High Vibrations and Healing Energy at Be Crystal Clear
The creative healing touch of Sugar Panbehchi is in evidence everywhere throughout Be Crystal Clear. The Santa Monica studio space, healing center, and high vibration crystal boutique offers a sanctuary for classes, workshops, sessions, and shopping.
Sugar spent some time with the LA YOGA team sharing her inspiration for the art, the crystals, and her commitment to being of service.
Sugar Panbehchi on Be Crystal Clear
What inspired you to open the studio?
For more than 30 years, I’ve worked in the service industry with my family. Being of service and helping people was always where I found the most fulfillment. Nourishing people’s bodies was just the start. Now it’s MY time to complete the circle. I am Awake, Crystal Clear, and ready to be of service to help everyone on their journey to Wake Up and Be Crystal Clear physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Realizing my purpose, I created a vision board on January 9, 2018. In the months following, I was in awe by how quickly my manifestations came to fruition. I knew I must open a center where people can come to nourish their mind, body, and spirit through vibrations, music, dance, and energetic healings. Throughout my journey in life the one thing about me is my profound love for helping people and the strong desire to nurture them mentally, physically and emotionally.
I’ve lived in Los Angeles for the past 38 years and want to welcome my community to come home and remember what is feels like to be crystal clear.
How did you come up with the name Be Crystal Clear?
I studied child development and realized a long time ago that we’re all born crystal clear, and filled with love, joy, and pure energy. But along the way life and society shapes us and, at times, takes away a great deal of that clarity, love and joy.
Be Crystal Clear is a way to reignite and rediscover our inner selves again, find clarity within and remind us to live our lives with passion and purpose, to be grateful for what we have and always pay it forward. I wanted that to manifest itself in the studio and provide fun and meaningful activities to help crystalize and set your intentions.
What is a story that you’d like to share ?
After I opened the studio, I noticed that people were finding themselves attracted to the energy and high vibration of the studio, which left a warm feeling in my heart confirming that I’m on the right path. Some of them even started giving back to me in very personal ways.
One client surprised me with a beautiful painting she drew representing me and the love I have for people and my mission for the space, and I chose to hang it in my Wish room next to the tree of life. I feel blessed that the people that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so far have truly given me a lot of wonderful feedback and I look forward to continuing to give back to my loving community.
While you offer yoga, you’re more than a yoga studio. How do you make decisions about what to include on the schedule?
I wanted to have the studio be an all-inclusive wellness and vibrational healing space. Along those lines, I didn’t have any pre-conceived notions of what should or shouldn’t be on the schedule. There are so many different wonderful wellness modalities that people discover every day.
I planted the seed and love nothing more than to see all the different branches present themselves and come to life. I chose to have it all manifest and co-exist here creating a space for everything from dance, cardio, meditation, yoga, sound bath, stretch, breathwork, workshops, painting and creating. Anything that can be a catalyst to help people get to their own place of clarity, I love to put it on the schedule.
I also want to expand people’s comfort with different things they’ve never tried before, help them find other things they wouldn’t typically do and provide a safe environment to experience it in. Someone may take a high-intensity cardio dance class and see the Sound Bath on the schedule and try it out. Or someone will come to one of our spiritual meditation workshops, then will come back and take a break from work in one of our stretch classes at lunch to loosen their body. Anything having to do with Mind-Body and Spirit seems to find itself into our studio and I love people walking in unexpectedly and educating us on something our community hasn’t experienced yet.
How do the use of crystals in the space and for healing integrate with the work at the studio?
I hand-picked all the crystals that adorn the various parts of the studio for their healing, cleansing, and protection properties. I’m a Reiki practitioner and crystal healer. And I spent many months creating an environment in our studio that makes people feel open, safe, and able to release any stuck energy in their mind, body, and spirit.
It is interesting to me how some people are drawn right to the crystals from the moment they step foot in the door and have shown an emotional connection, while others come in and take their class or workshop and tell us what an amazing vibe the studio has without mentioning the crystals. It appears the crystals provide just the right amount of the right energy for each person individually. Of course, I also use the crystals in my private healing sessions with clients along with breathwork, sound healing, and Reiki.
How did you choose the artist to work with to create the murals inside and outside the studio?
Brian Farrell was introduced to us by a mutual friend and we hit it off with him right away. His creativity spawns from a place of nature and the universe. He’s very in touch with space, reality and the universe, quantum physics, and different dimensions. Brian’s work blends all of that into human consciousness and brings it back to nature. He gave us an initial rendering and he nailed it. There’s so much meaning and different layers to his work.
Child of the Universe
He titled his outside mural “Child of the Universe.” It represents everyone, everything, and every being. “Child of the Universe” is reminiscent of the child in all of us and being one with every particle and infinite sea of the universe. It is so gratifying to see people briskly walking by on the sidewalk sucked into their phone, then they suddenly stop and the look on their face as they look at the mural and their imagination flows. The images gives them a sense of coming back to themselves for a few seconds before they go ahead. It is very special.
Be Yourself
Then his inside piece is titled “Be Yourself.” It embodies how a child innocently and joyously creates from their dreams and thoughts. This piece is painted next to the room that we have our kids’ classes while the parents are having a class in the main room. Even the parents stop to try to decipher Brian’s work and they get a kick out of it.
Mari Pavanelli
We were also fortunate enough for Brazilian artist Mari Pavanelli to do an inside mural in the main studio for a charity event we held to held to raise funds to give access to clean water around the world. Her inspiration as well comes from nature and us spreading our wings.
Learn More about Be Crystal Clear
Visit Be Crystal Clear in Santa Monica
Read about Dawn Sorenson’s visit to Be Crystal Clear in Santa Monica.
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.