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Jessica
In Mysore with Sri.K.Pattabhi Jois "Guruji"
Jessica completed her Centered Yoga Training in April 2003. She has been one of our residential teachers since 2004. She is authorised by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois to teach the ashtanga method. Jessica has been studying Ayurveda since 2003 and has completed the clinical practitior's training at the European Institute of Vedic Studies. Jessica teaches at Samahita Retreat a few months throughout the year. She is now teaching in New Orleans, but will be at teaching at YT in the future. For more see her full
It is amazing to me how life's events up to now have prepared me for the yogic path, some in more obvious ways than others. Since I've started to practice yoga, the 'pieces'of my life have gradually come to fit together, like parts of a puzzle, that form a larger, more beautiful picture.
I grew up in a small town outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. Although not always practicing yogis, my family's focus on spirituality rather than dogma planted seeds that would later grow in my consciousness. I first attended a hatha yoga class while studying abroad in France. Years later, while working in IT management consulting in Dublin, a light went on within, and I knew that I needed to take up yoga. I started with hatha yoga, but somehow knew that Ashtanga yoga was the asana approach which most suited me. I knew immediately that I had found a deep and profound practice.
My yoga practice gave me a way to maintain balance and bring inner peace while working at a job which demanded much of my time and energy. I looked for knowledge and inspiration wherever I could find it, attending many workshops in Dublin and in other European cities. I first met Guruji, Sri K. Patthabi Jois, and Sharath Rangaswamy in 2002 on the London portion of their world tour. Guruji's energy and teaching had an immediate impact on me, and I knew that I wanted to spend more time with him and Sharath. Paul and Jutima came to Dublin during this time, and introduced me to the Centered Yoga Teacher Training. Not only did the training develop my Ashtanga asana approach, it also gave me a firm foundation in pranayma and philosophy, and introduced me to Sri O.P. Tiwari, who has been an inspiration to me, as one who completely lives the yogic path. After the training I began teaching yoga part time at the Samastihi studio in Paris. I also decided to pursue in depth studies of Ayurveda, a sister science to yoga, which gives an approach to living a balanced life based on one's own constitution.
The past couple years I've learned that practice is the best foundation for teaching, and having a daily practice of asana, pranayama, and meditation has deepened my understanding of these limbs of yoga while giving me a way of maintaining sanity in the corporate world. Over time, I knew that all of my energy should be devoted to the yogic path, so when Paul and Jutima presented me with the opportunity to live and teach in Thailand, I left the office, boarded a flight to Bangkok, and have been on the 'yogic train' ever since. In early 2005 I had the chance to realize my dream of studying with Guruji and Sharath in Mysore, and to make several other spiritual pilgrimages around India. This was a powerful and amazing experience, and has deepened my practice and my commitment to spread the inner peace and knowledge which comes through yoga.
Jessica can be reached at jessblanchard@gmail.com
