Yoga Paws names Gloria O’Shea Local Hero…http://www.yogapaws.com/yoga-teachers-local-heros-?&t=11208

Who: Gloria O’Shea, executive director, Sean O’Shea Foundation,San Diego, Calif.

Why she’s a hero: She founded the Sean O’Shea (SOS) Foundation as a way to honor the humanitarian workstyle and lifestyle of her son, Sean, who died in a tragic car accident at the age of 32 in 2006. Since its inception, the Foundation has helped nearly 6,000 at-risk children in the greater San Diego area by teaching them yoga, nutrition, respect for Earth, respect for themselves and others, and how to have confidence in their own potential.

How yoga came into her life: “After Sean graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in the spring of 2000 he headed out to Europe to meet his father’s family in Ireland and England.  Upon his return home to Encinitas he decided he wanted to become a yoga teacher. He had already been practicing since he was 17 under the guidance of Tim Miller of the Ashtanga Yoga Center. Sean was a scholar and loved studying the philosophy of yoga. Once he was certified Sean founded The Four Seasons Yoga Studio in La Jolla and continued to teach for his studio and for at-risk teens throughout San Diego County.

What inspired her to continue his work: “Sean had an incredible reputation for being a very compassionate, kind, non-judging, patient and passionate yoga teacher. Sean was our mentor! I had no idea how loved Sean was. Many of his students and friends approached me asking to do something to continue Sean’s legacy. So, in November of 2007, we became an official non-profit. That is when I walked away from my position as Director of Member Relations with one of the most active YMCAs in the United States and plunged into running the Sean O’Shea Foundation as a full-time volunteer. It helped that I majored business administration with emphasis on service sector management, marketing and non-profits. I have worked with at-risk kids for over 40 years and knew the demographics of San Diego County since I had just prepared a business plan for a non-profit for at-risk kids here in San Diego.”

How she makes it work: “We do so much for so little because our entire administration and executive director (me) are all volunteers. The money we would have spent on payroll goes instead to the kids’ programs.”  ”When we find the gift to live each day with calm and peaceful purpose, then and only then can we send that peace outward into a young life as our gift to the world. We dedicate our work to the memory of Sean’s good life and to the children of our communities.”

How yoga helped her on this path: “I had the privilege of practicing with Sean a few months before the accident.  Then, striding was more my thing.  Managing my son’s studio for the next year helped me through the trauma. I practiced with some incredible, compassionate yoga teachers. Yoga has become my life.  I practice regularly and added over 500 hours to my yoga teacher training and certification. I now depend on my practice so my old withered body can keep moving and my mind keep can keep calm in the midst of chaos.”

How she delivers on her mission statement: “Any at-risk school or organization in San Diego can register for our free signature seven-week yoga and nutrition program on a full scholarship. In the past three years we have worked with over 60 schools and organizations and nearly 6,000 children ages 8-18. We teach before, during or after-school programs. We are sought out by school psychologists, probation officers, continuation high schools, rehab high schools, elementary schools, middle schools, schools for homeless, court appointed schools, programs for anger management, special needs and our latest program, Yoga 4 Kids With Cancer where we partner with Rady’s Children’s hospital. Many of our schools become full year round yoga programs as well. Classes may be as small as 12 students (for highly at risk kids) or as large as 85. We try to have a ratio of one yoga teacher to every 20 students, and we have some of the best yoga teachers around. We are now in Los Angeles, working with gang community of La Puente and teen parents in the Azusa communities. We have one of our representatives working in northern California and presently we are working to serve the South Bronx area in New York.

We also teach teachers. Over 85 teachers have shown interest and gone through our orientation.”

What poses students love: “They love the balancing poses and yes…Savasana. The yoga teachers love to use the balancing poses when they have a very energetic group of kids.”

Why yoga’s not the answer for everyone: “I do not think every child in the world should do yoga; it is not necessarily for everyone…they have to want to do it. We do not allow kids to do our program if forced by a parent or teacher. They must have the choice.”

Who’s helping her help others: “The biggest challenge in running the Foundation is finding ongoing financial support. We now ask the yoga community (yoga teachers and studio owners) to offer donation yoga or workshops that will benefit the Sean O’Shea Foundation. Many studios gladly want to help by donating all the proceeds to the SOS Foundation. Our SOS Foundation heroes are those who have stepped forward to volunteer their time to the cause. No way could I have done this without all of them…board of directors, chairman of committees, committee members, volunteer yoga teachers, etc. and Yoga-Paws. I once contacted the Yoga-Paws website and asked for a donation for our kids program. They were very gracious and generous by donating over 3500 sets of Yoga-Paws for all our SOS Foundation kids in the past two years. Our doors are open to anyone who wants to volunteer or send donations.”

Her favorite comment on the Foundation’s work: “I like this observation by Dr. William MacGrath (PhD, Juvenile Court Community Schools, San Diego). He said, ‘Anyone else…probably would not think much of this but I have worked with the gang community for over 30 years and what I am witnessing right now is incredible.’  He was talking about 28 young men ages 15 to18 representing four violent rival gangs, all lying peacefully together in Savasana.”

What gets her out of bed on Monday morning: “As long we have poor communities, kids dropping out of school, gangs and violence, we will have a need for program that help the youth learn and believe in what their greatest potential can be.”

Her wisdom: “I once said that Sean’s death brought us to our knees but it was his spirit that brought us back to our feet. I threw myself into this organization and pulled the rest of the family into it with me, I did not even ask, I just gave them all volunteer jobs to help run the organization. I think they all realized the best medicine for all of us was to do something positive in Sean’s name and for the at-risk youth. This is what he was doing and at the same time we were honoring his beautiful life. Keeping Sean’s vision alive has given us all strength and hope.”

‘Life’s Cycle’

The avoidable transitions of life, not to be

feared, but to be realized.

With this understanding, actually, literally

over standing, we can hopefully live each

stage to the fullest of our capacity.

Keeping our minds aware of our short

presence here may we truly cherish each

moment, as difficult as it may sometimes

be, treating it, caressing it, loving it as

though it were our first, last and only.

-Sean O’Shea-

12-24-98

To find out more about the Sean O’Shea Foundation and to volunteer or make a donation, visit http://seanosheafoundation.org/