The Yoga Podcast Ep 8 Jessica Blanchard From Corporate World To Yoga Via Thailand And India

04/17/15 • 60 min

The Yoga Podcast

What Is Special About Jessica

It seems to me Yoga choose Jessica rather than the other way around.

She had a great job in Paris in IT, she travelled all the time, and she was making money.

But a workshop with David Swenson and meeting Pattabhi Jois in London between 2000 and 2002 changed everything.

She could not believe how people would show up early in the morning to "sweat together", and practice this dynamic form of hatha yoga. And she liked it.

So she started practicing and traveling to Mysore and meeting people and ...

She joined Yoga Thailand in its early stages as a teacher and by invitation! and met Tiwari who is one of the most serious and advanced practitioners of pranayama in the world today.

That, meeting Tiwari, is something I envy her for (in a good way of course) because she got to study under direct supervision from him... they still talk on the phone.

What We talked About

Jessica's life in the corporate world, working for IT and traveling most of the time
How she started getting into yoga slowly
Her workshop with David Swenson clarifies things for her
Her visit to London to take Pattabhi Jois's tour classes
India
An Invitation to Teach and "take over for a few months" Yoga Thailand!!! I mean. Wow.
Her yoga sabbatical, and did she fear running out of money?
What is it like to learn directly from Pranayama World Authority Tiwari?
Opening her own studio in 2008 in New Orleans
Getting married and having a baby
The delivery story - It was painful but not as crazy as some videos women get to watch...
How the studio is doing today
What took Jessica a long time to understand.

Books Jessica Recommends on The Podcast

Prakriti: Y our Ayurvedic Constitution (Your Ayurvedic Constitution Revised Enlarged Second Edition) Paperback - by Dr. Robert Svoboda

Prakriti It means "nature" in Sanskrit. Dr. Svoboda, says Jessica, is a great writer, very entertaining, very clear and practical. He is a teacher and a yogi.

Ayurveda The Science Of Self Healing by Vasan Lad. Jessica says this one is for those of us interested in learning more about the pulse, and a good introduction.

Ayurvedic Nutrition - By Atreya Smith, one of Jessica's teacher. This book is clear on diet and the benefits of it.

ANOTHER BOOK WE MENTION IN THE PODCAST:

The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World's Healthiest People by Dan Buettner

(Here is the interview James did with Buettner on living to 100)

About Jessica

Her Studio in New Orleans

Her book: Yoga Thailand's Healthy Lifestyle Cooking I've tried recipes from this book for the past five years, in between visits to Ko Samui, and they are delicious and packed with nutrition.

A Meal Plan to eat healthy she is offering for free

Samahita Retreat - or Yoga Thailand

Transcript

Claudia A. Altucher: Hello and welcome to the Yoga Podcast. Today I have for my guest Jessica Blanchard. She is the founder of Balance Yoga and Wellness in New Orleans. She is a trained yogi for years, authorized by Pattabhi Jois in t...

What Is Special About Jessica

It seems to me Yoga choose Jessica rather than the other way around.

She had a great job in Paris in IT, she travelled all the time, and she was making money.

But a workshop with David Swenson and meeting Pattabhi Jois in London between 2000 and 2002 changed everything.

She could not believe how people would show up early in the morning to "sweat together", and practice this dynamic form of hatha yoga. And she liked it.

So she started practicing and traveling to Mysore and meeting people and ...

She joined Yoga Thailand in its early stages as a teacher and by invitation! and met Tiwari who is one of the most serious and advanced practitioners of pranayama in the world today.

That, meeting Tiwari, is something I envy her for (in a good way of course) because she got to study under direct supervision from him... they still talk on the phone.

What We talked About

Jessica's life in the corporate world, working for IT and traveling most of the time
How she started getting into yoga slowly
Her workshop with David Swenson clarifies things for her
Her visit to London to take Pattabhi Jois's tour classes
India
An Invitation to Teach and "take over for a few months" Yoga Thailand!!! I mean. Wow.
Her yoga sabbatical, and did she fear running out of money?
What is it like to learn directly from Pranayama World Authority Tiwari?
Opening her own studio in 2008 in New Orleans
Getting married and having a baby
The delivery story - It was painful but not as crazy as some videos women get to watch...
How the studio is doing today
What took Jessica a long time to understand.

Books Jessica Recommends on The Podcast

Prakriti: Y our Ayurvedic Constitution (Your Ayurvedic Constitution Revised Enlarged Second Edition) Paperback - by Dr. Robert Svoboda

Prakriti It means "nature" in Sanskrit. Dr. Svoboda, says Jessica, is a great writer, very entertaining, very clear and practical. He is a teacher and a yogi.

Ayurveda The Science Of Self Healing by Vasan Lad. Jessica says this one is for those of us interested in learning more about the pulse, and a good introduction.

Ayurvedic Nutrition - By Atreya Smith, one of Jessica's teacher. This book is clear on diet and the benefits of it.

ANOTHER BOOK WE MENTION IN THE PODCAST:

The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World's Healthiest People by Dan Buettner

(Here is the interview James did with Buettner on living to 100)

About Jessica

Her Studio in New Orleans

Her book: Yoga Thailand's Healthy Lifestyle Cooking I've tried recipes from this book for the past five years, in between visits to Ko Samui, and they are delicious and packed with nutrition.

A Meal Plan to eat healthy she is offering for free

Samahita Retreat - or Yoga Thailand

Transcript

Previous Episode

The Yoga Podcast Episode # 7 Kino MacGregor

I had a chance to record this episode "live". And what a difference it makes!

You can listen on Stitcher - I-Tunes - Lybsin or click here if you are not sure

Kino is one of those teachers that barely needs introduction because she is super famous, he has a quarter million subscribers to her YouTube channel, 679,000 followers on Instagram, 43,000 followers on Twitter and another quarter million (almost) Facebook likes to her page.

She has also been on the cover of Yoga Journal many times.

She is one of those very rare teachers who has gone very deep down the asana route, currently learning the 5th series of Ashtanga Yoga which is the equivalent of performing an athletic feast worth of many gold medals in the olympics, and she is a pleasure to talk to.

What is Special About Kino

Reading her book "Sacred Fire" her story feels like a fairy tale. She caught the yoga bug very early on and started traveling to India in her early 20s. Her ability in asana and her power to communicate and teach make her a great combination, so much so that she attracts massive numbers of students wherever she travels.

But it was not all fairy tale.

She also had to take a lot of heat from the "yoga police" which as you know by now, does exist.... I know... I can barely believe it myself but there is such a thing.

She has been bashed and criticized for her outreach and for trying to expand the circle of people she reaches with her passion, which is yoga.

Today the Miami Life Center is a vibrant store front on 6th street in South Beach. It is always full of people and great energy and there are great instructors always present, with assistants. They also have great workshops going on all the time.

And the best part about Kino is that she comes with Tim. Tim Feldman, who is also a very advanced and serious practitioner is her husband and together they created the center. I hope to have Tim on the podcast soon as well.

What We Talked About

Her beginnings with yoga... Her first class

Kino meets Govinda, her first teacher of Ashtanga

Her first trip to Mysore

Meeting Tim and the love story

The hardships of a long distance relationship

Her first Vipassana Silent Meditation 10 day retreat, and her second

Discovering body image issues around the legs and hips

Opening the Miami Life Center - It was NOT easy

The "yoga police" and how she deals with haters

The stereotypes around women being more flexible and men stronger - Not necessarily true

What took Kino a very long time to understand

Books and DVDs By Kino

DVD Yoga For Beginners

DVD Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series

DVD Ashtanga Yoga Intermediate Series

DVD Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga

DVD Ashtanga Yoga Third Series

The Power Of Ashtanga Yoga The Primary Series [Book]

The Power Of Ashtanga Yoga II: The Intermedia Series [Book]

Sacred Fire: My Journey Into Ashtanga Yoga [Book]

Audio CD The Mantra Collection

About Kino

Next Episode

Yoga And Directing/Producing Movies

Joy Marzec is a movie writer, producer, director, a music band member, an idea machine, a complete choose yourself case (she invested what she would have paid in film school into making her own films), OH AND...

A yogi practicing the fourth series of Ashtanga Yoga (which in plain terms means something like winning an olympic gold medal three times, not that asana should EVER be on the olympics... But just to give you an idea)

If you cannot see the episode photo with the big play button click here to listen, or play in I-Tunes or Stitcher

For the full post and all info click here