Profile
What Yoga means to me?
Yoga is freedom and endless love. It is the connection to all creatures and the letting go of all roadblocks and sufferings swimming in the river of life. Every movement is unique and has its own quality in every single moment. Every moment of stillness is a new inspiration. Yoga is energy and meditation in movement.
About Me
My relationship with yoga began two decades ago, in a bid to combat a hectic city lifestyle and a corporate career with Reebok Germany and Zurich Insurance. A few years and several hundred "down dogs" later, I knew that the corporate world no longer held my future. So I switched my business dress for comfy pants – now I combine my business know-how with my passion for yoga.
I am the founder of Shakti Yoga and The Shakti Yoga Wheel and have been practicing yoga since I was 20 and been a registered "Experienced Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 500) with Yoga Alliance™, Arlington, VA, USA".
Yoga has influenced my life radically. My yoga path has led me through different Yoga schools like Iyengar, Sivananda, Ashtanga and Jivamukti™ all over the world. I've been teaching yoga for almost 20 years and I am a full-spectrum transformation advocate. By putting you in touch with your true potential and transforming your health and well-being we`re going to start a renewing process. Very enthusiastic about therapeutic yoga which I studied with David Jacob (Iyengar) in South Africa and Anusara Yoga (Desiree Raumbaugh, Barbara Adams) in the US, I also have a deep passion for Jivamukti™ Yoga. I studied Jivamukti Yoga with Sharon Gannon, David Life and Yogeshwari in Costa Rica and Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson in UK and Germany and finished both Teacher Trainings.
With my 23 years of experience and creative experimentation, my teachings are continuously evolving. Together with my husband, a passionate physicist we developed the Shakti Yoga Wheel. The Shakti Yoga Wheel Method® is a profound way to help students to stay safe and strong in their asana practice. With clear guidance for people who may be feeling pain or stiffness due to injury or want to work on a deeper level on their alignment the yoga wheel helps you to become stronger and more flexible.
My passion for Horses and why I think they are so perfect for the yoga practice
When you find a place where horses are you`ll also find this special stillness, grace and clarity. Consciousness becomes a new dimension. Authenticity is in the focus. Horses don`t ask who you think you are or who you would like to be. Horses can help you to discover who you really are.
Like no other animal, horses are able to trigger all of our emotions. Fascinated by powerful grace, up to endless joy we are also confronted by emotions like fear, frustration, anger and aggression. My biggest is to start a new kind of conversation while we are together with horses and let them touch our intuitive heart. Maybe YOU are going to make the difference – in your life, in the life of others, in the life of all creatures.
As a Yoga and MBSR Teacher (Mindfulnes-Based-Stress-Reduction), I have started to combine my body and mind work with the seemingly separate worlds of horsemanship and equine-guided self-development. By bringing all of these approaches together, I shifted my orientation from traditional horsemanship (in which we control the horse's behavior through a system of cues and orders), to seeing the horse as a sentient being who can actually guide us into a deeper connection with ourselves. Consequently horses become perfect Coaches and Co-Trainers.
To use my words, "I enjoy sharing my love of animals, land and nature with anyone who crosses my path. My mission is to re-connect people to the natural world for the sake of saving the Great Mother Earth and all of her creations. I believe that time is of the essence. We need to take the reins in our own hands, form herds of like-minded people, share our dreams and stand tall in the face of adversity. We need to awaken our spiritual longing and inter-connectedness to all life, and encourage possibility and hope in a time of uncertainty."
In my coaching sessions you`ll experience hands on practice in leading sessions, refining your facilitation skills, intuitive listening, body and mind awareness, non-verbal body language awareness. In this learning-by-doing coachings you will come away with clear goals, a plan of action for your life, confidence and new perspectives on horse/human nature, life and learning. I am pleased to guide my clients or small groups on leadership development throughout the whole change process.
Through yoga we are moving our body with grace. Feeling softness and strengthening at the same time while we are going to learn to let go. Playing with yoga and being in harmony with nature revives the spirit, releases spent emotions, and guides us towards right action in balance with the greater good. It's no longer enough to merely discuss our dilemmas or apply our traditional models of rationalization. Now is a time to take action. Now you can stand for a change, to inspire others to act boldly and to make the healing arts a viable business paradigm. We are hosting yearly retreats in Germany and the US. Please contact or check out Yoga & Horseback Riding Retreats
"Not because things are unattainable, we do not dare. Because we do not dare, they remain inaccessible"
(Seneca)
Jessy's Bio
- 1997 first Teacher Training with June Kahn (USA) - the Reebok Flexible Strength Program
- Iyengar Yoga Training, with David Jacob, direct student of B.K.S. Iyengar and owner of the Iyengar Studio in KleinKaroo, South Africa.
- Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training with Swami Swaroopananda, direct student of Swami Vishnu-Devananda, Bahamas
- Ashtanga Yoga Training with Sri Pattahbi Jois and David Swenson, Mysore India and UK
- Ayurveda advanced training, Indus Valley Ayurvedic Centre, Mysore India
- Sanskrit advanced training, Maharaja's Sanskrit College, Mysore India
- Hormone Yoga Teacher Training with Dina Rodrigues, Germany
- Thai Yoga Practitioner Training, Germany & Thailand
- JivamuktiTM Teacher Training with Sharonn Gannon, David Life and Yogeshwari, Costa Rica
- Anusara Yoga Teacher Training with Barbara Adams, Angie Santucci & Desiree Rumbaugh, Arizona, USA
- ASVANARA Natural Horsemanship & Equine guided education, Toskany, Italy
- MBSR* Teacher Training according to Prof. John Kabat Zinn, Giessener Forum, Germany
- Exceptional Horsemanship, Natural Horsemanship Training with Lauren Woodard, Arizona
- Natural Horsemanship Training with Buck Brannaman, "Buck Video", New River, Arizona
I am living in Scottsdale, Arizona together with my husband, two cats, dog Milo and my horses Buddy and Summer. I am traveling for Workshops and Reteats on a regular base, so please check out my schedule! Yoga & Workshops