Hello Fellow Blog Followers!
For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Danielle the semi-new addition to our front desk team. I have been involved with the La Jolla Yoga Center for a little over a year now and am excited to not only share my personal yoga experiences with you but to hear your feedback as well. One of the best things about yoga is the recognizable alliance that it forms within a community and I encourage all of you to be part of my journey and to share your personal experiences along the way. So without further ado, here is my story of how I became involved with yoga and LJYC:
I have practiced yoga here and there ever since I was in grade school, however Pilates was really my choice of “mat exercise” for many years. I loved the way I would feel after doing a routine and how it would carry into my everyday life, from my posture, to my cardio workouts, to how my jeans would sit on my waistline. It wasn’t until college that I took a real interest in yoga, I worked out regularly and would usually attend aerobic style classes that were offered at the gym on campus but always wanted to broaden my understanding of yoga. While attending this University I befriended a fellow student who was in the army and studied marshal arts and kung fu. Over a dinner conversation one night, my interest in yoga came up and he promptly grabbed a book from his own collection titled “Yoga” and gave it to me. Little did I know that this was only the first of many life-changing events that would result from my new friendship. Inevitably I gained a deeper love for this man and decided to accompany him on an adventure to the west coast. I always had a desire to reside in a climate warmer than upstate New York and I also had a passion for the healthier lifestyle to be lived by most Californians. Of course, I did have some internal conflicting thoughts on leaving my family and life in my hometown where I had lived my entire life, but after much thought I made the commitment and followed through. One motivating thought that stuck with me through the planning and moving process was a conversation I had months back with this particular friend in which he said, “When we get there we’ll find a class and do yoga on the beach.” So I packed up my life and was not only west bound but also yoga bound from that point forward.
When I finally made it to San Diego I found an apartment complex that offered free yoga classes twice a week! Because I was new to the area and still looking for a job, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I started attending these classes regularly and this is where my third eye started to open. I remember laying on my mat at the end of a class preparing for savasana and the gentleman instructing was talking us into the pose. As I laid there listening and visualizing his words, something amazing happened. I began to feel like my body was literally floating! I had never experienced anything like this before and it felt so awesome! I was sold on this yoga thing at this point and decided that I needed more! From this class I learned not only what an ujjayi breath was, but also how to use it (try it in line at the grocery store sometime-people may look at you funny but I promise it will enhance the quality of your shopping experience), I also learned the basic positioning of the poses, and I became far more flexible than I was before I was blessed with this class.
The next part of my yogic journey came to me at a time when I was very unhappy with how my life was panning out and decided to change a few things to prevent ongoing misery. “How did I do this?”, you might ask, well it all started with a little networking website known as Craigslist. I was working two jobs at this time and I hated both of them. My work situation threw me into a bout of moderate depression and really started to effect how I felt on a daily basis. I was always finding myself upset, unsatisfied, and exhausted. I was working such long hours and was so tired and emotionally drained that I found myself always getting sick, I ended up getting bronchitis and then the flu a few months later. I was at my wits end and I needed something-anything that could add a satisfactory element into my life. While searching for a more satisfying approach to bringing home income I came across a craigslist ad for a work exchange program at a yoga center, it wasn’t a paid job but I figured it couldn’t hurt to add it into my ”Apply To pile” and see what happened. After all, I was pretty much looking for anything that would change the status of my life at that moment.
When I first came to the studio I thought, “This is a lot of work for a work exchange program.” I had sent in a well-combed resume complete with a cover letter and references as advised by the ad. I was then e-mailed a series of questionnaire type papers to fill out and return asking me questions like “What do I think a yoga center brings to a community” and “Why is yoga important in my life?” (Far more time consuming than any other jobs that I was finding on Craigslist). After the initial application process I came in for an interview and was asked to take a class. The class I took was Carolina’s-which was a little intimidating but overall a very rewarding experience. After the interview and after the class my interviewer (a very beautiful woman seemed pretty passionate about yoga known by the name of Genevieve Kim J) asked me why I wanted to work at La Jolla Yoga Center, I answered honestly saying; “I’m not really sure, I’m just looking for fulfillment in my life and I’m hoping this might be the next step in finding it.” Her response stuck with me,- she said “Well I don’t know what it is about this place, but its magical and I think you will find what your looking for here.” She was right, it didn’t happen right away, but over time I saw my life begin to change.
I continue to practice at La Jolla Yoga Center as often as I can. I try to take classes from a variety of instructors because I feel each gives a different energy or “gift” so to say.
I now work full time at La Jolla Yoga Center and I have a deep love and appreciation the studio and for what it has done for my life. I also stopped working at both jobs that I hated and just recently started working part time at a very cool restaurant serving the most creative and delicious cuisine I have ever tasted. I am finally proud to work for the companies that I work for, sell the products that I sell, and happy to have the people in my life that I do. I have developed a bigger sense of love and gratitude in the last year of my life and know that it will only continue to get better. I truly believe that yoga has become my tool to turn my attention and focus inward in order to gain a better understanding of who I am and what my needs are. I had no idea how powerful it really could be and now that I know the benefits from my own personal experience, I know I will always have wonderful relationship with the one person in my life that is most important; myself.
So that is my story of entering into the La Jolla Yoga Center community! I am sure I will have lots more to share with you in the months to come and I look forward to hearing your stories and experiences as well.
Namaste Bloggers!
