At PepperJamYoga, our practice isn’t about a super flexible idealized teacher showing people perfect alignment, it’s about each person expressing yoga in the way their unique skeleton and body habitus allows, its about learning for yourself where to set the boundaries, and then advancing to a level of comfort that allows you to confidently listen to that inner voice.
My approach to yoga is that it should be a safe and sustainable practice, done to enhance strength and balance, to ease discomfort and pain, to reduce stress and anxiety. We often see improved flexibility with consistent practice, however the goal is to improve or maintain adequate ranges of motion so we function optimally while doing the things we love to do, not to perform some display of hyper-mobility or hyper-physicality. Further, I want to empower each person to set their own boundaries, to make their own determinations about how far to go in poses, letting their proprioception and their own internal knowing guide them.
My classes are simple, calming, and nurturing practices of breathing and moving together in a consistent manner, allowing you to explore yoga not in a way of pushing your body or taking it as far as you can, but taking it to the amount that is right for today. It’s not about being able to do the splits, it’s about your ability to sense what is happening in your body, its about breath awareness, mindful movement, and presence. Although flexibility is one of our goals, we’re not looking for extreme, unsafe ranges of motion but rather controlling our range of motion, being stronger and more balanced so we can function better and feel better with all of our activities of daily living.