Michael O'Hearn

~ August, 2011

In memory of our dear TriYoga Angel Friend ~

We can all give thanks to TriYoga Friend, Michael O'Hearn.

In the 80s, I was teaching daily classes in my small living room in Santa Cruz, CA. It had never entered my mind to open a yoga center. Then destiny took place.

Michael was the helper! I did not know Michael, yet he had heard of me. In early 1986 he called and offered me the opportunity to share rent with other yoga teachers at his very sweet building on New Street in Santa Cruz. Within a short time all the students were taking only TriYoga classes. Michael then offered the whole center to TriYoga at the low fee of $600 per month.

His generosity continued. With his amazing eye for beauty and his green thumb, he oversaw the planting of many trees and bushes lining both sides of the street. And to complete, he added tall gas lamps to stand between the trees. Ah, what an eye for beauty he had. And this was not all. . .

He was a true philanthropist as he gifted Santa Cruz many beautiful places. He restored homes and gave neighborhoods a touch of the Garden of Eden.

Michael always kept our rent low until we outgrew the place and moved to our present location, just around the corner.

It was in this first TriYoga Center on New Street in Santa Cruz where destiny also unfolded. A respected yoga teacher in her later 70s came to my class. Afterwards she called the top coordinator of yoga conferences to say, "Kaliji is a world-class teacher. You must arrange to meet her for potential yoga conferences”. We met a few days later, and I have been teaching nationally and internationally ever since.

Our first TriYoga Teacher Trainings were also held at the TYC on New Street. The original teaching team began there. Oh, so many memories I hold that took place on 113 New Street.

We were fortunate Michael was our next-door neighbor. The last time I saw Michael he was making an offer to our present landlady to buy the TYC on Washington Street. He also put in a bid to buy the house next door so TYC would have accommodations. Neither of the offers was accepted although he kept trying. He continued until his last breath helping to make whatever he touched a place of peaceful beauty.

Thank you, Dear Michael for inspiring me with my first TriYoga Center. You were the perfect vehicle to support our first center! Many people have been trained inside those walls. And many people outside those walls have gained from these senior teachers sharing TriYoga in over 40 countries. Now there are more than 50 TriYoga Centers worldwide and growing . . .

Wherever you are ~ I know it is beautiful.

Yogini Kaliji

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We miss Michael O'Hearn in the neighborhood of TriYoga Center Santa Cruz.
I often think of Michael who kept the neighborhood beautiful with his landscaping.
He was appreciated at TriYoga Center.

Michael O’Hearn was an acclaimed architect and a longtime Santa Cruz resident

who built his life around making homes, office buildings and gardens that look

like they belonged in a magazine. He died August 2, 2011 from throat cancer. He was 71.

-from Kim Beecher, D.C. (Nandi)

Facts from Santa Cruz Sentinel