Posts In: Yoga Journal

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.

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.