INSTRUCTORS

Jen Lawson

My hope is that you will experience a sense of coming home to yourself, of finding comfort in your own skin, of finding that connection to something that is so much bigger, so much greater, than we are.

Jen Lawson, Registered Yoga Instructor, Pediatric Occupational Therapist and Director of APY Kids & Teens

So…here are the basics…I grew up primarily in Cincinnati, went to Indiana University for college, receiving a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish, and then received a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 1996 from the University of Indianapolis.

Following graduate school, I took, what was a very big leap for me, and moved to northern California to start my career as an OT working in a rehab hospital with adults. Since that time, I have lived in several different places in the US and in western Canada, and have spent the majority of my professional life as an Occupational Therapist working with children with special needs in school settings (in NY, NC, OH, TX), and now with a pediatric home health company based in Dallas.

I discovered the practice of yoga in 2006 during a complicated, challenging, and extremely sad time in my personal life, as my marriage was coming to an end. When I came to my mat and began to learn to connect my breath with movement and to more fully explore my body, heart, soul and mind, it felt like coming home…like coming home to myself…finally, after 35 years. Like many yoga instructors, I had been physically active for several years. When I began practicing yoga, I was also running several times a week and lifting weights. Prior to my experiences on the mat, on days when I did not "exercise," I was often ridden with guilt and disappointment with myself. Gradually, yoga began to take the place of other physical activity and within about 4 months I had stopped running and stopped visiting the gym.

Like many women, I have struggled throughout a great deal of my life with issues around body image, self-confidence, food, exercise, etc. At this point in my journey, 2009, at age 37, I have finally found a sense of comfort in my own skin...most of the time...and it feels like it is due to the experiences I have had through my practice of yoga, both on and off the mat. I have finally learned how to sit with myself, to consider myself a friend, and to sense a connection to something that feels so much bigger. Something about this yoga is so different, so powerful, so grounding…I come to my mat every day if I can, not out of a sense of guilt, but instead, because I am drawn to it from some place deep inside, drawn to the ability to give myself this amazing gift…the gift of breath, movement, awareness, acceptance, and presence.

In my classes, my hope is that you will also somehow experience that sense of coming home to yourself, of finding comfort in your own skin, of finding that connection to something that is so much bigger, so much greater, than we are. When I first decided that I wanted to teach yoga, I wondered how I could possibly do so when there were so many physical poses that I could not do because of my lack of flexibility. I soon realized that I was missing the point. When I began teaching at APY, I worried that I would not be able to share the amazing tools of yoga with others since I am still quite aware of the struggles I have with my own "real life poses." Then I realized that, once again, I was missing the point. This yoga is not about perfection, it's not about performance, and it's not about knowing everything there is to know. It is called a "yoga practice" for a reason…finally, a label that actually seems to fit.

APY KIDS & TEENS
During the summer of 2008, I began developing the children’s yoga program for APY, conducted children’s yoga workshops and trained the first round of APY Kids’ instructors. Over the years as an Occupational Therapist, I have learned so much from the children and families with whom I have worked, and I have been constantly amazed by the incredible gifts and lessons that children have to offer. As Dan Millman writes in Way of the Peaceful Warrior, "Every infant lives in a bright Garden where everything is sensed directly, without the veils of thought – free of beliefs, interpretation, and judgments." Infants and young children have not yet forgotten to live in the moment, to be fully present in their lives. In APY Kids classes, HOW we teach and share the practice of yoga with children is just as important as WHAT we teach. My vision for APY Kids is that each class will serve as a safe container in which all children can truly sense what it is like to be a part of a community of acceptance, sharing and freedom of self expression. APY Kids classes help children to feel comfortable and confident in exploring both their "strengths" and their "weaknesses", in sharing their emotions, struggles and accomplishments. We encourage children to become aware of and to care for themselves, each other, and for the world around them.

Looking forward to seeing you and/or your children on the mat. ~ Jen

Jen's Class Schedule