At Corc Yoga, we appreciate the beautiful community that’s created through yoga. It’s a fellowship that promotes growth and provides the opportunity to continually learn from each other. 

We sat down with Northern California Ambassador, Marisa Naughton, to learn about her personal yoga practice. We wanted you to get to know her as a fellow yogi and be able to learn from her. 

Today, Marisa lives in the bustling city of San Francisco. Whether it’s in the morning or evening, her yoga practice helps her engage and remain focussed. Take a moment to see what inspires her and discover how it might empower your practice.

What led you to yoga?

I honestly feel as if yoga was led to me. Dear friends had led flows or taken me to classes, but the western commercialization of spirituality made me question its validity. 

When I attended the first Elysian Yoga Convention in Amorgos with my mother, I was immersed in a completely different expression of yoga. I was shown the complete, wholehearted and whole-spirited foundation of why yogic practice is so powerfully liberating for the mind, body, and soul. This comprehensive and activating experience embedded in me a new lens, challenging me to incorporate a little bit of yoga into everything I do.

What’s been the biggest personal benefit yoga has provided?

Yoga puts me into my body. Yoga reminds me to engage and encourage every fiber of my being through intentional and doting breath. 

This level of presence allows me to perform the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual check-ups necessary to examine any blockages that exist, or that I am creating. I can let go. I can succumb to flow.

What’s your favorite pose?

Pincha Mayurasana or Peacock Pose.

This hasn't changed yet! There's just something about staring face to face with the earth beneath you and confidently saying "no" to gravity.

I just love the concept of defying gravity and this pose allows you to do just that by turning inward and connecting with every inch of your body. It's a lovely blend of pushing limits in the body and mind, while also being incredibly versatile with the shapes and transitions available when suspended.

When do you normally practice yoga?

My favorite time to practice coincides with any time that my immediate surroundings are at peace. Any time that the world is still and dewy-eyed. This is most often in the morning, but I'm often also a night owl.

What’s your favorite place to practice yoga?

It honestly doesn't matter if my practice happens indoors or outdoors, in a defined shala or not. 

Anywhere with ample natural light and close enough to nature that I could hear the birds chirping, waves crashing, sunlight dancing through leaves, and or any indicator that life is flowing freely is more than enough to move me.

What do you enjoy listening to while performing yoga?

Anything the literal angel that is James Blake touches will move me, even if I'm fully in a funk.

What do you do after you’ve done your yoga for the day?

After moments of being so present with my body, my favorite course of action is either to:

Consume something nourishing and stimulating, carrying the embodied energy into the cells of my being [or] fly on my lyra (aerial hoop), because I tap into flow, play and joy. 

I'm usually extra inspired by the opportunity to utilize how limber and activated my body is from my yoga practice.

What or who is your inspiration?

My most potent source of inspiration comes from something we interface with on a daily basis: plants. 

I'm always blown away by their resilience and commitment to life, against all odds or shortage of resources. The fact that they always look to the sun, and graciously provide us with clean air, food, and flowers are of course part of my admiration, too.

What’s a quote that has impacted your life?

"It is about how you use your chaos that matters."

This so perfectly sums up the never-back-down, opportunity sleuthing mindset necessary as a designer today. From a spiritual perspective, it acknowledges the importance of using the spectrum of experience as potent fuel for growth.

Where is your favorite place to travel in the world?

Japan. It has been years, but that country and its people left such a lasting impression on my attention to quality, detail, and integrity that I must go back to see it with new eyes.

What book(s) have you most often recommended to others?

Way of the Peaceful Warrior.

Daring Greatly.

What’s the most meaningful item in your home?

To be completely honest, my iPod nano. Silly I know, but I've never had one (or an Apple anything)! 

This little marvel was gifted to me by my beloved and contains a nearly unlimited amount of pure audio magic. I'm constantly brought to smiles and movement. It also brings me freedom – there's nothing quite like hopping on the bike, armed with just the iPod in my pocket and wireless headphones to whisk me into the sunset.

Are you interested in becoming an Ambassador?

Are you interested in joining us on this journey towards sustainable living for the mind, body, and soul? Click here to learn about the Corc Yoga Ambassador program. And if you want to read about the rest of our Ambassadors, click here.