The last few weeks have been solemn at Four Seasons Yoga, 7770 Regents Road. Owner Sean O’Shea, 32, of Encinitas was killed Thursday, Dec. 28, in an accident on Interstate 5.
O’Shea, who was a well-known yoga teacher in the community and throughout San Diego, was honored during a special yoga class at the studio on Sunday, Dec. 31. The studio was packed, according to Kati Reszegi, a yoga teacher and personal friend of O’Shea.
“He knew many people and many people really cared deeply for him,” Reszegi said by phone. “He had been coming down to San Diego since he was a little kid on family vacations, and he moved down here after graduating college.”
Originally from Los Angeles, O’Shea received a degree from the University of California, Berkeley, Reszegi said. She had known him for the past seven years.
Funeral services were held on Friday, Jan. 5, in San Diego, with more than 800 people in attendance, according to Reszegi.
Reszegi, along with O’Shea’s girlfriend Gianna DeFelice, 26, of Solana Beach, have been running the studio since the accident, she said.
A foundation dedicated to O’Shea is in the beginning stages and is expected to benefit youth yoga programs, she said. Four Seasons Yoga is accepting donations to the foundation in honor of O’Shea.
“He did impact a lot of young people,” Reszegi said. “He worked with youth in yoga ” it was one of his first yoga teaching jobs ” and we kind of want to continue that in his name. This is just basically a baby step forward, but it will be linked to the studio in UTC as a collaborative effort, and as time goes on it will crystallize a little bit more.”
The accident occurred close to 1 p.m., when a steel trailer hitch struck the windshield of O’Shea’s 2002 Nissan Xterra while he and DeFelice were southbound on Interstate 5, just north of the Interstate 805 junction, according to a report by the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
O’Shea was killed on impact, and DeFelice was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla but sustained no serious injuries, according to the CHP report.
The accident is still being investigated by CHP officials.
For info on the foundation, visit www.fourseasonsyoga.com.