Posts In: smile

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. 

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

Comparison is the Thief of Joy 

I recently moved across the country from San Diego, California to a not-so-big town in Virginia. Whenever I think about my old life (as I’m starting to call it) I’m sad that I can’t take yoga classes at Yoga One and see all my old friends or go out to eat at my favorite restaurants.

The problem with moving is that you don’t have a network or favorite places right away, that takes time. And it would be unrealistic to expect one city to provide the same opportunities and experiences as the other. They are totally different beasts and the better I get at not comparing them, the happier I am.

Yoga teaches us to be present with what is. Who you were yesterday and who you want to be tomorrow don’t matter as much as the present moment and who you are today.

If You Want Something, Ask.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at home feeling sorry for myself because I didn’t have plans to meet friends. Or how I’ve looked at my phone wanting to talk to someone but not wanting to bother them when they might be busy. These feelings come from a place of fear and breed inaction. It’s good to remember there are no prizes for toughing it out alone. When the going gets tough, ask for help and support from your friends and family.

Being present in yoga means examining your physical and mental alignment, making small adjustments as you encounter anything out of place. That ability to take stock and respond is key to emotional health off the mat. When you put fear aside and take responsibility for your own happiness and well-being, you become empowered to recognize and ask for what you need.

Look Up and Out 

When I’m struggling with something, really struggling, it’s easy to self-implode and only see the world from my own perspective. I always know this is happening when every time I talk to a friend, I launch into a Litany of Woes, a.k.a. everything that’s going wrong in my life.

You can break the cycle by seeking connection and community. Expand your awareness to the person in front of you (or on the phone, or at the other end of an email, etc.) Talk about your joys. Take a yoga class. Call your mom. Ask a stranger how they’re doing and wait for a response.

The reason more people don’t practice yoga in their living rooms is because we often crave community more than we crave the mental and physical benefits of yoga. Taking a yoga class unites our breath with the group and tells us that we are not alone. Finding a studio where they know your name and welcome you with a smile or a hug is priceless.

What life lessons have you learned from your yoga practice? Share with us in the comments!

Laura McCorry
Contributing Writer

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com

guest post by Christina Bird Ward

Like too many women, I’ve spent a large part of my life struggling with body image issues. It took me a long time to learn how to like (much less love) what I saw in the mirror. The good news is that loving yourself is a skill you can practice and learn over time. 

Here are a few things I do to feel amazing in my own skin, which is pretty much the definition of sexy:

1. Smile at yourself in the mirror before leaving the house in the morning. I felt ridiculous when I first started doing it, but eventually, I began to feel like I was smiling at a friend and that she was smiling back. Now, I never leave the house without sharing that smile.

2. Find something you like about your body every day. It took me months before I could find one thing that I liked: my nose. My nose was the first thing that I could look at and think, “Yeah, I like the way that looks. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.” As time passed, the list of things I found tolerable about my body grew, then the things that I liked, then the things that I loved.

3. Recite mantras or affirmations to your reflection. Here are a few of my favorites:

“I love what I see in my reflection.”

“I am beautiful.”

“I am powerful.”

“I am love/loving/lovable/loved.”

“Because I accept and love myself, others will accept and love me.”

“Smile as a cause, not as an effect.”

4. Choose what you eat wisely. This doesn’t mean I don’t splurge. Don’t get me wrong, I love pizza… and Nutella… and all sorts of other junk foods. But I try to be intentional with what and how I eat. I know that when I eat better, I feel better. And when I feel better, I look better, which makes me feel better, and so goes the cycle.

5. Wear sexy, flattering panties. Always. Got that? Always. Now this doesn’t mean that you have to wear some uncomfortable black lacy thing. Some of my most comfortable underoos are also my sexiest little numbers. Underwear is the first thing you put on. Let the first thought you have about your body be “I look damn sexy” and see how your day week life changes.

6. Exercise because it feels good. If your body isn’t healthy, it doesn’t matter what size your pants are, you won’t feel your best. Stop exercising because you want to look good (although, that is an unavoidable side effect) and start working out because you want to take care of your beautiful, imperfect body.

7. Get rid of “fat/skinny pants.” They only remind you of how you used to be compared to now. The hardest struggle is learning to love your body right now. Throw out anything that you don’t feel good wearing.

8. Learn how to walk in heels and own at least one pair. I’m a heels girl, I can’t lie. There is a feeling I get when I’m confidently strutting in my sleek, black stiletto boots that just can’t compare with any other footwear. Your heels might be a little black dress or sea kayaking or ordering whiskey at a bar. The point is to do or wear something that makes you feel confident and daring.

9. Choose a partner who says nice things about you. I’ve been in a relationship with someone who criticized my body and pointed out my “flaws,” which only reinforced the negative messages I gave myself. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Be with someone who loves you exactly the way you are but who will challenge you to grow and work towards a healthy life together.

10. Say only positive things about your body, even when joking. In fifth grade, a girl in my class made fun of my “big butt.” She wasn’t far off, I was a skinny ten-year-old with a booty that was well before my time – but I held onto that statement for years. That was the moment I started worrying about my body and began to have an altered and inaccurate view of how I looked. Discard words that bring up negative emotions like “big” and “fat” and replace them with positive words like “voluptuous” and “full.”

Remember that loving others sometimes sneaks up on you and surprises you. Loving yourself is more deliberate. Take the first step: embrace yourself. You’re worth the love you have to give.

Christina Bird Ward
Guest Writer

Christina Bird Ward is an Acupuncturist in San Diego, CA. She believes that a healthful life begins with loving yourself completely, mind and body. 

by Laura McCorry

When was the last time you consciously breathed? Was it the last time you went to yoga class? Even though pranayama (breath control) is one of the eight limbs of yoga and essential to life, yogis and individuals still need to be reminded to consciously breathe.

Nothing worries me more as a yoga teacher than to have a room full of students in the middle of practice and hearing nothing. One of the most powerful commands I’ve ever heard from a fellow teacher was in the middle of a long hold in Warrior II when she said “Breathe. Smile.” That was it. Those were her alignment cues and the whole room re-animated. People came back into the present moment with heightened awareness and back into the experience of being in their bodies.

Of course respiration will happen naturally whether or not you consciously tell yourself to breathe – which is awesome, right? Phew! Thank goodness we don’t have to add that to our to-do list. (Wake up, breath in, get out of bed, breath out, walk to the bathroom, breath in – how exhausting that would be!)

However, unlike other natural rhythms in the body such as the heartbeat, over which we have limited control, the breath is an amazing tool we can use to maximize well-being. Yogic tradition teaches us that breath control is an essential component for meditation and the first step towards enlightenment. Any time you take a deep breath to stave off reacting negatively to stimuli you know the great power it wields.

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathing consciously has more immediate physical effects too – more oxygen is incorporated into the blood stream which results in better circulation and works to lower stress. You may think you’re going to yoga to sweat and stretch and exercise the body and those are wonderful benefits of the practice – but that euphoric feeling of clear-headed wellbeing at the end of class? The quality and expansiveness of your breath played a major role in getting you there.

Perhaps the biggest benefit yoga has to offer is not muscle strength or flexibility, but simply providing you with an hour or more of directed breathing!

Now take a deep breath and slowly let it go. I bet you feel better already!

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com