— The first time Jenn stepped onto a yoga mat was seven years ago when her sister signed her up for an Ashtanga class in her hometown of Halifax. Having never practiced yoga before, she had no idea what to expect—but just like many yogis, she was pleasantly surprised.
That was the beginning of a lifelong journey for Jenn. After years of practice, in 2007, she began formal teacher training with Hart Lazer. Jenn has since completed 200 hours of teacher training, and has studied with Tim Miller, Mark Darby, and Father Joe Pereira.
With a background in photography and graphic design, Jenn has worked on many creative projects. One that stands out for her was in a black-and-white photography course at NSCAD. The class was asked to shoot a stop sign. The project did not sound that exciting—20 pictures of the same thing—but the final products were each so beautiful and unique. The images were shot from different angles and perspectives, day and night, through sun and rain. Some were close up; some were more abstract. There were old signs, and new ones. Even though the subject was the same, all of the images were radically different. This is how Jenn has come to see the practice of Ashtanga: “Even though everyone is taught the same sequence of postures, the practice is ultimately a different experience for all of us.”
Jenn finds beauty in the idea that everyone comes to the mat for different reasons and leaves it with different lessons. “The practice of yoga changes from day to day—sometimes it's soft and forgiving, others it's intense, invigorating, or even exhausting. But it’s always changing. Just like everything.”
Jenn is looking forward to this next step in her journey with Ashtanga, joining a group of fabulous teachers at the Shala, and sharing the Ashtanga practice with her students and fellow teachers.
