March of this year, I had the pleasure of meeting Chanda and attending a yoga class she ran on a foggy Tuesday afternoon in Huntington Beach, CA, at Tower 14. We talked, and a week later, we met up again so I could learn more about her love for yoga and her desire to create a community in Orange County. This is a transcript of our interview

Me: “Tell me a little about how you were introduced to yoga.”

Chanda:

I was in chronic pain from a series of car wrecks, and it just got worse and worse. Honestly, I went to an acupuncturist because the doctors kept saying I was fine, and after the appointment, he said that I would really benefit from yoga. I said, “What is that?” That day, as the universe works, at the store, there was this yoga magazine, and I grabbed it and took it home and started to do the poses. I thought, “This is not going to work.” But five years later, I moved to a small town, and everyone was talking about yoga, so I started going again. I did not love it right away, but I knew I needed it, and over the years, I have grown to love it.

Me: “How did you start this group?”

Chanda:

I moved to Huntington Beach from Washington, where I taught yoga. It rains all the time there. There was maybe once or twice that there was a gorgeous day, and when we were doing yoga, I’d say, “let’s go outside.” I like to be outside as much as possible, so when I moved here, one of my first thoughts was, “We can do yoga outside every day.” This was 14 years ago, and no one was really doing it, so it took a little bit, but I started the Meetup group.

Me: “What can someone expect from their first class?”

Chanda:

We welcome everyone and have such a wide variety of ages and yoga practice levels. So the teachers need to be able to layer a class and not go too hard, but also not too easy. Someone who comes here for the first time can expect to be greeted/welcomed, to feel safe, and to be able to feel comfortable in listening to their body. Hopefully, they get to learn something new by being outdoors, breathing, and moving. It’s about the yoga, but so much more than that. Leaving better than they came.

Me: “What is the yoga community you created like?”

Chanda:

The community has been incredible. In the beginning, there was just one class on Sunday, and one person would come, or no one would come. It took a while to get a few solid people, and then at a certain point it “popped”. Great friendships have been made. We try to do community oriented things like promoting businesses, and we have an annual party. They’ve become my friends and the other teacher’s friends. It’s definitely grown since the beginning.

Me: “What has been one of the most rewarding parts of this group?”

Chanda:

When you hear people’s stories, sometimes not right off the bat. A person can come for a year or two, and then one day they’ll say something like, “I started coming down here when my husband died.” Anyone can find this group, and it’s affordable. I love that we’re outdoors, a healthy community, and anyone can join.

Me: “What has been a challenging part of running Yoga on the Beach?”

Chanda:

The challenge in the beginning was to get people to come, and then when people started coming, I was teaching somewhere else, so I could only teach on a Sunday. So, it became a challenge for a while to get teachers to come and stay because some weeks you wouldn’t get students. I was constantly trying something new to bring them down here. Then, once we started getting rolling, the city stepped in and tried to shut us down. But since it was all Meetup and donation based, we were able to bypass it. Now that it’s getting bigger, it’s taking more and more of my time. Since there’s no way to necessarily get compensated, trying to get everyone to pull together and run it together has also been a challenge. But the issues are all small and surmountable. As long as we keep the goal of healing, growing, and community, we’ll just keep doing it.

Me: “What makes this group unique?”

Chanda:

The obvious uniqueness is being outside. The goal of yoga is to feel connected, and here it is. In terms of being here, the fact that we get to do it year round is amazing. We have amazing teachers, and every class is different because of the energy of the students and teachers. We’re on a fairly quiet beach, so combining yoga with the sun and sea is special.

Me: “What are some of your favorite memories of beach yoga?”

Chanda:

It wasn’t always about teaching yoga so much. I started out trying to make friends. So the friendships. Moments when someone tells me that the community changed their life are another favorite memory. And I love our annual party. There are so many to mention, being down at the beach is always my favorite part of my day.

Me: “What would you like the future of Yoga on the Beach to look like?”

Chanda:

I would like to find somebody to run it because it’s getting close to the time for me to move along. I want to find someone who can run it with the same intentions as I have. Someone with the mindset of being supportive of the community rather than doing it only for themselves. But it can be difficult because the person running it doesn’t make a lot of money. Each of the teachers collects their own. So, to find somebody with the time, energy, heart, and intention to run something like this is difficult, but I want it to keep going.

Me: “How can someone find this group?”

Chanda:

We’re on Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram, and Meetup. Anyone can watch the schedule and come on down. There’s nothing they need to sign up for, and they don’t need to prepare in any way. Teachers are also free to reach out to get on a sub list to teach a class. Additionally, students can utilize the group to get the word out about their ventures (beach cleanups, puppy rescue, etc.).