Jesselle Pena, the owner of Yoga Shine in Nipomo, has never met a person who couldn’t use at least a little bit of yoga in their life.
“I really do believe that yoga is for everybody. Whether you’re trying to bulk up or lose weight, or if you’re just trying to find peace of mind,” Pena told the Sun. “And age doesn’t matter either. Take our own instructors for example. We have some in their 20s, some in their 70s.”
Pena studied nursing before completing her yoga certification at The Yoga Shack in Nipomo. She personally found balance in her life through yoga and now strives to bring that same balance to others through her own studio, Yoga Shine.
Yoga Shine offers a variety of different types of yoga courses, including sunrise yoga, chair yoga, Ashtangi yoga, Chakra yoga, Shakti, and Vinyasa. Yoga is well known for reducing stress, and Pena’s philosophy is that in most cases, stress can be the biggest roadblock on the path to health and wellness.
“When you’re stressed out, you tend to not care what you eat. You don’t sleep enough,” Pena said. “Those two factors alone are extremely harmful. That’s why reducing stress is so important, it really makes a difference on the longevity of your life.”
That’s where yoga comes in. Pena’s view is that yoga allows a necessary time-out from stress. Yoga can serve as a distraction from everyday worries, she said, and even if it’s a temporary break, it’s still beneficial in the long run.
“When you come in to practice, leaving your worries outside, the studio is easy to do. You start to only focus on what the instructor is saying,” Pena said. “Your mind becomes busy thinking about different things, how your foot feels up against the mat, how the air feels going inside your nostrils. The rest of your day vanishes.”
Although Pena believes yoga is accessible to everyone in the physical sense, she understands how it can be a struggle for some financially and for those with busy schedules.
“I’ve personally been in the middle of so many situations where yoga was not a luxury I could afford,” Pena said. “Being broke in college for example, and then later in life having kids but no babysitter.”
Pena strives to eliminate such issues by offering yoga courses throughout the day—morning, afternoon, and evening. Yoga Shine also hosts Shine Flow, which is a free yoga course held at 4 p.m. on the first Sunday of every month in Pismo Beach.
Worst-case scenario: those times don’t work for you, either. When all else fails, Pena recommends just taking the time to relax, breath, and meditate if possible, which is an essential aspect of yoga.
“What sets yoga apart from other group exercise classes is the breathing technique,” she said. “The breathing technique and meditation alone can make a huge, positive impact on your life.”
Reach intern Caleb Wiseblood through Interim Managing Editor Joe Payne at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2017.