Ryan ChartrandBridget Veltri
arts@mustangdaily.net
“Breathing is a very important element of yoga. synchronizing breath and movement,” partial owner and instructor Steve Pittelli said to the five students seated on mats on the smooth pale wood floor in the dim sunlit studio room at Smiling Dog Yoga.
There is a place in SLO where the pace is truly slow. Tucked away off on the corner of Archer and Higuera Streets is San Luis Obispo’s own little yoga paradise, Smiling Dog Yoga.
The sound of water babbles in the background from the fountain that lines the fence. Inside the studio itself patrons are enveloped in the damp warmth that could sooth even the most neurotic of journalists.
It’s the kind of place that radiates serenity, with its small outdoor café serving up healthy natural food to yogis on small blue mosaic tables.
“We wanted to make the most of the setting,” Smiling Dog Yoga owner Lisa Terranova said. “Kind of an enclave downtown.”
The studio, which opened in January, has over ten instructors and offers a variety of yoga classes, packages and monthly special events featuring visiting instructors.
The rate for drop-in classes is $13. Students and seniors receive 10 percent off five and ten class cards.
The studio also offers an introductory special, 90 days of unlimited yoga for $90.
“I think that the life of a college student is packed,” Terranova said. “It demands a lot of physiological well being, yoga is not only physical exercise but you have tools to help calm and focus your mind.”
Biology senior Nicole Balvanz makes time to visit Smiling Dog to squeeze some yoga into her schedule.
“I love it, I like the atmosphere of the studio and the teachers,” she said. “The room has really high ceilings and lots of light.”
So why name a yoga studio ‘Smiling Dog?’
“Smiling is something that is very relaxed it represents the childlike mind that is open, aware and relaxed, a state of mind that yoga teaches,” Terranova explained. The latter part of the name is a play on words, referencing the Downward Dog yoga pose.
Smiling Dog gives those who have an interest in learning to do yoga and those who already love it something to smile about.
Terranova said that class styles range from quiet and contemplative to energetic and active. One of her favorites is the Yin Yoga, one of the slower classes offered. Yin Yoga focuses on exercising the body’s connective tissues without a lot of muscular effort. Other classes offered include Hatha, Vinyasa flow, integrative flow, core fusion, restorative, pregnancy, introduction to meditation, Nia, Copoeira and yoga for beginners.
The essence of the studio is that “yoga is for everyone.”
“We really seek to be open to all levels of experience and body types and keep it accessible and welcoming,” Terranova said. “We want to remove any aura of competition.”
For those who don’t want to do yoga but still want to look the part, Smiling Dog features the ultimate yoga boutique.
With a variety of American-made clothes, made mainly of natural fiber and organic cotton and jewelry made by local artisans and California companies the boutique features anything a yoga aficionado could possibly need.
Smiling Dog also has a small café with food as unique as the studio’s classes.
Run by local chef and live food artist Brandie Michelle, the menu varies daily. However, one thing is constant: all the food served is local, organic, vegan and “live.”
“Live food means full of enzymes and isn’t heated over 115 degrees,” co-creator Amy Ferguson said. “It maintains the nutritional integrity of the food.”
“We also have special health elixirs and teas,” Ferguson said. “And their is always some blissful dessert treat available.”
Prices range from $3 to about $8.50. Some popular menu mainstays are the Superfood smoothie and the Peacefull plate, consisting of local greens, sprouts, heirloom tomato, avocado, carrot, kelp noodles, hummus, and is served with flax seed crackers and citrus hemp dressing.
For those who prefer to lay back, relax and let someone else do all the work, Smiling Dog Yoga has massage therapist Theresa Blackner, who also offers student discounts.
“Massage can help alleviate the muscular stress and tension (that college students experience) caused by sitting for long periods, riding a bicycle, typing and staring at a computer screen,” Blackner said.
In addition to massage, Blackner specializes in Ayurvedic methods.
“Ayurveda means the science of life, it’s a practice in harmonizing one self to the natural changes throughout the year by eating foods in season and doing activities that support ones dosha or constitution,” Blackner explained. “I offer treatments that take these elements into account, creating an opportunity for an individual to experience balance and peace of mind.”
You don’t even have to take a class or get a massage to feel relaxed here. Just setting foot inside the pleasantly warm inviting studio and mulling through the boutique has a calming affect.
Be careful, upon leaving Smiling Dog one might experience such a blissful state that they misplace his or her keys, mat or wallet. Terranova refers to this state of mind as “yoga stoned.”