My relationship with yoga

My journey began with hatha yoga āsana, the physical practice of yoga, where for years I dropped into public classes here and there with the intention to simply move my body. Yet, what kept me coming back to my mat was this abiding glimmer of optimism, experienced after śāvāsana, with the knowingness that there’s more to life than this feeling of being separate. When I was in my early 20’s I had spent time in India, which was the catalyst to exploring the path of yoga. Returning home, I found that my time spent practicing yoga was often the only part of the day where I truly felt connected to myself, to others, and to something greater than it all. This is what inspired me to dive deeper into the practice of yoga, and lead me into the world of meditation and prānāyāma (yogic breathing). 

After completing a business degree and working in Global Logistics in Calgary, Alberta, I started yearning for a purposeful life that I wasn’t able to find up to that time. I hit a breaking point, and having been an avid traveller who had spent much time in Asia and Europe, I decided to book a trip to Bali, where from then on I committed to reclaim the aspects of my being that were hiding in the shadows. I decided to move to Toronto, Ontario, and enrolled in the Yogaspace 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training and truly found the internal shift I was looking for.  

Since then, my relationship with yoga has unfolded into an ongoing inquiry of not only movement but of awareness, truth, selflessness, love, consciousness, innate freedom and boundless joy. I went on to complete the Yogaspace 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training, becoming a Yoga Therapy Practitioner on the Yogaspace team, and I continue with monthly satsang and advanced Yoga Philosophy training with Hali Schwartz. I am now on the Teacher Training Faculty of the 200HR program at Yogaspace, I teach public studio classes as well as private one-on-one and small group corporate and seniors classes in person and online via Zoom, along with workshops and events in Toronto.

It is a true joy to be doing purposeful work, sharing my passion for this deeply healing practice. As a forever learner on this path, I am grateful to my many teachers, especially my mentors Kathryn Beet and Hali Schwartz. With the intent to further my understanding of how to make the practice of yoga inclusive to all, I have taken trainings such as the Blu Matter Project’s Mental Health and Trauma Sensitive Yoga; Social Justice and Equality in Yoga, addressing Race, Anti-Oppression and Cultural Appropriation with Tobias Wiggins; and Adaptive Yoga with Darcie Clark. My intent as a teacher is to create an atmosphere of consent, self-inquiry, inclusivity, and homage to this 5,000 year-old South Asian practice. 

As an explorer of movement, a seeker of truth, and a devotee of yoga philosophy, I hope to share my learnings in a way that inspires you to ignite the inner wisdom that resides in all, as we travel inwards, move, breathe, and be still, together in community. 

With love, 

Jessica