Warrior 1 Yoga is privately owned and operated by life long Bakersfield resident Dana Healey, a U.S Army disabled veteran. She has a Bachelor in Business and multiple certifications in professional and fitness related fields. She obtained her Yoga certification in Thailand by attending the Absolute Hot Yoga Teachers Training Academy add completing a 200-hour and 500 Hour Registered Yoga Alliance (RYT) certification program, recognized internationally. She has over 10 years of experience in the fitness industry providing personal training. Her recent accomplishments include providing hot Yoga to Soldiers and U.S contractors overseas. Dana spent the majority of her professional life working in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2003 to 2013 for the U.S Army and the infamous Blackwater as a government contractor. She has travelled the world and has done more with her life than most could imagine by age 3l.

 

History

December 2013 Dana hurt her back and broke her arm due to an injury sustained while working in Iraq, she returned home for recovery and used yoga to aid in rehabilitation. This incident was the driving force behind her passion for yoga and motivation to open a studio in Bakersfield. Lastly, her drive and ambition to bring health and well being to the residents of Bakersfield and most importantly her family has guided her dream of opening this Hot Yoga Studio in Bakersfield December 2014.

I have always been an active person who enjoys working out.

I found yoga over 10 years ago, and I have always enjoyed being a participant of yoga. I became a Certified Yoga Instructor through YogaFit, and I have been teaching yoga for 2 years now. I feel yoga is an amazing way to bring awareness to your body and your mind, and an amazing way to stay healthy and active. Yoga is a reminder that not everything can be done in one day – like life, yoga is a journey. My yoga practice is my workout, and I love to bring that aspect of it to the mat. I am able to leave my day on the mat – my hopes, dreams, frustrations, fears, anxiety, whatever it is, I leave it all on the mat as I challenge my mind and my body through my yoga practice.

I often refer to it as “namastanasty”, because to me, practicing yoga is putting your whole body, mind, and spirit onto the mat and leaving it all there. Trust in yourself, and trust the practice. Like anything in life, you get out of yoga what you put into it. Teaching yoga to others is so rewarding for me, I love to learn from others as I teach them, and feel blessed each time someone trusts their journey with me. I love how yoga brings awareness to your body and mind, and love to show people how amazing they are no matter where they are at in their practice, to teach them to think “yes” instead of “no,” and that there is no limit to what you can accomplish with a positive attitude and a willingness to try.

Everybody can practice yoga.

Nilay has a 10-year career in Group Exercise Fitness as a certified instructor, but her journey into fitness is 10 years longer than that as she has trained in her teens with self-taught, gym and video routines as well as disciplined practice into martial arts for 8 years. She started her first group teaching practice as a special form of taekwondo based aerobics. Her fitness journey eventually crossed paths with yoga when she discovered how beneficial it was in every aspect of her life from physical, mindful and soulful experiences. She still trains with specially talented teachers in stretching such as circus acrobats, contortionists and sports medical practicioners to learn more about the best ways to stretch, balance and strengthen. Her style in yoga is multi-faceted which can be defined as Ashtanga Vinyasa Flow with minimum repetitions which are designed to connect most critical poses to others smoothly while keeping the very strong and focused aspects of these poses for best self-improvement and betterment.