“Just getting started was tough—fi nally visiting a bank
with our fi nancials, submitting a letter of intent on a lease,
looking into copyrighting, and contacting contractors and
equipment providers,” says Galicinao. “Even researching
and looking at spaces for the studio took us a whole year.”
(As of press time, they’re still in lease negotiations with a
goal of opening by April 2018.) Galicinao and Hendricks
are Yoga Medicine teachers trained by Tiff any Cruikshank,
certifi ed personal trainers through the National Academy
of Sports Medicine, and softball coaches at University of
California–Santa Barbara. They’ve both wanted to open
their own yoga studio for years, but the idea became more
appealing after they each used yoga to recover from head
injuries (softballs are not exactly soft).
Two years ago, Hendricks was pitching in a batting cage
when a line drive ricocheted off the cage and smacked her
on the forehead. She was diagnosed with a concussion and
later post-concussion syndrome, suff ering debilitating
symptoms that persisted for months. “I had severe daily
headaches, nausea, vertigo, and slow cognitive function-
ing,” Hendricks says, “I think the toughest part was having
no guidance for how to get better and no timeline for my
recovery. Doctors were limited with their resources, insur-
ance companies wanted objective medical evidence or test
results, and my friends
didn’t realize how much
I was suff ering because
they couldn’t visibly see
anything wrong with me.”Hendricks, a dedicated yogi, started a post-injury routine
with some breathing exercises and a couple of seated postures,
slowly building back up to an hour-long practice. “Yoga was
the only physical activity I could do for six months,” she says.
“I was able to breathe into spaces where I was holding a lot
of tension, slow my heart rate, and reduce the pain of my
headaches,” she says. “Pranayama in particular gave me a
starting point, or reset, and helped me be OK with the ups
and downs of recovery as I tested my limits, including retrain-
ing my brain to process information and speak at the cadence
I was capable of prior to the injury.”
Galicinao had a similar experience last spring after she
suff ered a concussion during softball practice. “Yoga was
instrumental to my recovery,” she says. “It helped reduce my
irritability, fatigue, and the sensitivity I experienced to light
and sound—which was particularly diffi cult when coaching
an outdoor sport.”
Hendricks and Galicinao are now determined to bring
yoga to other athletes suff ering from head injuries, as well
as to anyone looking to improve their mental functioning
and overall brain health. During their own recoveries, they
realized that there aren’t a lot of resources that bridge the
gap between the medical fi eld (neurologists and others who
treat brain injuries) and getting athletes back to being active,
so they believe they will be poised to fi ll a real need. Armed
with their decades of fi tness knowledge, their deepening
connections to the medical professionals who treat brain
injuries in Santa Barbara, and Hendricks’s extensive busi-
ness background (she’s worked in fi nancial roles for Apple
and the Tiger Woods Foundation), the pair plans to open
MindShift Studio, which will off er a combo of yoga, cycling,
and specialized strength and conditioning training. The
yoga classes will be centered on ways to improve cognitive
performance through balance poses and breathwork. And
they plan to off er indoor cycling in their space since they
consider it a safe way to get a cardio workout and bring
blood to the brain without fl aring up post-concussion symp-
toms—mainly because your head stays relatively still on
a stationary bike as opposed to the up-and-down
bouncing during running or the balancing act
of cycling on the road.Alysia HendricksBrie GalicinaoBrie Galicinao and Alysia Hendricks are on the cusp of
opening a yoga studio in Santa Barbara, California, but setting up
all the business details has been challenging.