How We Got Here... And Where We're Going!
Hello Friends-
It has been a long while since I've had the opportunity to send a personal anecdote to you all. Today is a special day in my world and to celebrate I wanted to share a BIG celebratory announcement with you. But first, let's begin at the beginning. To me it's always important to connect to the 'WHY'.
Over the years if you’ve heard me share any of the stories about the “early years” of my practice, you probably already know it wasn’t love at first asana. I’ve often asked myself if I didn’t enjoy those early practices, how can it be, that nearly two decades later I find myself rolling out a mat and now teaching these ancient traditions?
It comes down to one word: CURIOSITY
My personal yoga practice has often been motivated by a deep sense of curiosity. I can remember one such occasion that I arrived at a bookstore in Phoenix. I had no idea what I was looking for, other than answers.
•I wanted a clearer understanding of how after years of back pain my back was loosening up and letting go of it’s grip.
•I wanted to understand why sometimes after a class my emotions would run high: euphoria, even anger and sometimes I just needed to cry.
•I wanted to understand why it felt like the way I was used to living (let’s call it a college lifestyle) needed a transformation.
•I wanted to understand the roots of this practice and how it wasn’t a religion but it seemed like something I could believe in.
That day, I picked up the book “The Joy of Living; Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness” by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. I'm holding this book in my hands today, laughing as I flip to page 55. There in lies the receipt from 15 years ago still acting as a bookmark, from a book long ago set down.
Clearly the answers I was seeking weren’t going to be found in a book even if it DID give me the secrets to "happiness".
I turned back to my mat and resigned to show up with or without answers. It would take nearly a decade and a location change before I heard something that made me turn my head once again in curiosity. During a yoga challenge at my local studio, the teacher would share weekly from the 8 Limbs of Yoga. It was like someone opened up the front door after years of my knocking. In those moments that followed I realized there WAS more to this practice than what had met me on the mat.
I couldn’t seem to satiate my thirst to understand thousands of years worth of knowledge that I’d just opened myself up to. The more answers I found, the more questions proceeded. I decided to seek out a teacher training program so that I could begin to understand these teachings from someone who’d come before me. Fate would have it that I could attend a re-certification program that my friend (and neighbor) Heather Perry was attending. A few weeks later I would call up my friends that had been curious about my infatuation with this practice. They’d never attended a class, but they were willing to meet at Marina Park. I always believe it's because they felt a sense of trust that I would be able to share with them in a way that they could receive yoga.
Today marks seven years since that first class. I never thought I'd actually go on to teach yoga, but I found myself needing to share what my own curiosities had discovered.
For many of us, it begins with the movement practice, and through that movement we have the opportunity to open ourselves up to receiving the deeper potential that yoga has to offer.
It’s up to us as individuals if we choose to chase those curiosities and if we ask the questions that we sense rising to the surface as we roll up our mats.
It has been my vision for years to share more. At the inception of this community it was important to hold space for everyBody to try yoga. I feel like we’ve done an incredible job of opening up that first door for our students and to our greater community. While that door stays open its time that we begin to open the other doors.
In the coming months you’ll find many new offerings that will create an invitation for you to deepen your understanding of this practice. You’ll find new workshops and we invite you to try out practices that previously may have felt out of your comfort zone. These classes are for you as much as they are for anyone. We invite you into your own curiosities. There may be times that you don’t understand the name of a class/workshop or even the description
Allow that to be an invitation rather than an intimidation.
My life’s journey through the last 17 years of practice, and now 7 years of teaching, has been one big journey of satiating my curiosities.
The thousands of hours of practice and hundreds of hours of study, have granted me the responsibility to share what this ancient practice truly has to offer to others. I find that I’m not alone in my curiosities, but like myself, many aren’t even sure of what’s happening or where to begin. While we can learn many things from a book, some things have to be learned or rather fulfilled, through experiences. One of my greatest dreams since teaching that first yoga class has been to invite students into immersive experiences. For the past 5 years hosting group gatherings and leading yoga retreats has been my ultimate gift to my students. My opportunity to share a deeper perspective of what this practice has to offer.
This past year and a half has taught me many things, but what feels like the most important culmination of those lessons has been a deeply profound sense of
Self Trust.
I trust that now is the time to connect more intimately with some of you. For those of you that feel aligned with what I've shared today, I invite you into the adventure with me... and so many others just like you.
Here's where we go from here...
Welcome to our most expansive retreat to date.
Join Maxwell Miller and Jessy Raspiller for 6 days + 5 nights in Dominical, Costa Rica.
Yoga - Surfing - Meditation - Exploration
[All Levels Welcome]
We’re not offering you an escape.
We’re inviting you to discover a sense of freedom.
Want something a little closer to home?
1/2 Day Yoga + Surf Retreat
in Ventura, CA
Sept 26th
8:30am - 12:30pm
The intention behind our Yoga + Surf retreat is deepening our yoga journey through integrative practices off the mat.
Taking you from a mat practice, to an intimate break out group filled with meditation and practices to overcome any hesitations... so that eventually we can jump on the water energized and ready to paddle out. Ventura Makos Surf Camp does a fantastic job at transforming what we learned on land and bringing your surf dreams to reality.
I hope to connect with you all soon;
on the mat, off the mat, on the adventure of life.
Much love,
Jessy Raspiller
Founder, Owner,
and lover of all things Wild
