Jess Stephenson
Jess believes that yoga is a powerful path for healing and liberation and that the gifts ripple out exponentially. Once truth, compassion, and the realization of our interconnectedness are illuminated on the mat, we realize there is no “other” and therefore seek to heal injustices beyond the mat. As an educator of dance and Classical Pilates for over 15 years, Jess is honored to include yoga in her somatic offerings. Jess has a keen eye for movement and alignment, and creates a safe, healing space where people come as they are, without judgment.
Jess came to yoga asana as a dancer looking for cross-training. When she landed at 16th & Valencia in October 2008, she was introduced to Laughing Lotus through friends and quickly fell in love with the physicality and flow of the dance-like sequencing. She found her neighborhood yoga studio. What she didn’t expect to find was the welcoming community and spiritual hOMe. Here was THE place she felt she could live her most authentic expression(s) as a human. She felt accepted, safe, and free to move like herself as she laughed, cried, grunted, and fell off balance from time to time.
Jess felt called to deepen her yogic knowledge beyond asana and signed up for the 200-hour Laughing Lotus Teacher Training in 2017. Another layer of self-discovery was uncovered as she was awakened by these deep healing practices. Under the mentorship of Alexandra Crow, Jess found Yin-Yoga and dove deeper through the inner landscapes of her physical, energetic, and emotional bodies. She completed Laughing Lotus’s 50-hour Yin and Yoga Nidra training in April 2019, and in August of 2019 completed Laughing Lotus’s 25-hour Restorative training. Although Jess has always been a little “itchy” about stillness and meditation, she continues to cultivate self-acceptance, love, and the courage to act in alignment with her Soul’s purpose through yogic practices.
Jess is forever grateful for the spiritual sanctuary and refuge that yoga offers and bows humbly to the lineage of yoga teachers and teachings, as well as the students, friends, and family who co-create this vibrant community.
