Get your Yoga Fix: 5 short yoga practices with big impact! Yoga Fix features 5 videos that address various issues; whether it be tight hips, tight upper back, a fear of...
Where would I be without yoga? I wouldn’t want to know! Yoga gives me the tools to navigate life’s ups and downs with relative ease. I fully trust the process of transformation: No matter how choppy the waters of life may be at times, I know that I will be OK. I have been practicing yoga for 24 years. Like any mature adult, I have dealt with my fair share of challenges. So when I say that moving the body is a sacred path to rejuvenation and empowerment, I don’t speak lightly—I teach what I live. My mission: to support your healing as you charter your own course to happiness (joy is our birthright and our true nature). I stumbled into yoga as a dance student at NYU. Intrigued by the way my professor incorporated yoga into her dance classes, I started practicing yoga at the original Jivamukti Yoga Studio, in NYC’s East Village. I completed my 500-hour training in 1997 at the Jivamukti Yoga School, under the guidance of Sharon Gannon and David Life. To build on and diversify my understandings, I’ve spent many hours studying Anusara, Iyengar, and Ashtanga (without certifying in these styles). I’m currently pursuing certification in Ashaya Yoga with Todd Norian, which sprouted from Anusara. I’m the owner and director of KamaDeva Yoga in East Hampton, NY. All year long, I lead yoga and SUP retreats to epic locations (I’m a triathlete and an avid surfer—Adventure is practically my middle name). As the momma of three lovely beings, I’m passionate about organic food. My boyfriend is a chef, and we grow a lot of our own veggies. Our growing family of free-roaming chickens gifts us with eggs. I hope to see you in the studio soon, and I’d love for you to join me on a retreat adventure. ‘Til then, I wish you much happiness.
Experience:
Years Practicing Yoga: 24
Years Teaching Yoga: 21
Yoga Styles:
Originally certified in the Jivamukti Method in 1997.
Ashtanga
Sivananda
Anusara
Iyengar
Ashaya
some Kundalini
Certifications:
I completed my Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training in 1997. This was prior to Yoga Alliance so there was no 200 hr, 500 hr, etc but this was easily a 500 hr program! Since then I have studied under many notable teachers including Lara Warren, Kevin Gardiner, Mary Dunn, Marcelo Clavijo, and Genny Kapuler at the Iyengar Institute in NYC, Ashtanga with Tim Miller and Richard Freeman, the 'un-yoga' with Angela Farmer, and recently completed a 200 hr Ashaya Yoga certification with Todd Norian because I am first and foremost a student!
Get to know me:
DESCRIBE YOUR UNIQUE VALUE ADD AS A TEACHER. WHAT ABOUT YOUR STYLE MAKES YOU STAND OUT?
I think that one of my unique values as a teacher is my years of experience! There are so many teachers out there these days, but most are very young and may have only been practicing and/or teaching for 10 years or (more often than not), less. I have been immersed in this practice for so many years and have explored so many styles that I think I bring that depth of experience to my teaching, but in a quiet, non-ego'ed way. I think what makes my style stand out is the marriage of dynamic flowing (vinyasa) movement with a LOT of technical alignment that brings students really deeply into their bodies, and learning about their bodies as they practice. Lastly, my love of movement in general. I run, swim, cycle, surf, paddleboard, do paddleboard yoga, swing kettlebells, and hang from a TRX! I love all movement and love to see what the body is capable of and then how the yoga keeps it all in such good balance.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR INTENTION IN BEING A PART OF THE LOCAL COLLECTIVE OF GATHERYOGA?
For some years now, I feel I have been 'spinning my wheels' a bit. I love my local yoga studio but the year round community is somewhat small and I really would like to cast a wider net. With three kids (one toddler), time is tight and I have been searching for a platform to be able to share my knowledge and offerings and be part of a larger online community.
WHAT FIRST BROUGHT YOU TO THE MAT?
My dance mentor at NYU was my first introduction to Yoga. She sent me to the then East Village Jivamukti Yoga studio. The moment I walked in to that purple, incense smelling studio with pictures of gods and goddesses (and the Beatles!) all over the walls and women walking around in saris with bindis on their heads I knew I was not in Kansas anymore. From my first class I was absolutely intrigued and blown away. I got a job signing in classes because as a college student I could not afford to pay for classes. Pretty soon, I was spending every day at Jivamukti, ofte taking several classes in a row on a daily basis. The rest is history!
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO TEACH?
What inspires me to teach is that I know that this practice works. I often say it has saved my life over and over again, and it is so true. I don't know where I would be without yoga. From the death of my father when I was 26, to a very ugly business split with the co-owner of my first Yoga studio, pregnancy, divorce, and more pregnancy, physical injuries and everything in between, the Yoga has been a constant healing presence in my life, always inviting me back home.
| Website: | http://jbyoga.com/ |
| Email: | jessica@jbyoga.com |
| City: | East Hampton |
| State: | New York |
| Country: | US |
Where can you find me?
I own a studio called JBYoga Studio in East Hampton, NY, which has been opened since 2008. Prior to that I co-owned and started Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor in 1999 and directed and taught there for 10 years.Join me on the mat! Gain unlimited access to my teaching collections, each with a purpose and intention to bring the depths of my teaching to you, in your home practice space.
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20 Questions with Jessica Bellofatto
- June 29, 2017
- 0
Jessica Bellofatto is one of those teachers who you just want to hang out with… At least we do (!). Devoted mamma, yoga studio owner, triathlete, surfer and SUPer Jessica...
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