#ODDlight Feature: Sofie Cohen

Name: SOFIE (IM GONNA DO THIS WHOLE THING IN CAPS #SORRYNOTSORRY)

Nick Name: SOF, SOF-MAGOF, SOFIECOH, SOCO, FIFI, GLITTER PRINCESS, VERY COOL RETAIL MANAGER AT ODD, TO NAME A FEW...

Hometown: LAAAAA

Favorite Place: OH BOY! I HAVE SO MANY FAVORITE PLACES! (Ok I won't do this WHOLE THING in caps [but mostly I will]) I love everywhere all the time. I love LA, I love Griffith Park. I love any city near water! The Northwest! PARIS IS ALSO A SERIOUSLY WONDERFUL PLACE. One Down Dog is this cool place I go and everyone there is really cool so that is also one of my fave places. OMG HOW COULD I FORGET DISNEYLAND. WOW. Guys, I really love Disneyland.

Favorite color: I actually don't think I can answer this question. Color is so important to me. PALE PEACHY PINKS, PURPELY GREYS, MINTY GREENS, NAVY, GOLD??? HONESTLY HOW DO YOU EVEN CHOOSE?

What’s your sign? ARIES! My bday happened!

Most embarrassing moment? Oh man. IT STILL HAUNTS ME. I had the biggest crush on this boy named Michael when I was in 2nd grade. He was in 3rd grade and he was THE BEST ARTIST IN THE WHOLE CLASS. So, being the big flirt that I am, I asked him to draw something for me in my notebook. I handed him the notebook, but before he started to draw - he looked down at the page, got this strange look on his face, and handed me back the notebook. I looked down and I had accidentally given him a page that I had written "I <3 MICHAEL" ALL OVER. I never talked to him EVER AGAIN, and spent the rest of my elementary school days avoiding him.

Most empowering moment? My early twenties have been full of empowering moments for me - but a year and a half ago (I can't believe it was this long ago now) I was feeling really fed up with LA, and wanted a change. My boyfriend had just finished up his grad program, so we decided to move to our friends family farm before he got a big boy job. I got a lot of mixed reactions from people about it, left ODD, turned down some other really cool job offers, and moved to Southern Oregon to live in the middle of nowhere on 40 acres of land. I was there for 6 months. I made art, tried and learned so many new things, took care of animals, got dirty, drove a tractor, planted food, chopped firewood, built fires to keep warm, and honestly, I kind of found myself. It was just what I needed. I try really hard to bring some of the practices I learned there to my "new" life here - and now I'm in love with this city (and kind of myself???) more than ever.

Fun Fact most wouldn’t know about you? Well, I just spoiled one of them - I lived on a farm in Southern Oregon for a lil bit.

Fun Fact most wouldn’t know about you? Sometimes if I talk about horses for too long, I'll start to tear up. I LOVE HORSES. I used to ride, but haven't in ages. I just love em'.

Fun Fact most wouldn’t know about you? I went to Thomas Starr King Middle School which is just a stones throw away from our beloved ODD - so when you come to take class and see all the youth in their little white collared shirts and navy pants, I WAS ONE OF THOSE YOUTHS :)

Share a story or anecdote with us – something magical, changing, funny, or adventurous. Something that you love to tell. - First of all - I've never been all that interested in drinking, so turning 21 wasn't all that exciting for me - BUT I turned 21 on Easter Sunday, which is hilarious enough as it is. On top of that, I went out to a gay club in Olympia, Washington (where I went to college) with the handful of my friends that were already 21, and it was literally just me, my friends and three other people at this place. The three other people were 1 guy and 2 girls, and they had brought a chair out onto the giant dance floor and the girls were taking turns giving this guy lap dances in the middle of this deserted bar while my friends and I danced around them acting like loons. They were completely unfazed by this - but I've never laughed so hard in my life. It definitely goes down as one of my favorite birthdays.

When you aren’t at the studio where can you be found (favorite past time)? I have a side job as a member of an art installation team for my beautiful friend who designs large scale, amorphous BALLOON sculptures that take over buildings and spaces. You should all check out her Instagram @geronimoballoons because it is great and she's hilarious (also you may see some pics of me running around every once and awhile!). I've traveled a bunch with her (I was just in Vancouver for a day!) so if I'm missing from the desk, I'm usually working on an installation! It is so fun and brings all of my favorite things together - its creative, its physical, and so satisfying to help create something on such a large scale that brings so much wonder and joy to peoples day :)

How do you define yoga? ALL THE GOOD FEELS

Why do you work at O.D.D.? Where do I even start? I sent a Jess an email after I quit a job that was just NOT working for me. I was exhausted and feeling really uninspired, and I wanted a job that was fun and allowed me time to explore other creative endeavors. I had been practicing here for a long time before I got the job, so I already knew about the magic, but I just fell super in love with working here. We've got such a wonderful, supportive and inspiring team of people - and it's kind of a lovely thing when you have to pull yourself away from your job because you just wanna stay and hang out with your coworkers and all the wonderful people who walk through the door to take class. I'm surrounded by friends all day everyday, and how awesome is that? But mostly I'm really just here for the free yoga.

What is your favorite song to hear in class? I mean, anything Beyonce always.

What is your favorite pose or flow? Why? I really like upward facing dog! I always linger there. It feels good on my back, I feel strong because I'm holding myself up, and its just such a nice energy booster for me!

Memorable yoga moment? I had always been really scared of inversions, I still am kinda, but not that long ago I was in one of Courtney's classes and she had us go to the wall to work on headstands. In the past I'd usually skip it and do legs up the wall, but this one day I decided to try it - and to my surprise I did it! I felt so COOL and strong and it was awesome! It inspired me to try out other things in classes that I normally wouldn't have tried and that's really the stuff of life, ya know?

How did you first hear about One Down Dog? My parents used to work with Jessica's husbands clothing line Cotton Citizen back in the day! I had just moved back to LA after graduating from college up in Washington, and my mom told me about it. I had very minimal yoga experience, and to be totally honest I still to this day don't know what inspired me to try it out. That sounds bad - but seriously I was NOT a yoga person. Or at least, I didn't think I was - but the SWEAT and SCULPT classes got me hooked and I've never looked back!

What special causes or non-profits do you hold dear to your heart? STAND WITH PP! They do so much amazing work, and they gave me an IUD for FREE which is amazing and I'm just so grateful for them.

Are there any links, @names, and #hashtags you would you like us to use in promoting you and your happenings? You can follow me on insta @sofiecoh if you wanna see watch me debate how many selfies is too many selfies/see pictures of my parent's 90 pound Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, Fezzik. You should def be following @onedowndog if you're not already DUH and I already said this but I'll say it again, my balloon mama @geronimoballoons is fab.

Anything else? (feel free to add literally anything!) OH I DONT KNOW YOU'RE ALL GREAT AND I LOVE WORKING AT ODD AND GETTING TO MEET SO MANY COOL PEOPLE! Thanks for making all my dreams come true!!! KTHNXBYE.