Growing up in San Diego, most of my days were spent outdoors. Whether that meant eating lunch on the high school grassy knoll or going for a run along the coast, the never ending sunshine made it easy to take for granted. In addition to spending time outside, Southern California is notorious for breeding physically fit and healthy individuals, as their motivations, or the inner reasons or driving forces behind my human actions, to be outside are extremely strong (Babin, 2016 pg. 90). When the weather is pristine year around, it is easy to motivate yourself and others to look and feel as best as you can. You never know when you will be hitting the beach!
In order to maintain these fit physiques requires a healthy lifestyle. While living clean and healthy has become a trend across the nation, this type of living is a typical California lifestyle. In addition to year around running weather there are yoga studios, spin studios, and gyms on every corner, making it nearly impossible to not exercise. One of my personal favorite yoga studios is CorePower Yoga, a large yoga chain with studios all over the United States. Although there are many studios all over the country, Southern California proves to be CorePower's largest consumer market. With twelve studios in San Diego alone, the yogi lifestyle has quickly integrated itself into the California lifestyle. These instructors often hold donation based classes on the public park at Pacific Beach on Saturday mornings, presenting a perfect opportunity for experienced and new yogis to come together and form a sense of community.
If yoga is not for you, not to worry! There are plenty of other entertaining, enjoyable, and challenging ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle. For many people, my mother included, walking or running the palm tree lined streets is a favorite. Regardless of the weather, rain or shine (even though it hardly rains), my mother is out the door at 8 am to begin walking before work. Like many others, she enjoys the calm mornings with the marine layer falling into the streets. If you are unfamiliar with what the marine layer is, it is a large cloud-like mass that develops over the ocean during certain temperatures. Since many of the San Diego beaches are in a cove-like setting, it is easy for the marine layer to get trapped in. Below is a video to show you how the marine layer can change over the course of the day!
Since the Pacific Ocean is California's neighbor, fresh seafood is extremely easy to obtain. As a sushi lover myself I often find myself engaging in the newest sushi trends, whether that be a Poke bowl, a Sushiritto (sushi burrito), or trying the fish market's catch of the day. Whether or not sushi is your cup of tea, there are plenty of healthy restaurants to choose from in San Diego! Just pick your favorite from the list below, my favorite being Burger Lounge in La Jolla, and I can ensure that you'll be happy!
References/Value Added:
Babin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). In CB 7 (7th ed., pp 90). Boston, MA: Cengage Leaning.
Pacific Beach Yoga photo: http://pacificbeach.fit/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/yogopb-450x222.png
Marine Layer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2pxaeX6DcM
Burger Lounge photo: https://www.mikesroadtrip.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/IMG_0136-300x211.jpg
Top 15 Healthy Restaurants: https://foursquare.com/top-places/san-diego/best-places-healthy-food
Hey Savanah,
ReplyDeleteI did not know you were from California, even if now I understand why you are more tanned than us.
Well, I loved your last article, looks like heaven on earth and kind of remind me where I come from in France : Bordeaux. We don't have beaches like you do but we also have a typical lifestyle on the south of France which is a lot more healthy compared to Paris where I lived for 21 years. As you describe it, it is almost like you have Californian cultural norm (Babin,2016)such as eating healthy and doing sports as often as you can and in different ways.
Is it though the Californian who launched this trend as living healthy and do sports across the country ? ;)
I didn't know though that Yoga was really a thing in California and seem to be spread thanks to group influence (Babin,2016) as you mentioned "the sense of community". Even I a not really into it as well, I must agree that the Yogi lifestyle must help enjoying all the pleasures California seems to offer.
I have never been in this part of the US and it might be a good idea to visit it as a final road trip before going back home in France.
Can't wait for the next article if it can help me discover more California.
Source : Babin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). In CB 7 (7th ed., pp 90). Boston, MA: Cengage Leaning.
Coming from Southern California as well, I can definitely relate to your blog! Another unique quality of SoCal is the way in which trends come and go at seemingly unstoppable rates. Much like you go to CoreYoga, my friends convinced me to try SoulCycle. Before talking to my friends, I would have never even thought of trying a spin class. However, through social power, or the ability of my group of friends to alter my own actions, I have become addicted to SoulCycle and go whenever I am home (Babin, 2016, p. 160). I think social power is very strong in SoCal and that is just one reason why trends like yoga and health spread so quickly. Even though I am from California also, you mention a bunch of things that I had not even heard of! I think your blog does an excellent job of Word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing (Babin, 2016, p. 168). From one consumer to another, you have definitely made me want to try a Sushiritto and a burger from Burger Lounge in La Jolla. Your blog definitely made me miss home and I could not agree more that the Golden State is the best state.
ReplyDeleteBabin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). CB 7 (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Being from cold Ohio and desiring a career in sustainable agriculture, I have always Imagines myself moving to California. After reading your blog you have sold me on it. Since San Diego is such a beautiful and hot city, I would assume that many people commonly wear swimwear. I wonder if there is a larger body-esteem issue in San Diego than in cities where the climate is colder and the culture expects you to wear more clothing (Babin, 2016, p. 125). I often feel that I would be unable to relate to Southern Californians because of the regional, micro-culture differences. Ohio everything is very laid back but in a much different way than a surfing community. Time almost seems to be less of a factor in the Midwest than I know it is on the East Coast and I assume the West Coast is similar. Great Post!
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