Jean Marie got into yoga for a better butt and to stop the anxiety avalanche in her head. She tried everything from Baptiste to Jivamukti, then settled into an affair with Bikram. Ashtanga appeared in and out of her life during many of these years; it is now the daily practice she calls home. While she got into yoga for better behind, she found that practice feeds and inspires her heart center (though the physical side effects ain’t bad). She left her job as an attorney to pursue yoga, completing her 200-hr vinyasa training in New York City with Kelly Morris, and has been teaching ever since -- from Brooklyn to Boulder, Colorado to Washington, D.C., Virginia, Salt Lake and Park City, Utah, where she expects to stay until she turns into a shriveled husk of a human flying down the mountain on skis. She made her first month-long trip to Mysore, India in October 2016 to study with Sharath Jois, after spending a week of practice with him in LA in May, 2016. She’s also studied with wonderful teachers of the ashtanga lineage like David Garrigues (including week-long second series intensive, April 2013), Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, Peg Mulqueen, David Robson, Keith Moore, David Keil, Holly Gastil and Sammy Brown. She also completed prenatal training with De West at the Yoga Workshop in Boulder, Level II vinyasa course with Shannon Paige in Denver, and an anatomy weekend with David Keil (DC, 2013), along with countless workshops and weekends of Ashtanga Mysore practice with all of the above—not to mention regular practice on her own mat at home and at The Front SLC (she still loves her sweaty vinyasa though). Since living in PC she’s moved into the advanced or third series of Ashtanga under the guidance of Sammy Brown, and has attended several mindfulness courses with teacher Rebecca Brenner.

As a survivor of multiple pregnancy losses, Jean Marie became inspired her to provide a space where students can be all of themselves with whatever energy is present, without judgment: whether that means handstand, child’s pose, laughter, tears —or all of the above. Her irreverent blogs about practice and teaching have appeared in Elephant Journal, Ashtanga Dispatch, Yoganonymous, and Fiterazzi. Her irreverent thoughts, fashion —and yoga pics of her bent over backwards —can also be found in the land of Instagram.

"Amanda Palmer once said 'Go where the love is.' That's why I'm here on my mat. That's why I share yoga. And that's why I teach it.