My Journey
Unbeknownst
to me, my yoga voyage began in the early 1990s when I started teaching group fitness
classes while in college at UNC-Chapel Hill. Back then, exercise for me was all
about the external - tight abs, strong quads, and delts. Never in my wildest dreams
would I have then considered sitting quietly and meditating or doing breathing
exercises!
Ten
years later and still teaching aerobics classes, I felt strong but too tight and
also too stressed. To deal with the tightness, I enrolled in a weekend Yoga Teacher Training
course. Althought the course left me with more questions than answers, I nonetheless
began teaching yoga, feeling completely unqualified and yearning to know more.
After
9/11, I felt more stressed than ever and turned to Yoga even more to deal with it. I
began reading every Yoga book I could get my hands on and decided what I really
needed was an authentic, traditional yoga teacher training course.
I
had enjoyed reading books published by Sivananda
and had used their information repeatedly to create my classes, so I decided to
sign up for their teacher training program in Neyaar Dam, India. This 4-week training
program was most definitely the most intense training I had ever experienced and
on all levels - physical, mental & spiritual.
From
my initial weekend yoga training in the U.S., I had assumed that the most important
part of Yoga were the poses - boy, was I in for a rude awakening! The poses were
only a small part of the Yogic lifestyle that was taught and practiced on a daily basis.
During the first few days of the training, I remember well asking one of the Swami's
why we weren't doing more hatha yoga classes. He quickly explained that the American
form of yoga was very limited and missed some of the most important Yogic elements
that create a balanced and peaceful life. At the moment, that statement was lost
on me, but I would later understand what he meant.
After
4 weeks of chanting, meditating, breathing exercises, classes in the spiritual
Hindu texts, and daily hatha yoga classes, I returned home to find that the aspects
of yoga that I had completely resisted & thought to be a bit 'out-there' when
I began my journey (i.e., breathing exercises, chanting, and meditation) had now
become what I enjoyed the most! I knew I could not return to teaching the way
I had been teaching at a gym, so I began teaching under Judith Valerie in Raleigh.
I
now teach under my own umbrella and enjoy the community of learning, experiencing
and teaching yoga in a group atmosphere.
If
you are considering doing yoga, be prepared for your experience of yoga to morph
as you change. For many people, like myself, yoga starts out as a physical practice,
but then later includes the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of self -
all of which contribute to one's well-being.
What
you will get out of yoga is what you need most at that moment, which is different
for all of us and changing all the time.
I
wish for you an enjoyable exploration of yourself through yoga on whatever level
you desire.
My Education
I am a Certified Yoga Teacher thru the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center. I have continued my studies in Relaxation, Breathing Exercises and Yoga Therapy thru the Integral Yoga Institute, Himalayan Institute, Kripalu, and the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. I taught group fitness classes 1990 - 2001 and began teaching Yoga in 2001. I have taught Chair Yoga at Senior Centers, Yoga for Youth, Corporate Yoga classes, the Art of Relieving Stress (based on Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) and have been trained to teach Yoga to People with Cancer.
Contact Jessica Mollet
919.638.0222
Breathing Mountain Yoga
501 Mial Street
Raleigh, NC 27608
