Twenty-two years ago, Jeanie Carlstead was trying to burn off some excess weight after giving birth to her daughter. She struggled in aerobics and her teacher politely suggested she try yoga instead. Carlstead said she immediately connected to yoga because it engaged all her faculties. “It drew me in mentally,” Carlstead said. “It calmed me in a way so that I could really connect to my inner calm. I was such a thinker but it didn’t dull my mind; it sharpened it. I could stop the excess chatter so if I needed to be calm, I could be. And, also, if I needed to direct my attention like a laser, I could be very focused.” Yoga has become a way of life for Carlstead that she now aims to share with the community. On Nov. 14, Carlstead opened the La Jolla Yoga Center at 7741 Fay Ave. with the vision to create a yoga center for the entire San Diego community that attracts high-profile teachers, supports the beginner and raises the standard of teaching. The 6,000-square-foot center offers more than 90 classes taught by 49 teachers throughout the week to accommodate nearly every schedule. On Mondays alone, 22 classes are provided beginning at 6:30 a.m. The studio offers vigorous classes like Vinyasa and hot yoga, as well as more relaxed classes such as Svaroopa, which focuses on relaxing into postures, and Hatha Yoga, which moves through poses more slowly than Vinyasa with fewer sun salutations. La Jolla Yoga offers classes to focus solely on the beginner student, open to seven students only with a concentration on alignment.   Specialized classes are sprinkled in the mix, including prenatal yoga, yoga for cancer recovery, yoga for seniors (Golden Age) and yoga for a healthy back. Meditation and Tai Chi classes are also on the schedule. “Sometimes we need more vigorous classes to burn off stress… Other times, we need more relaxing classes,” Carlstead said. “We’ve been running around all day and we need to slow down. At other times, we want to work more on alignment and get deeper into poses. Yoga has so much diversity and so much to offer. In different phases of our lives, we need different types of yoga.”  Carlstead has lived in La Jolla for 25 years with her husband and four children, the last of whom just left for college. Her children attended The Bishop’s School, where Carlstead taught meditation. She volunteered with the philanthropy group Las Patronas in various capacities for seven years, including one year as president —members dubbed her “the Zen president.” Carlstead and her husband, Jeff, own the Hampton Inn in Kearny Mesa, which they opened 20 years ago.   In the late ’90s, Carlstead recalls taking ideas she was learning as a graduate student and experimenting with them on her yoga mat. She studied intellectual history — or the history of ideas — at UCSD.  “Ideas are always big and idealistic, but you need to be practical when you hit the mat,” Carlstead said. “I would test myself: ‘Am I being kind to myself? Can I find the edge where I can be strong but relaxed?’” Carlstead feels that opening the yoga center has brought her full circle, enabling her to create a culture of care and respect and foster community, which she first found in yoga, and through studying the work of Carl Rogers, one of the founders of humanistic psychology who resided in La Jolla for a time.  “I want to create an environment where people can come and heal themselves,” Carlstead said. “It’s not just about healing but about becoming more fully who they are.” The La Jolla Yoga Center will host yoga master Erich Schiffmann Jan. 15 through 17, and author, poet and lecturer David Whyte on Jan. 23. For information call (858) 456-2412 or visit www.lajollayogacenter.com.