Portrait of Jess, Bikram yoga teacher
Jess and yoga found each other in 2008, despite her big preconceptions about it. Jess is a bikram yoga teacher (certified since 2014) and after teaching in several countries, she participates in yoga competitions (great experience not to be judged too hastily!), coaches athletes and judges the French championships, she then decides to launch a blog for experienced yogis. YogaTechnique.Net aims to help yoga practitioners deepen their knowledge of asanas by providing them with free content.
It was only natural that I asked him a few personal questions about his yoga practice, which I am sharing with you today .
How did you get into taking care of yourself?
I had always practiced impact sports and therefore traumatic sports. When I was little, I took up horse riding, acrosport and trampolining. After that, I did 10 years of capoeira, a discipline in which I reached the rank of instructor. At the same time, I discovered boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Krav Maga. Although I loved all these experiences, it's simple: as far back as I can remember, I lived injured. I was followed by a plethora of osteopaths, sports doctors and other physiotherapists. I felt that it was not normal to suffer constantly, compared to my training partners, but I had ended up admitting that my ligament hyperlaxity was the cause of all my ailments and that I simply had to accept living with it. One day, my acupuncturist, who was a real magician, got tired of seeing me in consultations and gave me a real telling-off. I was 27 years old and he explained to me that if I wanted to continue to demand all this energy from my body, I had to compensate by providing it with a source of gentleness and kindness like tai chi or yoga. I experienced this "prescription" as a punishment. I immediately imagined myself sitting cross-legged doing "Om" surrounded by elderly people and struggling not to fall asleep. How ignorant, when I think back on it! And then one day, while I was working for a television channel in Marseille, I saw a report on bikram yoga. I loved the hammam, I was already flexible so I said to myself: "this seems to be within my capabilities and it speaks to me, I'll go for it!" And I learned one of my greatest lessons in humility there… I realized that I didn’t know how to breathe, and even less how to use my muscles. For a lifelong athlete, I assure you that was a real shock!
What practice for your well-being?
My core practice remains hot yoga, in the sense that it's a series that I use to "realign" myself in a way. However, I rarely practice it in the studio anymore. So I use bikram postures without heat, and that works very well too, since they are postures from hatha yoga!
But the practice that I am passionate about, the one that I practice first and that makes me want to roll out my mat, is the series of 84 asanas from the lineage of Bishnu Charan Gosh. It is known in the bikram sphere as the so-called "advanced" series. Many people wrongly think that it is a version of bikram yoga reserved for teachers. In reality, it is the sequence of postures that the creator of hot yoga learned and from which he drew the 26 asanas and 2 breathing exercises that made it successful throughout the world.
I have also tried hatha, ashtanga, vinyasa, modo, but Bishnu Gosh yoga is the one I find myself in the most. It is a combination of postures that are both accessible and complex that makes it very intense, but so complete. In capoeira, at 25 I felt like I was finished. With the 84 asanas, at 40, I feel my body much stronger and more reliable than it has ever been and I can see myself continuing like this for years to come!
What is the ritual of your practice?
Oddly enough, I don’t really like to start with sun salutations or breathing exercises. As for mantras, I come from a yoga lineage that doesn’t incorporate them. I had a glimpse of their power when I practiced Ashtanga at Kino Mc Gregor’s studio in Miami, but I don’t miss them right now. However, I always mentally dedicate my practice to someone before I begin. I’m a big believer in the power of intentions.
Then, I have to at least "feel" my spine with a few cat/cow sequences. I also almost systematically do a few pigeon-type hip openings and possibly some stretches of the back of the legs.
It is only after this muscular and articular awakening that I can start pranayama. Whether in pure bikram or in a so-called "advanced" series, I never deviate from this rule. I love this breathing technique. I find it extremely powerful and I don't know of a better way to gauge your abilities for the day. I love it so much that I made a complete tutorial on YouTube!
What do you get out of it?
My practice has transformed my relationship with my body, and I'm not talking about the aesthetic aspect at all. Before, I wanted to bend it to my will at all costs and I had a hard time when it rebelled. It's as if I was in a permanent fight against it, in a power struggle or a struggle for domination. If my ankle hurt when landing from a backflip, I would start again anyway because I hadn't gone high enough or simply because there were still 30 minutes of training left that I really didn't want to "waste". I didn't listen to it, I didn't understand it. Today, my absolute priority is to pamper it. I need it to be in top shape for everything: taking care of my three children, taking me everywhere I need to go, dealing with the sleepless nights of my youngest children who are still very young, fighting viruses, the hazards of life, in short: for everything! I feel a real gratitude towards my body and its abilities that amaze me day after day, despite everything it has endured. Not to mention this inner connection so deep that I feel and that allows me to calm my emotions thanks to the wonderful tools that yoga gives us
What do you carry in your Yoga bag?
I have a whole range of gear at my disposal, but most of the time, I don't need anything other than my mat and a pair of yoga clothes that fit perfectly. Since I have great mobility, choosing leggings is not not an easy task for me! The fabric must be very thin and stretchy with ultra-resistant seams to follow my amplitude, but above all it must not become transparent when it is stretched and that is far too much rare and it requires a real budget!
If it's cold, I love to practice with leg warmers and a contortionist belt.
What is your favorite object/accessory?
I have two: the strap and the wheel.
The strap has unlocked so many poses that I owe it eternal gratitude! I need it less now, but every now and then I have fun with it and explore my creativity.
As for my yoga wheel, it's simple: I couldn't live without it! It's my morning and evening ritual to loosen my spine and relax my shoulders and hips. I don't do any postures with it, but I use it as a maintenance and well-being accessory, as if it were a toothbrush in the end...
What would be your advice for Tayrona Yoginis?
You are your best teacher! I always insist on the notions of listening to yourself and being honest with yourself. Only you know if you are doing yourself good or not, and only you know if you are really giving the best of yourself, on the mat and off. The yoga teacher gives directions, but the real work is inside each one, physically as well as mentally.
Where/how do you practice?
Today I mainly practice alone at home, or in a corner of the gym in Bayonne, where I have a subscription. I often film myself to have an outside perspective in order to maintain good alignments. As soon as I find myself in the same area as other yoga teacher friends, I do everything I can to practice with them. From time to time I go to Yoga Bikram Hossegor and when I go to Nice to see my parents, I practice at Yoga Bikram Nice. These are two extremely welcoming studios (no pun intended!) and whose directors (Gabrielle and Manu respectively) are extremely kind.
What is your mantra?
“ You're only as old as your spine is .” That's a quote from Mary Jarvis, a sort of living legend in the Bikram yoga community. In everything I do, every posture, from the simplest to the most advanced, every movement, I focus on my spine and the benefits it can get from it. The rest is secondary.
To learn more about Jess:
My website: https://www.yogatechnique.net/
