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Jill PInstructor

Jill P

What year did you first start practicing yoga?
I’ve been practicing off and on since about 2006, but I began practicing hot yoga in earnest in 2014 and have been going steady ever since.

Was there any particular reason you started practicing yoga?
I’ve been running since 2004, and as the years went by I realized I needed to balance out all that pounding on the pavement with something to lengthen and stretch my muscles and help with core strength and balance. Then I discovered how much hot yoga also helps with my breathing, anxiety, and focus. That’s what kept me coming back.

Favorite posture and why?

It’s a basic one we do in almost every vinyasa class, but I love Warrior 2! There’s a feeling I get in that pose when it feels just right, when my weight is balanced between my feet, my shoulders are right over my hips, my spine is long, my front leg is deeply bent and strong, and my breathing is controlled where everything is balanced. It really represents that tension between being strong and at ease in a pose, and it makes me feel like a rock star!

Why do you currently practice this yoga?
Yoga makes everything better! Need to relax? Yoga. Need a good workout? Yoga. Need to forget your troubles for an hour and find yourself again? Yoga. Strengthen? Stretch? Better sleep? More confidence? You guess it! Yoga.

What do you love about teaching yoga?

I love the idea of helping people reach that “sweet spot” for themselves in class where they feel that they have been challenged but also had everything they needed to meet that challenge in themselves. It’s good for the soul to experience and to watch others experience.

Two things most people don’t know about you? 
(1) I’m planning a huge road trip for 2022 to visit the states out west where I’ve never been before. I already have a spreadsheet laying out a draft of my itinerary including where I want to stay, sites I want to see, and places I want to eat! In Idaho, there’s an AirBNB that’s a giant potato, and I am going to sleep there. (2) In 2019, I read a book every single week—a total of 52 books for the year!

Yoga Training

RYT. 200-hour Sterling Hot Yoga Vinyasa 2009

Education

BA English, Kent State University (2001)

MFA Creative Writing, New School University (2003)

Hometown

Youngstown, KY

Favorite Pose

Warrior 2

Hobbies

reading, yoga,