Arnelle Mitchell Warford Founding Innovator of Face Yoga and Discover AstroYoga

Where are you located currently?

Right now I'm in San Diego, California.

Is that home base for you?

It is for now.  I've done a lot of traveling and when I viewed your website I see a lot of world traveling.  I am here in San Diego for now and will be here for another year and a half and then hopefully I'll be locking it down somewhere permanently. That's my goal.

I've kind of been everywhere. I've visited a lot of places here in the U.S., a lot of places internationally and many of those places have been my home at one point in time.

I did notice looking at your YouTube channel, your locations are always feel very nature-specific.  As for AstroYoga, how did you come up with this practice and when did you decide to do it?

AstroYoga is something that's new out there on the scene right now.  It is an astrology informed yoga practice which has been around since yoga was created.  It's actually a part of the traditional Vedic practice.  So we have our āsanas, you know, like our eight limbs of yoga-which is a full philosophy of yoga.  We have our school of Ayurveda.  Then we have another school of Vedic astrology.  And all of these schools were actually designed to work together.

The term Astro Yoga is something that's new and trendy here in the West.  There isn't necessarily a name for it historically.  But basically what it is, is using the lifestyle practices of our eight limbs of yoga, using the wisdom of Ayurveda and using the wisdom of astrology to gain more freedom in our life.

To improve our physical well-being, to improve our emotional well-being and to overall make sure to encourage us to make the most of our lives and give us more clarity around what is our life purpose.  Help determine what I am supposed to be doing in the world and how I am supposed to be taking care of myself.  It was started to help answer all those vital life questions that a lot of us have-so that we can then go and be the best person we want to be in the world.

How do you maintain these plans long-term and how would you encourage others to do that? 

Consistency is incredibly important in yoga practice.  I'm somebody whose come from what is called a Mysore Ashtanga background and I did that practice very consistently for a year.  If you're not familiar with Ashtanga, it's a type of yoga practice that is very strict and rigid-but there's a lot of benefits to that.  With this practice you get to embody consistency.  You have get up at 6 a.m. every morning.  You go to your yoga teacher who is then tasked with assigning you five sequences for the day-pose by pose. 

Over the period of a year-as the teacher sees your progress, you learn more and more of each sequence slowly, unlike trying to do a full sequence immediately.  And this taught me a lot about the importance of stability and structure and consistency-that is super essential to making sure that your health is in order on a consistent basis; with a focus on doing the preventative measures which are incredibly important.  With AstroYoga, I've incorporated a lot of those insights and a lot of what I've learned from Mysore Ashtanga into my program.

Every single one of us, as with Ayurveda, every one of us has dominant elements that make up our body.  The doshas correspond to the elements and those elements are natural in the universe.  These elements are also associated with planets.  So if you're somebody I'm counseling, after looking at your birth chart and pulling your Ayurveda, that's how I would decide whether you're Saturn dominant or Sun dominant; then we'll talk about your doshas.  Once I have pulled the birth chart I can see your natural dosha and where are you supposed to be, that day.

Based on that information, I'll have an idea of what planet is ruling you and then we will have a lot of options on different yoga practices you can do, that are associated with your ruling planet-so you can begin to have a consistent practice.  You can then practice that version or that particular flow; finding a flow that you like and can stick with for a long time if you so choose.

Within your practice there are a lot of different options within your ruling planet-so maybe you want to try out a few classes and find something that works for you.  Then what happens, when transits come around and when big things are happening in the sky, for example, like an eclipse or retrograde, you'll probably face change.  With this happening, I'll recommend that you change your practice.  To do a practice that's dedicated for handling that transit-to help you move through it.

One of the other things I want to mention is when we are experiencing transits in the sky, transits are like planetary positions and those are constantly changing.  The purpose of doing a yoga practice for that transit is to improve your possible outcomes for that planet and there's naturally things that happen. For Mercury retrograde, which is super popular and common, I like to use it as an example for when you likely experience-relationship issues, communication issues, technology issues-different things like that tend to occur in this retrograde.

But if we're more mindful.  If we're paying attention to the transits.  If we know the risks that are associated with the upcoming transit, we can do a lot to reduce negative things happening to us during that period.  It's all very preventative.

That's one of the benefits of doing AstroYoga-staying ahead of things before they happen; improving your chances of positive outcomes happening as you're moving through life.  Sometimes really benevolent, like, really good things are happening in the sky in transits associated with Jupiter.  In this retrograde, you can still do a practice-you can do a meditation and you can work with your chakras in order to further improve the outcomes in your life during this time.

When negative things are coming around, you can do yoga, you can engage with your chakras, you can consume different herbs and Ayurvedic practices to improve your outcomes from those transits.  So if you're seeing something coming, in this instance, I usually like to give people the opportunity to have one-on-one calls.

If you're having a reading and there's a negative transit associated with health that is coming around your birth chart-there may be a possibility of a health issue coming up.  And when we see a negative transit coming around for our health, we need to be in the top shape. You know, eating as much good foods as possible, being cognizant of the foods we're consuming, being more proactive about whatever physical things we need to do, going the gym, etc.  Maybe we need to get our heart rate up.  Maybe we need to be more consistent with our practice.  All of these things will reduce the opportunities for something negative to happen.

Just because a transit's coming around and it's negative, it doesn't guarantee that it will happen. But what it does mean is that if the right circumstances come apart, this is the most likely outcome.

I think that a lot of people tend to get confused with astrology, they think that it's 100% fated. And this is not necessarily true.  When these planets come around, they give us strong suggestions of what might happen, but you have free will.  If you feel something coming up, you can be very proactive about making sure that you are taking care of yourself during that period; to help ensure you're not having the associated negative side effects that maybe other people will-when they're not paying attention as much as you are to what's going on.  I feel this creates a lot of empowerment, to where we can then take control of our lives-on another level.

When you say transit, what do you mean by that?

Transits are planetary positions.  Like the sun right now is in Capricorn and then the sun will be in Aquarius.  These positions change, like zodiacs, they move throughout the year and as they move around the earth, those planetary positions change.  And some planetary positions are more volatile than others.

When we see that happening, we can get ahead of it and say hey, this is coming up and let everybody know this is coming up.  There are the good things that can happen.  There are the risks not so good things can happen, and this is what you need to do about it.

Do you have any insight in terms of zodiac compatibility when practicing yoga and as a way to move through life? 

That's a great question and one that I think a lot of people have. And the answer isn't always simple because we have a lot of different Zodiacs that make up who we are.  Even though I'm Sagittarius, I was born under the Sagittarius sun, I'm actually very much equal parts Sagittarius and Capricorn. 

There's a lot that goes into making somebody compatible or not.  I definitely get you as a Capricorn.  We're very driven and we're very focused.  I like to talk about Capricorn as the great manifester.  And we manifest through hard work and dedication.  As we manifest in a physical world, there are some other zodiacs that manifest in a spiritual world, like Pisces.  But we're really great manifesting, we take our ideas and we make them come true, almost always.

And so things like that, when I think about maybe just the top layer and you being a Capricorn, other Zodiac signs that naturally work well are most other cardinal signs lke Aries.  Even though, Virgo is not a cardinal sign we share a lot of similar values, so Virgo may be one that is more attractive.  Libra, sometimes they're cardinal, but they can be kind of here again, off again, which would a Capricorn can get under our skin a little bit, but they can be compatible.

I would say naturally, probably Aries is pretty good. I think Virgo is pretty good, knowing the shared values with that sign.  Taurus is also probably one that you would appreciate quite a lot.  Actually, Taurus, because they're an earth sign like Capricorn.

Taurus is also ruled by Venus appreciating beauty and material things.  Not just like physical things in common, but when we talk about relationships, traditional roles, enjoying the same food-there are delicious things, things that pleasure your senses. It's something that Taurus specializes in and so I think that that might be something that you can enjoy.

As far as Face Yoga*, what made you focus on the face? 

With face yoga, I think a lot of people-especially working in the typical corporate environment or living a stressful lifestyle, a lot of times we're so tense in our face we don't even realize it.  I was talking to my mom recently, about how as a child I noticed when she was driving her face was really tense, and this happens to a lot of us.

We hold so much tension in our face.  Being more mindful about how to relax, how to be at ease is important and face yoga is something that is simple to do.  That's one of the reasons why I like to do it-it's very simple to do.  Anybody, any age, even if you don't have a yoga mat or you've never done yoga before-it's something that's easy to implement and it does help you stay calm.

These are techniques you can remind yourself to use, when you're going throughout your day-when you're interacting in the world, to help maintain a little bit of ease and just your overall composure.  That's another one of the reasons why I like to do it-the accessibility of it and then definitely the emotional results from it, because we just don't realize how much we hold so tightly in our face.

Looking through the different zodiacs each sign has its own facial massage.  How did you develop those techniques?

Every zodiac has certain things that it rules, certain body parts, certain planets.  So it's really about finding which area of the body is associated with that Zodiac.  I really didn't create anything that was new.  What I did was identify new movement for what was already associated for every Zodiac.  There are the parts of the face that a particular Zodiac rules and there are the parts of the body that particular Zodiac rules.  Then using hand motion. Movements that are well known for moving fluid up and out-and getting fluids moving through your glands so that they can be distributed appropriately through your body.

I just especially focused on parts of the body that are already associated with the planet or Zodiac.  And realizing certain Zodiacs tend to hold their stress in certain places more often than others. 

Aquarius, definitely in their calves and legs, they hold a lot of stress there.  Sagittarius, as with me hips and thighs-we hold a lot of stress there.  Certain zodiacs are holding more in certain areas, so that's why you'll see different things to do based on your sign.

Finding a good yoga instructor is very challenging for me.  So, to that, do you offer classes? Are you connecting with people beyond the platform?  How would they be able to plug into what you can offer? 

Yes, I do have classes.  I have classes offered at DiscoverAstroYoga.com where people can take free yoga classes.  You can find my classes as well on my YouTube channel which is Discover AstroYoga.

I also have the AstroYoga Experience, which is a more detailed program that I was talking about where we'll find out your dominant planet.  You'll get assigned a specific yoga routine for your daily practice and then I'll give specific recommendations and assign you a practice for important transits when necessary.

All of that right now is online.  If somebody interested in classes is local, I'm happy to go out and meet them.  I don't have a physical retail place just yet to teach.  This class would at my apartment building-where I have a yoga studio downstairs or we can definitely go do that out in nature.  I love getting out in nature and meeting students that way. 

I am a mover, and in my next move-I'm planning on having that formal space.  So wherever I am by that time, that's where I'll be and that's in focus right now  Looking forward, I'm excited to get my own private space where people can come and practice.  I want to build a community where people can come and relax, almost like a retreat.  And to help, my husband's actually a world-class massage therapist, he's been doing this for 15 years now.

With this next move we are planning on building an actual retreat where people can come sit in a sauna, get a massage, enjoy yoga, and do Ayurveda.  Where people can come and get access to healing.  I'll be excited to share that with you once we get it together.

I have viewed your yoga practices on YouTube. How do you find your locations?

Really, I just like getting out to anywhere beautiful. It's also easy being in San Diego, going over to the beach or on a hiking trail. But really, anywhere that has flat enough land for me to lay a yoga mat out, that's what I'll do.

Do you prefer to be in a warmer climate?

Definitely.  And I enjoy San Diego.  I really like San Diego.  The weather's super mild, but I'm also somebody who's like cold all the time.  Definitely a beta-because my fingertips and toes are cold all the time.  So I actually, really enjoy being in desert climates. I lived in Palm Springs for two years and I love to go back there when possible.  So for my next move maybe Arizona.  I'm not 100% sure yet, but I do love the warm weather! 

Where is your hometown?

Detroit, Michigan.

* Face Yoga-when you work with your sign’s energy through face yoga, you release tension, enhance glow, and align your outer beauty with your inner balance.

♈ Aries (March 21–April 19) Focus Area: Forehead & Brow Aries rules the head, so tension often gathers in the forehead and temples. Try gentle brow lifts and forehead smoothing motions combined with deep breaths to release stress and mental overactivity. Visualize cooling lunar energy calming your fiery spirit.

♉ Taurus (April 20–May 20) Focus Area: Jaw & Neck Taurus energy anchors in the throat and jawline. Clenching is common during stress. Massage the jaw in small circles and perform slow chin lifts to release stagnation. Pair with grounding affirmations like, “I am safe, steady, and supported.”

♊ Gemini (May 21–June 20) Focus Area: Cheeks & Smile Lines Gemini’s air element brings expression and movement—sometimes too much chatter or facial tightness. Puff out the cheeks gently and alternate air release for balance. Smile softly to activate joy and connection.

♋ Cancer (June 21–July 22) Focus Area: Eyes & Under-Eyes Ruled by the Moon, Cancer governs emotions and the sensitive eye area. Use gentle tapping around the orbital bone to reduce puffiness and emotional strain. Imagine exhaling all stored tears and inviting soft, compassionate energy.

♌ Leo (July 23–August 22) Focus Area: Cheeks & Heart of the Face Leo radiates through the heart and face. Practice gentle cheek lifts and wide, open smiles to activate your natural warmth. Visualize your inner light expanding through your face as you inhale confidence.

♍ Virgo (August 23–September 22) Focus Area: Forehead & Between the Brows Virgo’s analytical mind can create tension between the brows. Practice slow “third-eye” massage strokes to quiet the inner critic and open intuition. Repeat, “I release the need to be perfect.”

♎ Libra (September 23–October 22) Focus Area: Symmetry & Balance Libra energy loves beauty and harmony. Alternate left-right facial massage strokes to restore balance and symmetry. Finish with slow, even breaths through both nostrils to calm the nervous system.

♏ Scorpio (October 23–November 21) Focus Area: Eyes & Temples Scorpio rules transformation and depth—often visible through intense eyes. Gently massage the temples and use slow blinking exercises to soften the gaze. Release stored emotional intensity through exhalation.

♐ Sagittarius (November 22–December 21) Focus Area: Jaw & Cheeks Sagittarius holds adventurous energy in the mouth and smile. Stretch your smile wide, then relax completely. Use upward cheek strokes to encourage openness and joy. Affirm, “I expand into freedom and laughter.”

♑ Capricorn (December 22–January 19) Focus Area: Cheekbones & Jawline Capricorn’s disciplined nature can create rigidity in the lower face. Try firm upward strokes along the jaw and cheekbones, paired with breath retention to promote release. Visualize melting stress and embracing softness.

♒ Aquarius (January 20–February 18) Focus Area: Eyes & Temples Aquarius rules circulation and innovation. Use gentle tapping around the temples and light circular motions on the scalp to increase oxygen flow. Pair with affirmations of clarity and inspiration.

♓ Pisces (February 19–March 20) Focus Area: Entire Face—Soft Flow Pisces embodies empathy and sensitivity. Close the eyes and use sweeping massage motions from center to edges of the face. Imagine water washing away emotional buildup and restoring glow.