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Yoga isn’t just about working out; yoga is also a form of meditation that treats the body and the mind. The Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in Mt. Washington is the international headquarters for the organization.

You can visit the Self-Realization Fellowship at Mt. Washington (at 3880 San Rafael Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90065). Take a stroll through the gardens, or practice meditation outside in peace. There is also a meditation room you can visit while there.

All people are welcome to visit the Self-Realization Fellowship at Mt. Washington. Keep in mind though that this location is mostly an administration center. If you wish to visit a temple, consider visiting another location in the Los Angeles area.

The SRF is a worldwide organization centered around the religious practices of Paramahansa Yogananda (also known as Yoga). The organization is made up of 500 temples around the world in more than 100 different countries, and it has been around for the past 85 years. The SRF provides Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons, meditation, lectures, and more from the teachings of Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga is a “spiritual science” promoting the development of well-being and a balanced life; it originated in India. One of the goals of the SRF is to for people to “express more fully in their lives the beauty, nobility, and divinity of the human spirit” (Visit https://www.yogananda-srf.org/ for more information.)

What is Yoga?

Yoga is a spiritual and physical practice that originated in India. Yoga is a series of poses and postures, often performed on a mat. A person practicing yoga is also meditating, doing deep breathing, and strengthening their muscles. Yoga engages the spiritual, physical, and mental energies of the body. Yoga isn’t just a workout you can do at a class at your local gym! Yoga exercises your body and your mind.

There are many benefits to practicing yoga, including the reduction of stress, the practice of meditation, and the muscle tone that comes from doing the series of poses. Yoga also:

-promotes cardiovascular health

-improves the flexibility of the body

-strengthens the body’s core

-assists with weight loss

-physical therapy

-refreshes energy

What is Meditation?

Meditation is the practice of slowing down the mind and letting your thoughts melt away. It also increases awareness and develops mindfulness. Meditation also promotes:

-concentration

-compassion for oneself and others

-self-awareness

-relaxation

-stress reduction

If you are in the L.A. area and are interested in learning more about SRF, you can stop by the Visitors’ Center and take a tour Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4:30 pm.

Feel free to view homes in Los Angeles on our website, Los Angeles Real Estate Unlimited. The experienced team here is available to discuss your property needs and help you in your search for Los Angeles real estate.

For the past 17 years, the South Pasadena Farmers’ Market, put on by the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, has provided fresh produce and goods from local vendors to the community. If you’re looking for a new way to spend your Thursday evenings, check out the farmers’ market for a fun way to pass the time and to get healthy!

The South Pasadena Farmers’ Market takes place every Fall and Winter, regardless of the weather conditions (except on the Thanksgiving holiday). From 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, people come together to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as getting involved in the community through local nonprofits.

Photo Credit: https://southpasadenafarmersmarket.org/photos/

The market is located on Meridian Ave and El Centro St in the historic area of South Pasadena. It is nearby the Metro Gold Line of the South Pasadena Station. Visitors may park for free in the school parking lot.

A few of the reasons to visit the South Pasadena Farmers’ Market include:

-Take home fresh, local, and organic produce from the South Central Farmers’ Cooperative to enjoy good health and tastier food

-Visit the Local Market Annex to check out products and services from local businesses

-LA Weekly named it the “Best Evening Farmers’ Market”

Photo Credit: South Pasadena Farmers’ Market Facebook

-Visit the Community Corner, where local nonprofit organizations provide information on what they do and how you can help

-You can park for free in the school parking lot

-The market provides families with fresh produce through Nutritional Assistance Programs, including Cal Fresh (EBT), Senior Farmers’ Market Nutritional Program, and WIC (Women, Infants, Children)

Photo Credit: South Pasadena Farmers’ Market Facebook

-Taste food from vendors, including vegan cheese from Blode Kuh and food from Carmela Ice Cream, Corn Maiden Tamales, Dave’s Gourmet Korean BBQ, and more. (See a list of farmers and vendors here.)

-Take part in free public Events. Past examples include the Holiday Tree Lighting, Safety Fair, Summer Celebration, Healthy Happy Halloween, Earth Day Celebration, and Bike Clinic

Have fun and enjoy the farmers’ market!

If you are looking for South Pasadena real estate, feel free to contact Los Angeles Real Estate Unlimited. Our team is dedicated to finding you the right home in the Los Angeles area.

El Arroyo Seco

For thousands of years, the area now known as Highland Park was home to the Hahamog’na people.  The seasonal, 25-mile river flowing through the canyon was an abundant source of steelhead trout, as well as valuable medicinal plants.  When explorer Gapsar de Portola dubbed his discovery “the dry stream” in 1770, he had not yet experienced the flood season, hence the misnomer of Arroyo Seco. De Portola failed to note the Hahamog’na housing built up on high ridges along the canyon, a clear indication of the river’s potential.

Rendering of the Hahamog’na people and arrival of the Spaniards

The Hahamog’na, a band of the greater Tongva nation, originally settled in the area for strategic reasons—the river led to a basin that served as trading post for tribes all along the San Gabriel Mountains. The arrival of De Portola and the Spaniards led to the Hahamog’nas forced assimilation, and they soon become known as los Gabrieliños.

Today, remains of the first Hahamog’na settlement, where Chief Hahamog’na and De Portola shared their first peace pipe, can be found at the edge of Millard Canyon at Hahamog’na Watershed and Archaeological Park.

The Transformation of Sycamore Grove

At the turn of the 20^th century, the area we now call Highland Park was a seedy, police-infested swath that served as the area’s red light district. When the City of Los Angeles annexed the area in 1895, they had big plans to convert the land into LA’s first suburb. Though today’s Angelinos may not think “suburban” when they think of Highland Park, the city’s project was a huge success, and soon Highland Park was a destination neighborhood for middle class families. Sycamore Grove Park, for instance, the once-central meeting point for prostitutes and their clients, became a popular venue for big band concerts and annual State Picnics, held as reunions of sorts for those who had migrated from the Midwest.

Recreation for all ages in Sycamore Grove Park

Hahamog’na mural creation at the Glenmary Archway

Today, the park is still thriving as a family recreation hotspot, with modern upgrades like outdoor gym equipment. Across the street at Glenmary Archway, you can enjoy the Hahamog’na Mural for a reminder of Highland Park’s storied past.

If you are interested in real estate in Highland Park, feel free to contact our team at Los Angeles Real Estate Unlimited. We are happy to help you find a home in the city of Los Angeles.

Silver Lake, Los Angeles was named the hottest neighborhood for real estate in 2014, James Franco. The area is known for its innovative mid-century architecture. Indeed, many of the highly-commissioned architects, from John Lautner to Richard Neutra, called Silver Lake home throughout the 50’s and 60’s.

Neutra Colony Houses

2232 Silver Lake Blvd. (pictured); other addresses along Silver Lake Boulevard

Richard Neutra, who lived in Silver Lake while forming his reputation as one of the world’s best modernist architects, designed and built many homes along Silver Lake Boulevard. This tract of homes became known as Neutra Colony Houses, and they were noted for their characteristic hillside embedment. Often obscured by flora, the Colony Houses were meant to make their inhabitants feel at one with nature without a sense of confinement.

Photo: Zillow

Silvertop

2138 Micheltorena St.

Photo: Triangle Modernist Houses

This concrete-domed house, built by John Lautner, was commissioned by Kenneth Reiner in 1956. Reiner, who designed many of the internal features himself, went bankrupt before construction was finished, and wasn’t picked back up until the earlier 70’s. You can glimpse the completed Silvertop, with its iconic cantilevered driveway, in the Brett Easton Ellis film Less Than Zero.

Canfield-Moreno Estate

Photo: Flickr

Built in the mid-20’s, this estate is the oldest property on our list, and least modernist in style. Silent film star Antonio Moreno could be seen in the 30’s entertaining his celebrity guests in and around 22,000 square feet of Mediterranean Revival architecture. Since then, the Canfield-Moreno estate has been a convent school for girls, a home for Franciscan nuns, and a popular filming site for horror movies, including Scream 3 and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.

If you are interested in real estate in Silver Lake, feel free to contact our team at Los Angeles Real Estate Unlimited. We are happy to help you find a home in the city of Los Angeles.

Photo: Eastside LA Lifestyle

Eagle Rock’s close proximity to Hollywood has made it the setting for many scenes in iconic films and television shows. From the campus of Occidental College to the front of CVS drugstore, Eagle Rock can be glimpsed in all of the following pieces of classic pop culture.

Top Gun

Photo: Amazon

This 1986 smash hit was a breakout for young heartthrob Tom Cruise, playing the role of Naval Aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

Beverly Hills, 90210 and Arrested Development

Photo: The Wrap

The quintessential 90’s drama Beverly Hills, 90210 featured Occidental College as “California University,” where the gossip-worthy lives of the cast take place after they graduate from West Beverly Hills High.

Photo: Classy Deer

While 90210 didn’t exactly try to mask Occidental’s identity, the campus has been portrayed on film as a university in a wide range of locales, including Spain. In Arrested Development’s fourth Netflix season, George Michael takes a semester off from his stint at UC-Irvine to study abroad in Spain. Michael Cera’s scenes of strolling the campus grounds and sporting an extremely fake-looking mustache were actually filmed at Occidental.

Hunt for Red October

This 1990 film, based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name, follows a CIA analyst who leads US Naval officers to capture a Soviet nuclear submarine from defecting Soviet officers. Starring Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery, the movie was a box office hit, grossing $200 million worldwide. The jury is out on how much Eagle Rock, as one of the filming sites, contributed to this success

Pharrell’s “Happy”

Photo: Good Food

Eagle Rock can also be seen in the music video for Pharrell’s 2014 earworm sensation, “Happy.” From a bowling alley to Eagle Rock High School to the street outside of a CVS, the suburban community of Eagle Rock is the star setting, taking backseat only to Pharrell’s dance moves.

If you have any questions about this neighborhood and about the available real estate in Los Angeles, feel free to contact the team at Los Angeles Real Estate Unlimited.

For those of you that don’t know, there is a huge difference between working with a real estate agent versus a Realtor.  It mainly has to do with a code of ethics that we all live by. There are a lot of shade real estate agents out there.  With that being said, it’s always best to work with a Realtor. You know we will keep your best interests in mind.

My friend Jackie over at AgentHarvest sent over a really awesome inforgraph depicting the difference between a real estate agent and a Realtor. I hope this sheds a little more light on the difference.

Silver Lake is one of the lesser explored areas of Los Angeles. This is unfortunate because of all the area has to offer, including some political and cultural landmarks that allude to the city’s days gone by. Wonderful architectural creations from highly-regarded modern architects are spotted throughout Silver Lake real estate, including buildings designed by Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra, and John Lautner.

The Tierman House is a particularly important example of modernist architecture. It illustrates a movement that was taking place in the mid-nineteenth century to make great architecture available to those that were not members of a high economic bracket.  A creation of Gregory Ain, The Tierman House is located on Micheltorena Street, along with building by Schindler and Lautner.

The Canfield-Moreno Estate is an example of Mediterranean Revival architecture. The home is upwards of 20,000 square feet and was built in 1923. Since then it has become a permanent feature in the Hollywood music scene. Famous musicians, such as John Mayer, Fiona Apple, and Gwen Stefani, have recorded in the building and Elton John and Sting have hosted parties in the building. Today, the Canfield-Moreno Estate is an official historic-cultural monument and is privately owned. The building is located at 1923 Micheltorena Street.

For a landmark of the social and cultural history of Silver Lake, the Black Cat Tavern was a prominent fixture in the 1960s for the fight for LGBT rights. In 1967, Los Angeles Police raided the bar and began arresting its patrons for lewd behavior, which was reported as homosexual couples kissing one another. This police action led to civil rights movements throughout the city.  The bar, as such, is no longer open. Until 2012, Le Barcitos was open on the site but has since closed. The site can still be visited at 3909 West Sunset Boulevard, near Santa Monica Boulvard. In 2008 it was named a historical and cultural monument by the city of Los Angeles.

Other sites of interest include the Sunset Boulevard Bridge and the Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs, along with a plethora of other sites of architectural interest. Exploring the Silver Lake neighborhood is well-worth the trip!