Greetings everyone, my name is Jarod Johnson but I go by JJ as well. I've recently completed my teacher training and I'm teaching a regular class on Tuesday evenings for an hour long experience. I started my training to encourage more of my personal practice and so, just as my vocation as a mental health therapist is a reflection of the ways I try to live a healthy lifestyle, so is my practice as a yoga teacher.
I want to bring an offering of a class that is not intimidating and is encouraging especially for prospective yogis that may be on the fence about trying a class or just beginning their own practice. I teach a mixture of some restorative, yin/yang, hatha, and some yoga nidra in my classes. What is most important to me is the experience my students have. I want it to be enriching and comfortable. I like giving a good 3-5 breaths per pose if that's what works for you. I'd like for students to experience yoga as a truly helpful practice be it physical, emotional, or spiritual...or all of these things as I've experienced it to be.
I am also a qigong/tai chi instructor and really value healthy lifestyle and natural interventions to address numerous ways in which we may need support or even suffer. I hope that community builds from my endeavors here and it provides a place for us (because I include myself in this community) to be, to restore or relax, and to connect.
Lastly, yoga (and qigong/tai chi) are designed to prepare us for some sitting meditation or mindfulness practice. It's immensely valuable to exercise the body and breath through yoga and then experience the benefit of meditation afterwards. I find it difficult to sit without something prior myself and so, because I encourage mindfulness as a powerful way to heal, this discipline of yoga is a great step towards a fruitful personal practice and sense of peace.
Well that's a lot so I'll stop now. I'm excited about what's to come from this and will continue to develop my own practice and teaching style. Perhaps I'll see y ou and if not, I hope that you engage with a practice that brings you calm and freedom. Sending compassionate aspirations your way...wherever you may be.