About Jessica and Yinspire
About Yinspire
Yinspire started as the trading name for Jessica’s classes back in 2015 – since then, and with the opening of studio space, Yinspire has grown into two private studios hosting my classes, my Yoga Therapy business and Guest Teachers
Jessica’s vision is to see the studios grow into a local yoga community; supporting yogis; supporting the wider community through sharing yoga; and supporting Isle of Wight Yoga Teachers.
About Jessica
I started exploring Yoga in my mid 40s – it had been on my “to do” list for many years but never quite happened. One day I saw an advert for “Yoga and Brunch” and thought that sounded a civilised way to brighten up a dull January Saturday morning.
From that very first class I was captivated with Yoga, before long attending several classes a week, along with additional workshops, the first steps toward a home practice, and starting to devour Yoga books.
It was perhaps inevitable that training as a Yoga teacher would follow in due course.
Away from Yoga my background is Accounting and Tax, which I still practice, including accounting for yoga teachers. When not at work I enjoy fresh air – whether walking or cycling on land, or at sea on our family motor yacht – and having my nose in a good book with a Gin & Tonic.
Although I would describe myself as Liberal Christian, I have a strong interest in eastern spiritual ethics and practice, and this illuminates aspects of my practice and teaching.
Styles
Most of the regular teachers I have worked with come from a Hatha or Vinyasa style of Yoga, and these have been the foundations of my own practice.
My Yoga Teacher Training Tutor came from a Satyananda lineage and this has influenced my own practice.
In 2012, recovering from a fracture, I discovered by myself a slower quieter side to Yoga, which I later came to understand as Yin yoga.
All these influences come together in my practice and teaching, which I refer to as Yin Inspired Yoga.
More recently a lot of my time has been spent studying experiential and functional anatomy, and the physiology of stress, which led to a formal training in Yoga Therapy with Minded Institute London, and introduced a distinct therapeutic aspect to my classes.
My Yin Inspired Yoga style is an adaptation of a classic Paul Grilley/Sarah Powers Yin Yoga practice, however I also include, as appropriate:
- Classic Hatha Yoga postures, maybe some static, maybe very slow flow
- Restorative Yoga postures
- Pranayama (breath and subtle energy work)
- Mindfulness and Meditation
- Elements of Yoga Therapy
In all this the emphasis remains on a slow floor based practice though.
Amidst all the seriousness, I also think Yoga should be fun and relaxed, and approached with humour – you should leave the class feeling better than when you arrived.
LGBT and Equality
Yinspire is an LGBT friendly business, committed to promoting equality and inclusiveness across all gender, race and sexuality identities.
Professional Memberships
- Friends of Yoga Society International (FRYOG)
- Yoga Alliance (US) – E-RYT200 and YACEP
- Institute of Anatomical Sciences
- College of Medicine
- International Association of Yoga Therapists
Main Trainings
- 2013-2014 FRYOG foundation course 100 hours
- 2014-2015 FRYOG practical teaching course 200 hours
- 2014 Foundations of Yin Yoga – one week – tutor Norman Blair
- 2015 – 2016 Structural, Functional and Experiential Anatomy for Yoga – 100 hours – with Gary Carter
- 2016 Advanced Yin Yoga Teacher Training – 60 hours – tutor Norman Blair
- 2017 – 2019 Yoga Therapy Training – 550 hours – Minded Institute London
CPD and other training
- 2013 Yin Yang Yoga workshops – one weekend – tutor Simon Low
- 2014 Common Injuries Upper and Lower Body – one day cadaver prosection
- 2014 Yin Yoga workshops – one weekend – with Paul Grilley
- 2016 Anatomy of pelvis, spine and back pain – half day cadaver prosection
- 2016 Anatomy of spinal cord and nervous system – half day cadaver prosection
- 2016 Five day guided cadaver dissection – with Julian Baker
- 2016 Insight Yoga + Psychological Inquiry workshops – one weekend – with Sarah Powers
- 2017 Insight Yoga Teacher Training Intensive: Mindfulness + Inner Practices in Yin Yoga – five days with Sarah Powers
- 2017 Yoga Therapy for Low Back Pain & Sciatica – three days with Robin Monro / Minded Institute
- 2018 Yin Yoga and Meridians – Kidney/Bladder and Stomach/Spleen Meridians – 2 day training with Norman Blair and Kate Henley
- 2018 Yin Yoga and Meridians – Liver Meridian – 2 day training with Norman Blair and Kate Henley
- 2018 Three Day First Aid at Work with IWNHS Ambulance Training
- 2019 Mental Health First Aid – two day training with IW Council
- 2019 Breath Body Mind – Workshop for Professionals – two days Drs Brown MD and Gerbarg MD via Minded Institute
- 2019 Body Reading and Resilience – three days with Thomas Myers
- 2019 Yoga Therapy and Chronic Pain Symposium – one day – via Minded Institute
- 2020 Yoga Therapy CPD via Minded Institute – Psychotherapeutic enquiry skills; Renal conditions; Borderline Personality Disorders; Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury; Dermatological conditions; Obesity; Hyper-mobility – 4 days
- 2020 Rewiring the Brain Through Yoga: Neurological Insights into How to Use Yoga to Promote Neuroplasticity – one day
- 2020 Sanskrit for Yogis: an Interactive Introduction – 7 hours – Graham Burns
- 2020 A Comprehensive History of Yoga: Research and Scholarship – 20 hours – Yoga Campus
- 2020 Total Yoga Nidra Foundation – 15 hours – Yoga Nidra Network
- 2020 Covid and Long Covid CPD via BCYT – 1 hour
Musings
Here are some of my recent musings:
- Book: The Subtle Body – The Story of Yoga in America – Stefanie Syman 2010 8th January 2021
- Looking to the Horizon 4th January 2021
- Clarifying Yin Yoga 18th April 2019
- Chakra Meditation 10th March 2018
- Don’t Get Stressed About It! Stress And How Yoga Can Help 3rd October 2017
- Metta 9th June 2017
- Awareness of Non Awareness 19th April 2017
- Anatomy of an Ex Friendship 11th April 2017
- New Year Thoughts – Setting a Sankalpa 1st January 2017
- Solstice thoughts 21st December 2016
- We are all Donald 9th November 2016
- Post Brexit: a word on tolerance 29th June 2016
- In Defence of Yin Yoga 6th May 2016
- Advent thoughts 23rd December 2015
- Yoga and IBS 20th October 2015
- Is Yoga Exercise? I’m not clear? 21st September 2015
- Action and reaction – taking control of our future 27th August 2015
- Yoga and Christianity 13th August 2015
- Guru Purnima 31st July 2015
- Perfect 31st July 2015
- Weight loss, diet and stress 20th July 2015
- International Yoga Day 21st June 2015
- Words. Non Violence. Truth. 6th June 2015
- Namaste and Om 15th May 2015
- A long stretch 9th May 2015
- Body v Mind, Mind v Body 3rd May 2015
- Yoga and Backs – a Personal Reflection 27th April 2015
Reading List
I devour books on yoga – here are some of the books I’ve read, and reviewed, recently:
- Book – The Goddess Pose – Michelle Goldberg (2015) 22nd January 2021
- Book – The Science of Meditation – Coleman and Davidson (2017) 27th November 2020
- Book – Do Your Om Thing – Rebecca Pacheco (2015) 20th November 2020
- Book – Healing Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain – Carol Krucoff (2010) 13th November 2020
- Book: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art – James Nestor (2020) 6th November 2020
- Book: Trauma-Sensitive Yoga – Dagmar Härle (2017) 30th October 2020
- Book: Ayurveda for Yoga Teachers and Students – Siva Raakhi Mohan (2019) 23rd October 2020
- Book: Physical Intelligence: The Science of Thinking Without Thinking – Scott Grafton (2020) 16th October 2020
- Book: Yoga Therapy for Digestive Health – Charlotte Watts (2018) 9th October 2020
- Book: Principles and Themes in Yoga Therapy – James Foulkes (2017) 2nd October 2020
- Book: Relax into Yoga for Chronic Pain – Jim Carson (2020) 25th September 2020
- Book: The Other Side of Silence: A Psychiatrist’s Memoir of Depression – Linda Gask (2015) 11th September 2020
- Book: Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing – Dr Timothy McCall (2007) 5th September 2020
- Book: Yoga Therapy for Fear – Beth Spindler (2018) 4th September 2020
- Book: Welcome to the Microbiome – DeSalle and Perkins (2015) 14th August 2020
- Book: The Changing Mind – A Neuroscientists Guide to Ageing Well – Daniel Levitin (2020) 7th August 2020
- Book: Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy – Mukunda Stiles (2007) 29th July 2020
- Book: Life Lessons from a Brain Surgeon – Dr Rahul Jandial 2019 10th July 2020
- Book: Paths Between Head and Heart – Oliver Robinson 2018 26th June 2020
- Book: Roots of Yoga – Mallinson & Singleton (2017) 6th June 2020
- Book: Practical Yoga Nidra – Scott Moore (2019) 29th May 2020
- Book: Yoga for Mental Health – Mason & Birch (editors) (2018) 22nd May 2020
- Book: The Body – A Guide for Occupants – Bill Bryson (2019) 15th May 2020
- Book: The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga – Bernie Clark (2019 – Revised Edition) 1st May 2020
- Book: Body Mot – Various Authors via Dorling Kindersley (2020) 17th April 2020
- Book: Before You Know It – The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do – John Bargh (2017) 9th April 2020
- Book – Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey Through the World’s Strangest Brains: Helen Thomson 2018 20th March 2020
- Book: Saving My Neck: A Doctor’s East/West Journey Through Cancer – Dr Timothy McCall MD (2019) 13th March 2020
- Reading on Restorative Yoga 8th March 2020
- Book – Practice And All Is Coming – Matthew Remski (2019) 14th February 2020
- Book – The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle – 1997 7th February 2020
- Book: The Science of Yoga – Ann Swanson (2019) 31st January 2020
- Book – The Art of Rest – Claudia Hammond (2019) 24th January 2020
- Book: The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation – Deborah Dana (2018) 29th November 2019
- Book – Notes on a Nervous Planet – Matt Haig (2019) 15th November 2019
- Book: 21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics, and Practice – Horton and Harvey (2012) 1st November 2019
- Book: Presence – Amy Cuddy (2015) 18th October 2019
- Book: Yoga Body – Mark Singleton (2010) 27th September 2019
- Book: The Yoga Tradition – Georg Feuerstein (Third Edition, 2008) 13th September 2019
- Book: How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of The Brain – Lisa Feldman Barrett (2017) 3rd September 2019
- Book: The Big Fat Surprise – Nina Teicholz 9th August 2019
- Book: Kundalini Rising – Various Authors 26th July 2019
- Book: Stalking Wild Psoas: Embedding your Core Intelligence – Liz Kotch 12th July 2019
- Book: When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress – Gabor Maté 28th June 2019
- Book: Your Spine Your Yoga – Bernie Clark 13th June 2019
- Book: Too Many Pills – James Le Fanu 4th June 2019
- Book: Keep your Joints Young – Sarah Key 26th April 2019
- Book: Younger for Longer – Dr Duncan Carmichael 12th April 2019
- Book: Stalking God – Anjali Kumar 29th March 2019
- Book: A Beginners Guide To Loosing Your Mind – Emily Reynolds 15th March 2019
- Book: Happiness – Your Route Map to Inner Joy – Cope, Whittaker and Bason-Wood 1st March 2019
- Book: A Statin Nation – Dr Malcolm Kendrick 21st February 2019
- Book: Yoga Therapy for Arthritis – Dr Steffany Moonaz & Erin Byron 15th February 2019
- Book: Lost and Found – Jules Montague 1st February 2019
- Book: 10% Human – Alanna Collen 18th January 2019
- Book: The Breathing Book – Donna Farhi 11th January 2019
- Book: All That Remains – a Life in Death – Sue Black 4th January 2019
- Book: You Can Heal Your Life – Louise Hay 21st December 2018
- Book: Lies My Doctor Told Me, Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health – Ken Berry 14th December 2018
- Book: The Great Cholesterol Con: Dr Malcolm Kendrick 7th December 2018
- Book: The Healing Power of the Breath – Richard Brown & Patricia Gerbarg 30th November 2018
- Book: Brainstorm – Detective Stories from the World of Neurology – Suzanne O’Sullivan 23rd November 2018
- Book: The Disordered Mind – What Unusual Brains Tell Us About Ourselves- Eric R Kandel 16th November 2018
- Book: Why We Sleep – The New Science of Sleep and Dreams – Matthew Walker 9th November 2018
- Book: Doctoring Data – Dr Malcolm Kendrick 2nd November 2018
- Book: Attached – Amir Levine and Rachel Heller 26th October 2018
- Book: Sod 70 – The Guide To Living Well – Muir Gray 19th October 2018
- Book: Everything You Know About the Human Body is Wrong – Matt Brown 12th October 2018
- Book: The Distracted Mind – Adam Gazzaley and Larry D Rosen 5th October 2018
- Book: Chair Yoga – Kristin McGee 28th September 2018
- Book: How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy – Paul Chek 21st September 2018
- Book: Wellmania – Misadventures in the Search for Wellness – Brigid Delaney 14th September 2018
- Book: Learning To Breath – Rachael Newham 7th September 2018
- Book: Life Long Yoga – Sage Rountree and Alexandra Desiato 31st August 2018
- Book: The Brains Way of Healing – Norman Doidge 29th August 2018
- Book: Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery – Cathryn Jakobson Ramin 24th August 2018
- Book: The Brain That Changes Itself – Norman Doige 21st August 2018
- Book: Restorative Yoga Therapy – Leeann Carey 17th August 2018
- Book: The Wisdom of Yoga – Stephen Cope 10th August 2018
- Book: In Shock – Dr Rana Awdish 3rd August 2018
- Book: Help for the Helper – Babette Rothschild 27th July 2018
- Book: Anatomy of Breathing – Blandine Calais-Germain 21st July 2018
- Book: Beat Your Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Seven Simple Steps – Paul Jenner 14th July 2018
- Book: Charge and the Energy Body – Anodea Judith 7th July 2018
- Book: Complications – Atul Gawande 30th June 2018
- Book: The Mindful Way Through Depression – Williams, Teasdale, Segal and Kabat-Zinn 23rd June 2018
- Book: Descartes Error – Antonio Damasio 15th June 2018
- Book: Treat Your Own Back – Robin McKenzie 28th May 2018
- Book: The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer – Siddhartha Mukherjee 22nd May 2018
- Book: The Subtle Body – Cyndi Dale 15th May 2018
- Book: Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food – Rachel Herz 8th May 2018
- Book: The Chakra Project – Georgia Coleridge 30th April 2018
- Book: Wheels of Life – Anodea Judith 23rd April 2018
- Book: Do No Harm – Henry Marsh 14th April 2018
- Book: Yoga For Healthy Ageing – Baxter Bell & Nina Zolotow 9th April 2018
- Book: Your Brain on Yoga – Sat Bihr Singh Khalsa 28th March 2018
- Book: The Mind Manual – Andy Gibson 21st March 2018
- Book: Fascia in Sport and Movement – Robert Schleip 14th March 2018
- Book: Boundaries – Jennie Miller & Victoria Lambert 7th March 2018
- Book: Stretching With Ease for a Pain Free Back – Linda Minarik 28th February 2018
- Book: Pure White and Deadly – John Yudkin 20th February 2018
- Book: Gulp – Mary Roach 13th February 2018
- Book: Gut – Giulia Enders 6th February 2018
- Book: Science of Flexibility – Michael Alter 30th January 2018
- Book – Stress Proof – Mithu Storoni 16th January 2018
- Book: The Evolution of Biomechanics – Stephen Braybrook 9th January 2018
- Book: Heart: The Inside Story of our Body’s Most Important Organ – Johannes Hinrich von Borstel 19th December 2017
- Book: The Bhagavad Gita (translation Eknath Easwaran) 12th December 2017
- Book: Into the Magic Shop – James Doty 5th December 2017
- Book: Muscles and Meridians – The Manipulation of Shape – Phillip Beach 28th November 2017
- Book: The New Science of Breath – Stephen Elliott 23rd November 2017
- Book: Core of the Yoga Sutras – BKS Iyengar 14th November 2017
- Book: Gender Medicine – Marek Glezerman 10th November 2017
- Book: The Mind Gut Connection – Emeran Mayer 7th November 2017
- Book: The Ecology of the Soul – Aidan Walker 3rd November 2017
- Book: Acu Yoga – Michael Reed Gach 31st October 2017
- Book: And Breath – Rebecca Dennis 24th October 2017
- Book: The Healing Power of the Breath – Brown & Gerbarg 17th October 2017
- Book: Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind over Body – Jo Marchant 10th October 2017
- Book: Big Fit Girl – Louise Green 26th September 2017
- Book: A Day in the Life of the Brain: The Neuroscience of Consciousness – Susan Greenfield 19th September 2017
- Book: Molecules of Emotion – Candace Pert 12th September 2017
- Book: The Plastic Mind – Sharon Begley 5th September 2017
- Book: Sleep Better – The Science and The Myths – Graham Law and Shane Pascoe 29th August 2017
- Book: When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi (Dcd) 21st August 2017
- Book: Freedom in Exile – Autobiography of the Dalai Lama 14th August 2017
- Book: the Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down – Haemin Sunim 7th August 2017
- Book: Waking Up – Searching for Spirituality Without Religion – Sam Harris 12th July 2017
- Book: The Brain – Michael O’Shea 5th July 2017
- Book: The Sleep Revolution – Arianna Huffington 28th June 2017
- Book: Yoga FAQ – Richard Rosen 14th June 2017
- Book: The Telomere Effect – Blackburn & Epel 5th June 2017
- Book: The Modern Yoga Bible – Christina Brown 16th May 2017
- Book: The Stress Test – Ian Robertson 11th April 2017
- Book: 10% Happier – Dan Harris 4th April 2017
- Book: Buddhism – A Concise Introduction – Huston Smith and Philip Novak 29th March 2017
- Book: The Relaxation Response – Herbert Benson 22nd March 2017
- Book: Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers – Robert M. Sapolsky 13th March 2017
- Book: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma – Bessel van der Kolk 6th March 2017
- Book: Chinese Medicine – The Web That Has No Weaver – Ted Kaptchuk 13th February 2017
- Book: Adrenal Fatigue – James Wilson 30th January 2017
- Book: Yoga: Fascia, Anatomy and Movement – Joanne Avison 5th January 2017
- Book: The Magical year – Danu Forest 20th December 2016
- Book: Insight Yoga – Sarah Powers 19th December 2016
- Book: After Buddhism – Stephen Batchelor 3rd December 2016
- Book: The Universe in Your Hand – Christophe Galfard 20th November 2016
- Book: Mindful Moments – Louise Adams 4th November 2016
- Book: Yoga Reminder – A G Monaghan 16th October 2016
- Book: An Empath: The Highly Sensitive Person’s Guide to Energy, Emotions & Relationships – Alex Myles 8th October 2016
- Book: Fierce Medicine: Breakthrough Practices to Heal the Body and Ignite the Spirit – Ana Forrest 18th September 2016
- Book: Back to Life – How to Unlock your Pathway to Recover when Back Pain Persists – David Rogers & Grahame Brown 8th September 2016
- Book: Yoga for a Happy Back: A Teacher’s Guide to Spinal Health through Yoga Therapy – Rachel Krentzman 1st September 2016
- Book: Yoga of the Subtle Body – Tias Little 16th August 2016
- Book: Turning the Mind into an Ally – Sakyong Mipham 9th August 2016
- Book: Holistic Anatomy – Pip Waller 18th July 2016
- Book: The Breath – Vessantara 20th June 2016
- Book: Running with the Mind of Meditation – Sakyong Mipham 31st May 2016
- Book: Too Simple for Words, Reflections on Non Duality – Graham Stew 29th May 2016
- Book: Your Body, Your Yoga: Bernie Clark 28th May 2016
- Book: Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig 27th May 2016
- Book: Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled – Ruby Wax 26th May 2016
- Book: It’s all all Your Head, True Stories of Imaginary Illness – Suzanne O’Sullivan 21st May 2016
- Book: Yin Yoga – Ulrica Norberg 31st March 2016
- Book: Mind Change – Susan Greenfield 19th March 2016
- Book: Yin Yoga – Olivia Summers 4th March 2016
- Book: Adventures in Being Human – Gavin Francis 28th February 2016
- Book: Chakra Yoga – Anodea Judith 15th February 2016
- Book: The Diet Myth:The Real Science Behind What We Eat – Tim Spector 5th February 2016
- Book: Being Mortal – Atul Gawande 21st January 2016
- Book: God is Not a Christian – Desmond Tutu 5th January 2016
- Book: Behavioural Economics Saved My Dog – Dan Ariely 21st December 2015
- Books: Light on Yoga and Light on Pranayama – BKS Iyengar 18th December 2015
- Book: Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East – Charles Russell 14th December 2015
- Books: Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You are There You Go – Jon Kabat-Zinn 19th November 2015
- Book: The Poetry of Kabir 30th October 2015
- Book: How to do Restorative Yoga – Michael Hetherington 21st October 2015
- Book: Energy Medicine – The Scientific Basis – James Oschman 8th October 2015
- Book: Yoga For Emotional Balance – Bo Forbes 1st October 2015
- Book: Yoga Girl – Rachel Brathen 17th September 2015
- Book: Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice – Deborah Adele 10th September 2015
- Book: The Spark in the Machine – Daniel Keown 3rd September 2015
- Book: Autobiography of a Yogi – Paramahansa Yogananda 23rd August 2015
- Book: Theories of the Chakras: Bridge to Higher Consciousness – Hiroshi Motoyama 29th July 2015
- Book: Serenity Yin yoga – Magdalena Macweld 28th July 2015
- Book: The Reluctant Yogi – Carla McKay 26th July 2015
- Book: Intelligent Yoga – Peter Blackaby 31st May 2015