” and if I can take success with humility and acknowledge that we are all interconnected.

6. What classes do you teach at Yoga One?

I teach Wednesdays Level 1-2 Flow at noon, as well as offsite corporate classes.

You can find our full class schedule here. Om!

by Hannah Faulkner

India is commonly known as the motherland of yoga, but what if I told you that yoga originally began in Egypt and then traveled to India hundreds of years later?

Paintings, engravings, and murals from ancient Egyptian tombs and temples show images of figures in positions that represent some commonly known yoga poses.

According to the book, Egyptian Yoga: Postures of the Gods and Goddesses by Dr. Muata Ashby and Dr. Karen Ashby….

We can find the god Geb (god of the Earth) in plough pose engraved on the ceiling of the Temple of Aset (Isis).

Framing him is the goddess, Nut (goddess of the sky), in a forward fold yoga pose.

Further, we can see Geb in a spinal twist and Ra in the squatting position like Virasana, Hero’s pose.

Dr. Ashby proclaims that yoga was practiced in Egypt earlier than anywhere else in our history, long before the evidence is detected in India (including the Indus Valley Civilization) or any other early civilization (Sumer, Greece, China, etc.). This point of view is supported by illustrative and documented scriptural evidence of physical exercises, meditations, and implementation of wisdom teachings in daily life.

It is commonly believed that the practice of the yoga in India began with the use of the Lotus Pose, which is traced to stone engravings in the Indus Valley culture (1500 BCE). However, the use of the lotus pose here could possibly only symbolize the iconography of meditation. This seated flower position represents a spiritual person who develops detachment and dispassion from the world since it sits in the muddy water but is not touched or affected by the mud. Yoga poses, as we know them in the western world, developed much later in India’s history.

Click here to read more about the fascinating connection between yoga and ancient Egypt on Hannah’s blog, Half Moon Yoga and Art.

The San Diego Museum of Man in accordance with Yoga One San Diego come together twice a month (2nd and 4th Saturdays) at 8:30am-9:30am to hold a special yoga class in the Rotunda.

Hannah Faulkner will be teaching class on February 11th, 2017.

Will you join us for this journey in Ancient Egypt?

Buy Your Ticket Here

and be sure to tell the Museum of Man that Yoga One sent you!

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!

Something for that special yogi in your life, who is perhaps yourself!

by Olivia Cecchettini

1. Favorite Yoga Pants: Right now, I love Amari Active. I was looking for great quality that was also local to southern California and I stumbled upon Amari. Just up the 5N in Solano Beach, Amari is a newer company that really cares about fit, comfort and supporting their community. They are constantly hosting events to give back and collaborate with other local artists. Best part is they are NOT see-through, not even the white pants, I swear!

2. Favorite Yoga Mat: The Manduka Pro or Pro Lite. I personally use the Pro, but it is a little heavier and thicker than the Pro Lite, hence the name. It’s a personal preference thing (people with sensitive knees usually like a thicker mat, while those that travel often prefer lighter.) When choosing to buy a mat, get the mat you know you will use the most. Let your practice meet you where you’re at today. The Manduka mats are a big investment, but they do have a lifetime guarantee.

3. How To Pay It Forward: RAKE, or #randomactsofkindnesseverywhere. My boy Ricky started doing random acts of kindness a few years ago when he was going through a hard time and his experience took on a life of its own and has become a TRUE MOVEMENT!!! One of the coolest and craziest things Ricky does every year is drive across the country (he’s from Cleveland) and performs a RAKE Tour: 50 cities in 30 days with only an ID, car and paypal credit card performing random acts of kindness everywhere. He only has two rules; he can’t ask for anything and he can’t say no. Every year it is such an amazing thing to support and watch through his social media posts! (He’s a comedian as well, so it gets funny!!) He will be in San Diego on March 12, 2017 – hit him up if you have an idea or want to be involved! His entire vision is based on service and trust, what is more yogic than that?!

4. Yoga One Gift Card: This is hands-down the best yoga studio in downtown San Diego!!!!!!!! They offer a range of classes every day of the week, from never-stepped-on-a-yoga-mat beginner level to an intense sweaty and pretzely advanced level. They also have a wonderfully relaxing massage room. This could be your one-stop shop for wellness!

5. Favorite Yogi Read: If you know me, then you know how hard it is to pick just one! The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chodron is great book to start the year with acceptance and grace. Pema’s strength and wisdom are qualities I greatly admire, but I also really love her ability to relate to everyday esponsibilities and challenges with realism.

6. Just For Fun Gift: Yummy Yogi Cookie Cutters and Cutting Board, these are just a silly, fun gift to play with asana poses and have fun. Too cute not to share on the list!!

7. Indulgent Self-Care: Buddhi Boxes are a fun way to create a ritual of self-care and pampering. This “yogi care package” is delivered to your doorstep filled with useful samples and full-size goodies that switch up every month. From candles, to bath salts, to jewelry, to healthy snacks, they have it all. These boxes can be the perfect gift for yoga teachers, as it’s so important for them to stay balanced and nourished so they can continue to be of service to their communities. It might also be the perfect gift to yourself in the new year!

8. Best Stocking Stuffer: Sittin Pretty Still Candles are my favorite! Not only are they Reiki-infused, but they also have a secret mantra message of inspiration you get to see as the candle burns. They are dye, sulfate, and phthalate free and hand made with lots of love locally in San Diego.

9. Favorite Green Gift: Evrbottle. “Recycle, Reuse, Respect the Earth”, that’s the message behind each unique gift that can be found in this Carlsbad shop. Owned by a fun-loving couple from Venezuela, Gabby Troconis and Rusty Perez, who share their life as well as their message.  “Give the bottle a second chance” is their motto and I think we can all take something away from that. Forgiveness. Second chances. Not judging a book by its cover. These are powerful messages to subtly put out in the world. Today more than ever, we “vote” with every dollar we spend, so why not support local businesses and help Mother Earth in the process – it’s a win-win.

10. Be PRESENT: this is the true gift!!! Take someone out to coffee or tea just to connect. Be present with them and not worry about what you’re going to say next, just trust and know that listening is enough. Most of us just want to be heard this holiday season, to know we aren’t alone, and to feel like we matter. Looking in someone’s eyes and really asking them how they are doing may be the greatest gift they receive.

My favorite San Diego coffee shop is The Nest Coffee and Tea located in Ocean Beach. Each month, manager Danielle Riggins creates a full moon cold brew, infused with moonlight, crystals, reiki and good vibes! Check it out every full moon of 2017. The best thing about The Nest is that every single item on the menu is hand-crafted with love and intention, you can taste it.

11. YOUR UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND SUPPORT. Tell the people you love how you feel about them! Life is short, make sure you’re living it. Chances are you won’t remember what presents you received by this time next year, buy you will remember the people you choose to include in your life and shower with love.

Happy Holidays! Peace and Love!

Ciao, Olivia

*These recommendations were chosen by the author from her personal life experience and do not reflect any endorsements or paid advertisements. 

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.

This holiday season, give the gifts of yoga and massage (for those you love or for yourself!)

click to purchase gift cards in any denomination 

Valid toward yoga classes, private lessons and massage. No expiration date. Support your local studio and share something you love!

Give yourself the gift of a greater understanding of yoga and a deeper practice. Register for the life enhancing experience that is the Yoga One Teacher Training. Our next training is an 8-week course that starts in January 2017.

guest post by Hannah Faulkner

this article originally published on Half Moon Yoga and Art Blog

Fangs, scales, or tentacles?

Have you fashioned a monster?

From snake-like, dragon-like, bird-like, or octopus-like, humankind has been creating monsters across cultures and time. Ironically, a fear of certain creatures and the unknown is shared on all continents. On the other hand, one of the important characteristics of historical heroes across cultures is being fearless in the face of big and often lethal enemies. This story and message has been told time after time throughout the human experience.

So, why do we still all use our imaginations to provoke fear?

When we imagine or see strange creatures, we often associate them with something that is large, ugly, and frightening. This triggers an unpleasant emotion, anxiety, caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous and likely to cause pain to ourselves or someone dear to us.

Accelerate breathing rate, sweating, and alertness are physiological changes in the body that show fear is activated. This reaction is an inborn response for coping with danger. This primitive mechanism can help people to survive by either running away or fighting the threat.

In the exhibit, Footsteps Through Time: Four Million Years of Human Evolution, we can identify tools, artifacts, body parts, habitats, ideas, and other touchable replicas of early humans, primates, and futuristic cyborgs (part human, part machine). Stepping through this display, we piece together some of their story. From the tool shed, we see an assortment of tools they used to fight their threats. These battles can result in either dinner, a peaceful night’s sleep, or both. Because early humans that were quick to fear dangerous situations were more likely to survive and reproduce, caution is theorized to be a genetic effect.

From an evolutionary perspective, according to Human Brain Evolution and the Neuroevolutionary Time-Depth Principle by Bracha in 2006, different fears may be different adaptations that have been useful in our evolutionary past, developing during different time periods. For example, a fear of heights, may be common to all mammals and developed during the dinosaur or reptile era. Other fears, such as fear of snakes, may be common to all monkeys and apes developed during the mammals and birds era. Additional fears, such as fear of mice and insects, may be unique to humans and developed during the early human paleolithic and neolithic time periods (when mice and insects become important carriers of infectious diseases and harmful for crops and stored foods).

As a result, humankind shares a fear of the unknown. 

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Fear may be politically and culturally manipulated to persuade the citizenry of ideas which would otherwise be widely rejected. For example, sometimes customs and beliefs bring more separation amongst the human race. Only a century ago, “anthropologists at the Museum of Man and the Smithsonian Institution worked together to collect plaster life casts of different racial types. These casts were displayed in San Diego at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition as part of an exhibition about the “progress of man” that presented European Americans as racially superior. (Museum of Man website)”

Previous scholars tried to conclude judgements of species and intelligence levels between people with different colors of skin. However, science has now discovered that over of thousands of years, our DNA has adjusted our skin color to relate to the amount of sun/vitamin D that our bodies should receive at a time. People whose ancestors come from the North need less sun each day, so they could stay warm in shelters, while people from more equatorial regions would stay outside all day and therefore not be oversaturated with vitamin D. The skin pigments adjusted accordingly.

In the exhibit, Race: Are We So Different?, artists like Kate Clark strive to connect the dots between the museum’s archive of face molds to the reality of living and breathing people today. She created a series of face molds from museum visitors to break down the stereotypes from these older social constructs. Today, so many different races have blended and moved around that the results are remarkably more united.

Did you know that we share a connection with all living beings?

According to DNA, we are 50% related to bananas,
98.4 % with chimpanzees, and
99.9% similar to the person next to you
as well as all people in this world now.

It has been theorized that the formation of communities happened because people lived in fear. The result of this fear forced people to unite to fight dangers together rather than fight alone.

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Archaeological discoveries of masks, bowls, and figurines highlight the creativity and beliefs of the ancient Maya. Two plates show figures seated in sukhasana pose. For millennia, people all over the world have been sitting on the ground in cross-legged positions.

Despite its name, sukhasana meaning “easy sitting pose” it doesn’t always feel easy for a lot of people, especially in today’s culture with the convenience of chairs. Using our core strength, we make many small adjustments to distribute our weight evenly over our sitting bones, balance our shoulders directly over our hips, and align our head directly with our spine.

A well-aligned Sukhasana produces the conditions for a relaxed, yet alert, state in both the body and mind. Therefore, sukhasana has the power to draw us deep inside, leading us toward a meditative state and revealing the immense joy present within our hearts.

The word sukha can also mean “happy” or “joyful.”
This name is a reminder of the innate joy that is within all of us.  

Is it surprising then that the opposite of fear is calm, assurance, love, courage, heroism, confidence, faith, happiness, and joy?

We have the power to overcome frightful social constructs through connection with our mind and body, we can breathe through fear! In yoga practice we call these breathing techniques pranayama.

Yogic philosophy is a guide and reference point along the journey made by those who have walked it before us. Thousands of years ago, Patanjali created the 8 Limbed Path as a guide towards true yoga and peace. He suggested the practice of asanas (postures) and pranayama as preparation for Samadhi, the very last limb, which means “to bring together, to merge.” Samadhi refers to union. There is an ending to the separation that is created by the “I” and “mine” of our illusory perceptions of reality. During samadhi, we realize what it is to be an identity without differences, and how a liberated soul can enjoy pure awareness of this pure identity.

In the state of samadhi the body and senses are at rest yet the mind and reason are alert, as if awake. There is only the experience of consciousness and unutterable joy. Samadhi, is the ultimate goal of our spiritual journey on earth. Perhaps enlightenment is not your conscious goal right now, but samadhi is the highest state of consciousness that a human can reach in life.

There is no longer any individuality of our experiences: gender, personal history, family and cultural values, education, etc. In samadhi, that filter is removed to make room for being intensely present without a point of view. In samadhi you perceive all points of view of reality at once, without focusing on any particular one. This concept of samadhi brings with it the possibility of a deep hope about our growth as human beings.

Samadhi can be experienced through our purple Crown Chakra, the energy source, resting on the top of our head. This crown represents the invisible dwelling of God consciousness, our divine nature, this connection to our God Self, from which we came and also are destined to return.

We may have glimpses of this state, but it’s very rare to live entirely in this state. Some people have this experience during prayer or meditation, others during physically bonding, and still others while alone in the woods. Samadhi is awareness of the oneness of the Universe blended with connectedness, forgiveness, joy and love. We need the journey of yoga to help us discover what was present inside us all along.

Be still.
Can you find this connection and oneness within yourself and all living beings?

Join us for Yoga under the Rotunda at the Museum of Man as we explore the story of humanity and reach towards samadhi.

Saturday, November 12th, 8:30-9:30am

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Hannah Faulkner
Guest Writer

Hannah Faulkner draws inspiration from her surroundings and seeks to find relationships between the ordinary and extraordinary daily life through her writing. With 4 years of experience as a flight attendant, and many more travels preceding, Hannah’s curiosity and adventurous spirit have soaked in elements from worldwide cultures while growing in her spirituality. As a yoga and visual arts teacher, she combines her passions to create beauty in a variety of ways through her inspiring stories, bridging connections with deeper yoga philosophy and wellness concepts at HalfMoonYogaandArt.com.

Yoga One is more than just a yoga studio – it’s a family, built from years of dreaming, hard work, and daily presence from co-founders Amy and Michael Caldwell. If you’re looking for a top-notch yoga studio to improve your physical and mental well-being, Yoga One is the place to go. You’ll also find a community of welcoming individuals who are passionate about creating peace within themselves and without.

Yoga One’s Mission is to share the joys and benefits of yoga with as many people as possible, helping individuals enjoy healthier and happier lives. Some of the ways we’re enhancing well-being in the community is by offering yoga classes at San Diego’s Museum of Man and through our ongoing Yoga One Teacher Training courses.

Recent YOTT graduate Michele Hines writes: After Yoga One Teacher Training, my experiences of “oneness” or “becoming one” have become less something I seek, and more something I allow. It is a moment to moment opportunity to be mindful and kind, for life to feel pleasant. #enlightenmentNow

“All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.”  –  Kabir

Come practice with Yoga One at the San Diego Museum of Man

Yoga One in the Rotunda:

Join us for our next Yoga One Teacher Training Course

 

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.

We love this piece from Rainbow Yoga on What Makes a Great Yoga Teacher!

Rainbow Yoga regularly leads weekend-long kids yoga teacher training courses at Yoga One (and around the world!) They will be back at Yoga One, August 4th – 6th, 2017 leading their 3 Day Kids Yoga Teacher Training. Join us for this great adventure in learning!

This article originally published on RainbowYogaTraining.com

by Gopala Amir Yaffa

What makes a great teacher? Well, that’s like asking what makes a great day!

There are so many ways to make things rock as an awesome yoga teacher, but here are some quick pointers you can try.

Be Awesome

First, what makes an awesome teacher is simply being an awesome person. But in addition to being awesome, you need to let it shine so that the world can know how amazing you are! So whatever your coolness is, let it shine!

Who are you? What do you want to be?

The best way to learn is to teach; and teaching is sure to help you become a better you. When you teach, you need to be your ideal self; an expression of love, knowledge and kindness.

This is not to say that you should be fake. Just give it the best of you every time.

Be Real

At the same time, you have to be authentic to where you come from, who you are now and your challenges and struggles at the moment. We teach best from our own genuine failures and experiences.

If your life has been and is always perfect, you will have nothing to teach. It is often the most broken people that make the best teachers. They have overcome enough challenges to understand and relate compassionately to other people, they have real experiences and wisdom from the inside to share.

You don’t get the lotus without the mud and the more mud, the better the flower. Teach from the inside, from those life experiences that have transformed you.

• Don’t be afraid to show your own limitations, it will help your students feel more comfortable with theirs.

• Don’t pretend that you know something you don’t or you will miss an opportunity to learn something new.

If you are not Indian, don’t try to be one by wearing Indian clothes and speaking Sanskrit. If you are not all Om Shanti and relaxed, don’t act as if you are… people will know if you are faking it, and really not all of us need Om Shanti yoga – some of us need to be shaken to awaken.

“Be the best version of yourself rather than the second best version of someone else.”

Trust that you have meaningful gifts to give to the world that someone will need. Nothing is good for everyone, and everything is good for someone.

Offer your authentic gifts from your heart, they are sure to be a great service to someone.

Be New

There are a million yoga teachers out there, so don’t be like everyone else. Make it your own. Make it new!

What are your passions? What are you really good at? What have you been working on already for your whole life that has made you who you are today?

You don’t need to forget about all of those when you shift into teaching yoga. Life is an evolution rather than a revolution, and everything you will build from here on has, in one way or another, a foundation on what you have achieved and experienced in your past.

Combining your passions is a great way to come up with something new.  The possibilities are endless and this is how people came up with ideas like:

Kids Yoga, Partner Yoga, Senior Yoga, Aqua Yoga (yoga in the water), yoga and weight lifting, Doga (yoga with your dog), yoga on exercise balls, Yoga Fight Club (yoga and martial arts), Yoga Canvas and Cabernet (yoga, painting and wine drinking), Yoga for Surfers, Yoga for Golfers, Equestrian Yoga (yoga on a horseback), Naked Yoga, Acro Yoga, Aerial Yoga (yoga suspended from the ceiling by straps)… and there are many many more!

Yoga is not set in stone; it has been evolving since ever. Even the most “traditional” yoga teacher trainings have very little in it that was called yoga a hundred years ago.

Don’t be like everyone else! Have some style! Dare and live a little! Experiment!

Be Now

Start teaching right away! Don’t wait until you know everything before you start teaching, because no one knows everything.

Don’t wait until you are perfect before you start to teach, because no one is perfect. You learn as you go. You evolve with your students.

Waiting will just make you stagnant and dull your energy. Get out there and share yourself with the world now!

Be The Change

Whatever your new yoga is going to be, what is your job description as a yoga teacher?

In my opinion it is making people happy! You are AMAZING – we all are in our own special way! And you are going to change the world, one person at a time… and not by talking, but simply by being the awesome you that you have now freed.

Are you ready?

The real question is, is the world ready for you? Well… it better be, because you are going out there today to rock it!

Thanks to Virago Blog for the awesome praise and feature. You can read their full feature here. 

Have you ever experienced yoga without music? Listening to music has become common place in the modern western practice of yoga, but Yoga One has gone against the norm. This yoga studio allows silence during practice because they feel it lets each student’s mind wander and encourages reflection and self-realization.* You are so lost in your own head that you don’t even realize there’s no music playing.

Yoga One is a family owned yoga studio that prides itself on diversity, innovation and the phenomenal hugs they give each yogi at the end of class as they leave the quiet sunbathed space and venture back onto the bustling streets below.

If you are looking for the most relaxing Shivasana of your life, this is your yoga studio.

*Editor’s Note: Not all classes are without music. We also like practicing yoga with music. 🙂

Yoga One and DTO Music recently collaborated to host Yoga on the USS Midway, where an amazing 800+ yogis gathered to practice together on the flight deck! 

Co-Founder and Lead Instructor Amy Caldwell discussed yoga and music with DTO, you can read the full interview on their site. 

Here are some of our favorite highlights:

Yoga, as we offer it at Yoga One, is non-competitive. One of the beautiful things about yoga practiced in this way is that it always meets you where you are and supports you at your level. 

Although in our modern Western culture yoga has become so much about appearances, the depth of the practice lies within.

In the Yoga Sutras, Kriya yoga breaks down into three key elements: Tapas (to heat, burning enthusiasm or conscious effort), Svadyaya (self-study or reflection) and Ishvara Pranidhana (allowing or letting go, connecting to the Big energy within and around us).

If we remove the elements of self-reflection and letting go, in my opinion, it really isn’t yoga. Yoga is not only what we do, but how we do it.

How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?

Michael and both share a great love of music. In fact, we met at a CD release party for the Jazz musician and film composer Stanley Clarke. I was working for Budd Carr a music supervisor who does all of the music for Oliver Stone. I helped on Twister, Natural Born Killers, Heat, Nixon, etc. Michael was working for BMI which is a performance rights society. We both got to experience first-hand how integral music is to film. A soundtrack really adds emotion and energy. Try watching some of your favorite movies without the sound sometimes.

While yoga is fantastic without music, adding music certainly can help set the mood, the pacing and an overall vibe. Music often adds to any activity and yoga is no exception. We enjoy music with our yoga so much we created the Yoga One CD which was released by Quango Music Group.

Here is a link where you can purchase a copy of the Yoga One CD for your own home practice!

Students who participate in Yoga One Teacher Training program come from all over the world, and sometimes they travel around the world after graduation! Here is a short reflection from a recent graduate, Jessica Hak:

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How has yoga impacted your life and how do you see yoga in your life in the future?

I will be flying with a one-way ticket to New Zealand to teach yoga on an internship with a research facility. I will be studying the effects of yoga on students’ physiological states of hope, strength gains from challenges, and aspects of spirituality.

I’m looking forward to continuing self-study through my yoga practice and exploring the yoga culture in New Zealand. If possible, I plan on taking a 300+ Yoga Teacher Training course, and one of my 5 year goals is to get my E-RYT 500 Yoga certification. Keep an eye out for my photo journalist yoga blog to follow my adventures!

How will your life change after Yoga One Teacher Training? Take the first step by emailing michael@yogaonesandiego.com for more information or signing up for the next Yoga One Teacher Training here.

 

Yoga One Head Teacher and Co-Founder Amy Caldwell recently sat down with San Diego Lifestyle Blog to discuss travel, downtown San Diego, and both the outer (physical) and inner (meditative) aspects of yoga. 

San Diego Lifestyle: How did Yoga One originate, and eventually become what it is today?

Amy: Michael and I both worked in the music industry in Los Angeles prior to discovering yoga. Seeking a lifestyle change, we left the country to enjoy time backpacking abroad. Our travels took us to Australia where we picked apples to earn money, and first began our practice of yoga from the book “Fit for Life.” Over the next three and a half years, we visited 14 more countries, ultimately arriving in India where we completely immersed ourselves into the philosophy and practice of yoga while studying with some of the top yoga masters. When we returned to the States, I continued my studies here in San Diego and began offering classes by donation in Balboa Park, Downtown, etc.  As attendance grew, things organically evolved into what turned into the Yoga One studio located on 7th avenue, Downtown. 

SDL: Wow, fascinating! How often do you practice these days?

Amy: I practice almost every day, in classes at Yoga One or home alone.  My home practice is a source of wisdom for my personal growth and understanding from which my teaching also grows.  I also take a class once a week with a senior teacher Jo Zukovich as my schedule allows. Throughout my many years of practice, the style and frequency has varied greatly. But I always come back to my mat as a place where I can take care of myself in a deep and nourishing way.

 

SDL: What advice would you give to beginners just starting their yoga journey?

Amy: I think its important for beginners to know that yoga practice doesn’t always have to be an hour plus, every day. Just 5-10 minutes can make a difference.  Seeking out classes with knowledgeable instructors like we have at Yoga One is also important to receive guidance and inspiration. We call it “yoga practice”, not “yoga perfect” because it’s a process, a journey, not a destination.

 

SDL: Have you had moments of breakthrough, where you accomplished something you didn’t think you would be able to?

Amy: For me, the practice has become less about physical accomplishments and more about learning how to live in the world with present moment awareness and an open heart and mind. Having said that, yoga has provided amazing strength and deep breathing for giving birth naturally twice. And it continues to serve me, being a mother now to an 8 and 11 year old.

SDL: Your Yoga One studio is downtown, does that make it tough for people to come to class consistently?

Amy: We love being downtown – our students are diverse, educated and often working professionals.  Not to mention really nice people!  Our regulars attend on their lunch hour, after work, early mornings or weekends.  Being downtown we are lucky to get a lot of out of town guests – and we offer plenty of options for brand new beginners, including but not limited to Classic Yoga, Gentle and Restorative. We have a good number of students who value our services so much that they drive all the way from north and east county. 

 

SDL: There are a TON of yoga studios in San Diego, where are you located exactly?

Amy: We are located at 1150 7th Avenue, between B & C Streets, near the business district at the base of Cortez Hill, across the street from the Symphony and around the corner from the House of Blues.  As I mentioned, we offer classes at the studio, but also at many businesses around San Diego.  So in a very real sense, Yoga One instructors often go to the students. But, students also come from all over the city, and the world in fact. We’ve had great people come from as far as Japan, Ireland and Spain to attend our 200 Hour Yoga One Teacher Training Course, which we have been offering since 2006. We get students from the East Coast attending the training as well.

SDL: Wow your teacher training must be a truly wonderful experience! Is it your most popular course?

Amy: Yes it’s quite popular! Right now, I’m really enjoying leading and co-leading the Yoga One Teacher Training Courses. I love teaching all of my classes though, both public and private. Our students are open and eager to learn, and are always teaching me too in the process of learning, so we are growing together. My Monday noon class also usually pretty popular, with many long-time regulars coming whom I adore and love seeing every week. Schedule permitting, I’m happy to kick things up a bit with my First Friday of the Month, level 2 and 3 classes too, which oftentimes draws more students in.

Read more at The San Diego Lifestyle and you can view our full class schedule here.

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 Gopala Amir Yaffa,
Rainbow Kids Yoga Founder

The 3-Day Rainbow Kids Yoga Teacher Training is well rounded and intensive, with practical theory, discussions and TONS OF FUN! Most importantly, you will come out with immediate tangible knowledge and tons of fabulous ideas to create original, captivating and fun yoga experiences for kids of all ages, anywhere in the world.

Their next training will be held at Yoga One, April 29th – May 1st, 2016
FRI: 9am – 11:45am then 2:45pm – 8:45pm
SAT 10:30am – 7:30pm
SUN 11:30am – 8:30pm
Go here to register and reserve your space today!

To be able to balance is not just impressive; it is also an essential skill that young children need to gain as part of their development. You might think that they will obtain this skill on their own, but there is a direct relation between children’s activity and their level of development: kids who are physically active will develop faster than sedentary kids.

Young children under the age of 3 cannot balance on one foot on their own… But they definitely can with a friend, teacher or a parent!

It is amazing how much more we can do when we do it TOGETHER!

Holding hands or supporting each other with arms over shoulders or waist, we can balance in poses while facing each other, standing side by side, back to back or one behind the other. It’s easy!

And it is not cheating… Our balance does improve immensely when doing yoga together. All while we learn many other important skills such as working together, communication and safe gentle supportive touch.

One of the leading principles we use in our classes is “success builds success.” If children feel successful in one achievement, it gives them the self-confidence they need to be more successful in their next endeavor.

Balancing with a friend or with mom and dad builds self-confidence and so it gives children the assurance they need to try even more daring yoga feats. It also helps children develop trust in their friends or parents, and it is an engaging way to deepen our connections without even needing to talk much.

But most importantly, balancing together makes yoga FUN!

Kids learn best through fun. And when yoga is engaging, interactive and fun, they want to do much more of it. And yes, it is always more fun to do yoga together!

Even older children might find it challenging to balance on their own in a pose like the Tree Pose, Dancer or Airplane for more than a few seconds. But if we start from where they are and build their confidence gradually, there is no limit to the incredible yoga tricks we can perform.

You might think that tricks and performance has no part in yoga, but for older children many times yoga is not interesting enough on its own, and making the class fun is just not enough… it has to be COOL!

So when standing in Tree Pose gets way to easy, we start balancing on top of each other spicing up the yoga class with some Acro-Balance and Human Pyramids. This is uber-cool!

And it is yoga. It increases our balance and flexibility, our coordination… and of course our balancing skills!

Yes, it is a bit risky… But it is not as dangerous as you might think. In the circus they say “no risk, no trick”, and beside, do you know what is the greatest risk in life? It is to take no risk. If we don’t take any risks, we stay stuck where we are.

When doing more acrobatic yoga in pairs or groups, we always assign an additional person to be the Mini Teacher. The Mini Teacher’s job is to make sure that everyone is safe. They are there with their hands ready to assist and to slow down the fall if anyone loses their balance. There is a lot to be learnt about caring for others and being present while being the Mini Teacher.

Kids fall all the time, even when they don’t do yoga. So it is a very small risk to try some more challenging balances and partner and group balances during a class while learning in a supportive environment.

Falling down has its benefits too… it teaches us to get up and try again. If we over protect our children, hover over them and scaffold their development so much that they never fall; they simply don’t learn how to get up. Then every little tumble becomes a big emotional tragedy that they find hard to rise from.

I always try to pass on my very wise grandfather in-law’s motto “you fall, you get up.”

As parents, teachers, and as Mini Teachers, we don’t want to over protect our yoga friends while they balance. If we hold on to them tightly while they are in a Headstand or a Handstand for example, they will never be able to find their own balance.

Keeping everyone safe is always our priority, and there is a wonderful technique we use to strike the right balance between safety and over helping… we call it Hot Potato.

In Hot Potato we never actually hold our friends when they balance, because again it will inhibit them from finding their own balance. They are a “hot potato,” so they are too hot to hold on to. Instead we just touch here and there, touching with our fingertips for a moment and letting go, without ever holding our friends. Try it, and you’ll be amazed how fast your children or classmates will improve with their yoga balance!

Here is another awesome method you can try at home or in your classroom. It is the Protective Circle. We do it in a group of three and it can be done with most balancing poses, as an example lets try the Headstand.

As one friend prepares to come up into the Headstand the two others stand on either side of her and form a “wall” behind her by reaching toward each other and holding each other wrists.  They can than hold onto the head-stander ankles and lift her up, or she can jump up into the Headstand Pose. The two standing partners now form the ‘Protective Circle’ around the head-stander legs by joining each others hands at the wrists. The head-stander stays safe from falling inside the Protective Circle while their legs bounce off her friends’ arms until she finds her own balance. It works!

The communication skills we can learn by balancing in yoga together with our parents or friends in the relaxed atmosphere of a yoga class can go a long way in helping us keep our cool and our connection to each other as we try to find balance also off our yoga mats and into our everyday beautiful lives.

Hold on to each other, it’s going to be soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much FUN!

Massage therapy is proven to improve circulation, decrease chronic pain and generally help you feel like a million bucks! Catch up with Yoga One Wellness Team Member, Emily Gaspar and schedule your massage today.

1. Why did you decide to become a massage therapist?

In 2007 I moved out west with the intention of studying massage therapy in Hawaii. What a great excuse to live on a tropical island, I thought! I landed in Portland, Oregon and fell in in love with the city. There was an open house one day at East West College of the Healing Arts and I was so impressed by their program that I decided to stay in Portland and pursue my massage studies there.

I really decided to become a massage therapist because, outside of the normal bumps and bruises, I personally know the joy of living a pain-free life. The tools of massage education have enabled me to go forth and help others, which is an invaluable experience.

2. What benefits have you or your clients received from regular massage therapy?

It is always amazing to see the transformation in my clients before and after a massage. So many of us wait too long to get a massage and once we lay down on the table we ask ourselves why we waited this long! It is important not to beat ourselves up about this, but rather to use the time we have set aside to make some positive changes. Regular massage therapy gives our bodies the break they need to heal, restore and move forward with ease and productivity.

3. Do you have a favorite type of massage?

I love Thai Massage. One of my favorite instructors in college, Allison Lurie, specialized in Thai Massage and took groups of students to Thailand each year. She inspired me to take my own journey abroad to study and explore. What a beautiful country! The colors, smells, architecture, culture, people, and the incorporation of massage into every day life really made an impression on me. While traditional Thai Massage (think acupressure and assisted Yoga) is something special and unique, there are so many ways to incorporate Thai Massage into Deep Tissue Massage and other massage modalities.

That brings me to my second favorite type of massage, Deep Tissue. I hope that it is okay to have more than one? I’m not good at picking favorites! Another incredible instructor in college, Jonathan Primack, who drilled Kinesiology (the study of human movement) into all of his students taught me to use movement therapy in my own practice and explore areas on the body outside of the direct area of pain or tension. Everything in the body is connected and often times there are other structures impairing or affecting the area of focus.

4. Something interesting your clients might not know about you is: I ride a Vespa and have been playing alto saxophone for over 20 years!

5. What’s the best advice you give for how to really enjoy a massage?

Take deep breaths. Trust. Allow yourself to relax and let go. Ask questions! Oh, and I am also not noticing your body hair or anything else that might make you feel self conscious. 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to love and appreciate your body. Every body is beautiful and deserves a moment of respect.

From the bottom of our hearts, we want to say thank you to all of our readers and supporters both online and at Yoga One’s studio!

We couldn’t offer this weekly blog without the entire community behind us. You inspire us with your dedication to this life-changing practice of yoga and healthy-living. Thank you for showing up, for reading, for living out your yoga both on and off the mat and sharing your experiences.

Let us know what you’d like to see more of and where you think we’re doing a good job or need to improve! We welcome all comments, questions and submissions.

We look forward to continuing to publish engaging interviews, book reviews, top quality yoga instruction, meditations for your everyday life and stories of personal transformation.

To celebrate, here’s a look back at some of our Top Posts this past year:

1. Yogi Reads: Yoga Girl
2. Top 10 Yoga Myths – Part One
3. Top 10 Yoga Myths – Part Two
4. Yoga Keeps Me Sane: My Post-Baby Practice
5. The Power of Intention
6. Are You Holding Yourself Back From Greatness?
7. Eight Limbs of Yoga for a Whole Being
8. 2015 Yoga One Teacher Training Perspectives
9. Yes to You: A Yoga Teacher’s Poem
10. Mantra Monday: Let the Light In

Namaste,

All of Us at Yoga One

From the first time you meet Kathi Diamant (or see her on KPBS TV) her sparkling eyes alert you to her intelligence and vibrant energy. That energy further manifests in an apparent and tangible eternal youthfulness. As Franz Kafka stated, “Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”

Come to her Qigong class on Wednesdays at 9am to try this wonderfully vibrant practice. Check out our full class schedule here.

1. Let’s start with the basics, what is Qigong?

Qigong translates as “energy” (qi or chi) and “work” (gong), but I prefer to think of it as “energy play.” It has been used for centuries as an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, prescribed both for the prevention and cure of chronic illnesses. Comprised of flowing movements designed to balance both hemispheres of the brain, Qigong is exercise that works from the inside out.

It truly is a practice available for everyone, at any age. It can be practiced sitting or standing, and no prior experience is required. We learn three things in Qigong: balance, letting go, and feeling our own energy. Through Qigong, we learn to differentiate between the Yin and Yang energy flowing in the body, and to integrate mind and body in a moving meditation.

2. What first attracted you to Qigong when you began your practice?

I took a Qigong class through the YMCA and I loved the experience of relaxation and focus at the same time. It was a perfect complement to my yoga practice, but also a different sort of workout. In Qigong, there is no effort, no force, you build strength and balance through letting go.

My real practice began in January 2000 when I started lessons in Tai Chi with Henry Cheng, a Fifth Generation Master in Wu-Style Tai Chi Chu’an at the YMCA Mind-Body Center. Master Henry specializes in developing, cultivating and increasing one’s own energy. Qigong is the concept, or idea, behind Tai Chi which is known as a form of Qigong.

3. What is your favorite place or time of day to practice?

My favorite places are outside, especially near old trees, which intensify the feeling of energy. But my absolute favorite is on the beach, at sunset. Sunrise is good, too, but it happens far less often!

4. What’s the most challenging aspect for you?

Focusing my mind. While my body has gotten much stronger and healthier, focusing my mind on my breath and movement is the real trick. New studies have shown that thinking about what you intend to think about produces higher levels of happiness, satisfaction and peacefulness. So the mind aspect of this mind/body exercise is the most challenging.

5. If you were an animal, you would be: a dolphin, definitely.

6. Describe what Qi Gong means in your life using just 6 words: playing with energy keeps me healthy.

7. What might your students be surprised to learn about you?

I have written a biography entitled “Kafka’s Last Love” which has been translated and published in ten countries, and since 1998 I have been the director of the Kafka Project at SDSU, where I lead the international search for Franz Kafka’s literary treasure, stolen by the Gestapo in 1933.

8. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students?

By practicing Qigong, you can improve your health, your happiness, and the quality of your longevity. Without effort, without force, and without any special equipment!

by Michael Caldwell

It’s no secret that San Diego is practically paradise. Boasting beautiful beaches stretching over 70 miles and a temperate year-round climate that sees the sun shine approximately 146 days a year, there are worse places to be. Over 30 million visitors flock to San Diego each year with attractions like Sea World, Lego Land, the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park and the annual mega-event Comic Con pulling in large crowds.

But which San Diego spots do the locals savor? Check out these five area attractions that promise a glimpse into what could be your everyday life when you live in America’s Finest City.

1. Yoga One (of course!) 

This award-winning studio offers a variety of top-quality yoga classes located in the heart of downtown. You can chill in a beginner-friendly Gentle or Restorative class held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Get your mantra motoring in one of the Flow or Vinyasa classes held daily. Want to see the sun as you perform your sun salutations? Take the Rooftop Yoga Class, held Sundays at 9am at the Hotel Solamar. Stay and use the pool afterwards and enjoy a beverage from the bar. Yin and Yang, baby! Yoga One has been helping San Diego residents and visitors live healthier and happier lives since 2002. Their bi-annual Yoga One Teacher Training draws students from all over the world, including Spain, Ireland and Japan! Watch out Comic Con!

2. Tide Pools at Cabrillo National Monument

There are so many choices when it comes to beaches in San Diego, you might not know where to start: La Jolla Shores, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach and of course, the iconic Coronado Beach boasting the Hotel Del Coronado, just to name a few! But venture out to Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma and you’re in for a real treat. At the top of the bluff, you’ll witness a stunning view of San Diego and North Island and you can tour the historic lighthouse. Venture down to the water (you can hike or bike or drive) and you’ll encounter beautiful cliffside rock formations and tide pools filled with marine life. During the winter season, you might even catch a glimpse of migrating grey whales!

3. Julian and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

A short 60 mile drive northeast of San Diego and the entire landscape changes. First time visitors could be forgiven for not realizing they are still in San Diego County. With a population of less than 2,000 and trees, mountains and apple pies a-plenty, prepare to be befuddled and bewildered. This charming, one-time gold mining town also has a colorful history featuring African American founders such as Albert and Margaret Robinson who built and operated one of the town’s first hotels. Hike, bike, eat apple pies and baked goods. What’s not to like?

4. San Diego Craft Breweries and Beer

There are over 100 breweries from which to booze, err… um… choose and more on the way. San Diego has become an international hot spot for craft beer. International people! Take that Belgium! Check out the SDSU based documentary “Kings of the Craft” featuring some San Diego based hoppy-weights (hee-hee, get it?) Stone, Ballast Pointe, Modern Times and Karl Strauss, etc.

If you love craft beer, (and don’t say you don’t while in San Diego city limits) then please don’t go alone into some of the more well-stocked liquor stores. Many carry over 1,000 beer options. You could very well get lost, likely stunned and possibly frozen by the possibilities. Use the buddy system. Set a time to leave. Leave a trail of bread crumbs to find your way out. Every year hundreds of visitors to San Diego never leave because they are lost in a craft beer o-plenty liquor store (it might happen). You’ve been warned.

P.S. San Diego is becoming a distilling upstart as well, oh and we have wine! Can you say Temecula?

5. Balboa Park 

On any given day, you will find San Diego locals and visitors outside and just enjoying the fresh air, blue skies and plenitude of recreational activities in Balboa Park. The Balboa Park Fact Sheet says it’s “the nation’s largest urban cultural park in the nation.” A gorgeous green space set aside downtown, Balboa Park offers a wide variety of activities to pursue including hiking, gardens, fountains, sports, play grounds, velodrome, frisbee golf, drum circles, people watching, bocce ball, volleyball, etc. That doesn’t even do it justice. There are 15 museums for Pete’s sake and much more, in fact, too much to list so visit the fact sheet, playa and have yourself a ball.

Michael Caldwell
Contributing Writer

Yoga teacher and Co-Founder of Yoga One, Michael has been practicing yoga and incorporating its philosophy into his life since 1997. His kind and gentle manner is well suited to leading students of all levels. Michael has published numerous articles on a variety of subjects including yoga, meditation and rock n roll.

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!

 

Cool. Jimi Hendrix, the Fonz and Nam Chantepie. The type of guy that upon first impression oozes a style, a charm, a persona… and the best part? The more you get to know him, the cooler you realize he is. Come take his Level 2 Vinyasa Flow on Thursday evenings at 6pm. Check out our full class schedule here.

1. What is your favorite style of yoga? 

Hatha Yoga. I like taking the time to really get into the pose and experience the alignment, muscular engagement and extension. Although I do enjoy flowing through a fun and interesting sequence, my home practice is more about exploring individual poses and the slow, deliberate transitions between them.

2. What first attracted you to yoga when you began your practice? 

I was living a rather sedentary life, and had just ended a toxic six year relationship. Never having taken a single class before, I looked to yoga to help me transition back into the gym and get back into shape. What I actually got out of my first three months was a clearer head, a lighter heart, a freer spirit and a 30-pound lighter body, and I forgot all about the gym. Yoga lifted me up and showed me so many things I never expected or knew I could find on and off my mat.

3. What is your favorite yoga pose right now? 

Handstand. I’ve been committed to a daily handstand practice for almost a year. Only within the last 2 months have I finally found a sense of weightlessness and engagement in my handstands.

4. What pose is still the most challenging? 

Ustrasana (or camel pose) has always been a challenge for me. I have a nagging shoulder impingement that keeps me from fully drawing my shoulders back, so it is difficult for me to feel ease or opening in this pose. I almost always modify with my hands on my hips and squeezing a block between my thighs.

5. If you were an animal, you would be: Probably a monkey. Mostly because I’m a goofball and love inverting!

6. Describe what yoga means in your life using just 6 words: peaceful centered space to grow from

7. What might your students be surprised to learn about you? 

When I was three years old, my mom and I tried to escape from Vietnam. We were caught three times and sent to prison each time. So technically, my students are being taught by a multiple offending ex-con. 🙂

8. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students? 

My first week of yoga, I had the honor of taking a class with Yoga One instructor Amy Freeman. Towards the end, I was really struggling and almost gave up on yoga altogether while unsuccessfully trying urdhva dhanurasana (full wheel pose).

Amy came up to me, gave me blocks to modify my pose and said, “It’s ok, you’re doing great. Think of where you’ll be a year from now.” Those words have stuck with me. Those are the words I think about every time I move into camel pose.

Yoga is not about achieving the perfect expression of the poses, it’s about incremental improvements and the humility to take a step back whenever your body needs it.

Yoga One is excited to host a series of Kids Yoga and Art Summer Classes led by recent Yoga One Teacher Training graduate, Hannah Faulkner. Her passion for teaching yoga to kids is apparent in every creatively-themed class. Keep reading for her perspective on teaching little yogis!

There are several remaining classes this summer and registration is still available ($25/class) with 24-hour pre-registration to ensure available art supplies for each participant. Classes are held on Tuesdays from 2-4pm at Yoga One. Updated information can be found at www.halfmoonyogaandart.com/kids-summer-camp.html

Yoga One: How is teaching yoga to kids different from teaching adults?

Hannah: Kids need to be active and have fun while doing yoga! Teaching kids means you are constantly innovating and finding new ways to engage their senses and minds while incorporating traditional (or nontraditional!) yoga postures.

I teach themed lessons in which we use our imaginations to travel to a new place each week. When we visited Ancient Egypt, they learned how to do pyramid pose and while practicing yoga, I shared stories and interesting facts about the culture. We played games like Crocodile Crossing, where everyone is a crocodile holding plank pose and we each take turns trying to cross the Nile River without getting tagged. For the end of class, we closed our yoga practice with three minutes in mummy pose (savasana for adults) and they loved being wrapped up in their mats!

Yoga One: You’re both an art teacher and a yoga instructor – have you always wanted to combine these two passions?

Hannah: I’ve just stumbled upon this amazing combination within the last nine months. I’ve been teaching art to all ages for the past few years and just started teaching kids yoga last September. They were learning about gardens and vegetables, so we did a garden-themed yoga class and created figures through stamping cut fruit dipped in paint. It’s amazing the connections kids can make when they involve their whole body and mind!

Yoga One: Can kids who have no experience with yoga or particular skills in art participate?

Hannah: Yes, of course! Many of my young students have no prior yoga experience. In every class, I demonstrate the pose and carefully explain how to get into and out of the pose. I give verbal instructions on how to adjust into the fullest and safest version as well as modifications for kids who are still building strength and working on balance.

Through artwork creation, we are focused more on the process than the product. Kids have the opportunity to sketch a map of the place that we visited in the provided journals along with a quick drawing of their favorite poses (i.e. a camel, pyramid, sphinx, cobra, pharaoh, crocodile, etc.). Then we create an artwork as I guide them through step by step instructions.

I have templates and stencils for those who do not feel as comfortable drawing with their free hand. This week we made Egyptian profiles and I provided a template for the outline of a face and Egyptian style eye. The kids added their own decorations for the head band, necklace, and lips. I love providing the opportunity for each student to access the heart of the lesson as well as demonstrate their own creative expression.

It’s happening again! Join Amy Caldwell this Saturday June 20th aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier for a FREE yoga class from 8am-9:30am.

We’ve partnered with the Downtown San Diego Partnership and Scripps Health to offer an all levels, family-friendly yoga class to support Healthy Living in the City.

Last year we had about 400 participants and this year the event is already completely booked with 1000 people expected! We can’t wait to unite our intentions for healthy living with so many and practice yoga together.

San Diego Jumble interviewed Amy Caldwell about this Saturday’s class – listen here and find out about other upcoming free yoga classes in San Diego!

When Mantra Mag asked Yoga One studio owners Amy and Michael Caldwell to define love, they didn’t disappoint!

“Love is cheering for and chaperoning a newly hatched sea turtle along its perilous journey to the sea, swatting away the horde of predatory birds while conscious that I am depriving them of breakfast. Love is doing what feels right in the moment with an awareness and appreciation that there are other equally valid, often opposing, viewpoints.” – Michael Caldwell

“A friend said, ‘Love is an action of deeply paying attention to your life.’ For me, conscientious love also means continually opening our hearts when life is easily flowing and amidst challenging circumstances. Love in the context of close personal relationships allows us to practice. Through our experiences of connection, hopefully we remember love is our true nature.” – Amy Caldwell
Thank you Mantra Mag for the feature!

 

Twice a year, Yoga One is proud to host our interdisciplinary Yoga One Teacher Training to educate, empower and transform a diverse group of individuals into more dedicated yogis and new yoga teachers. Here are some reflections from our recent graduates on what the course is really like:

1. How did your experience of yoga or personal practice evolve over the course of Yoga One Teacher Training?

My relationship to yoga became more intimate. I think of yoga all the time now. I constantly recognize relationships between contrasts such as inhale/exhale, backbend/forward-bend, warming/cooling, energizing/relaxing, busy/reflective, light/dark, sun/moon, new/old, and past/present to find the balance in each. – Hannah F.

I learned to be more aware of my alignment to avoid injury. I also learned that everything is core work in yoga! – Courtney B.

While I had attended yoga classes at Yoga One four or five times each week, prior to teacher training, I had not started a personal practice. Now I practice at home as well as at the studio. I enjoyed learning about the history of yoga, both in class and from the readings. The teachers’ manual that Yoga One put together is a wonderful resource. – Laurie A.

My relationship with yoga had refined by the end of the course. Yoga is being present and giving enthusiastic attention to your journey on and off the mat. It is connecting to your spirituality (whatever that may be) through a deeper exploration and understanding of your own body and breath. – Kristin S.

2. What was the most valuable piece of information you learned?

I learned how to keep my shoulders integrated in every pose. I realized I had previously had improper shoulder alignment and was constantly sore from it. Now I experience very little soreness keeping my shoulders aligned properly. – Courtney B.

The most fun aspect of this course was the friendships that I developed with the other trainees. We all had an element of vulnerability as we practice-taught on each other and shared the challenge of the breakdown and rebuilding of a new understanding of yoga as a complete body/mind experience. – Hannah F.

Just learning the basics of alignment. I can finally find my balance in Vrksasana (Tree)!(Well, not always, but I’m a lot better.) – Laurie A.

That the journey is what matters most, not the destination. I find so much peace in that. – Kristin S.

The specifics of asana, yoga philosophy, and anatomy were thoroughly taught by incredibly competent, patient, and generous teachers. The content was beautifully organized and taught in large yet manageable chunks. The sense of community between trainees and the nurturing learning environment facilitated by the teachers created a really rewarding and fun experience. – Sarah S.

3. How Yoga One Teacher Training impacted my life:

It made me more aware of my own body while doing yoga! I am constantly adjusting myself during my practice, whereas before I didn’t really put much effort into my alignment. – Courtney B.

There is more to yoga than asanas (poses). And I learned that I don’t have to do the asanas perfectly. In fact, I have all the time in the world to improve! Yoga One Teacher Training also impacted my life by introducing me to some wonderful people. I was one of the older participants and I enjoyed the diversity of participants and instructors. We came from all over the globe. We had different past experiences in yoga and brought different hopes, dreams and plans to our yoga mats. – Laurie A.

I find more harmony in my practice and the little universe on my yoga mat. By incorporating yoga daily I find that harmony in all aspects of my life more and more. It is a constant effort and learning exercise but practicing yoga with intention on and off the mat is what it is all about! – Kristin S.