UNLEASHING OUR INTRINSIC RADIANCE

My name is Jen Peters and I am an 800-hour Advanced Certified Yoga Teacher and Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapist.  I have taught internationally for over a decade in the Ashtanga Yoga tradition and work with clients in the Denver-Boulder area.

History and Background

My best friend dragged me to my first yoga class in 2003 while I was in graduate school studying neuroscience.  It turned out to be love at first dog and I was hooked!  The closing chant “May all beings be happy” (lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu) struck me very deeply, and I started to realize that true happiness is ours to discover and share. 
 
I soon dropped the lab coat in favor of my mat and began practicing and teaching all over the world, spending 7 years in Europe and Asia.  I met my principal teacher Richard Freeman in 2007, and have since relished over 1700 hours with him.  My psychotherapy background has helped me to work with the vulnerability we feel when we shed our protective layers and allow ourselves to shine from the core.    
 

Philosophy

By cultivating our relationship with the breath, we learn to be present with life and full of the possibility that each moment offers.

Method

Upon moving back to the States in 2011, I became extremely ill with mold poisoning (CIRS).  This painful and humbling experience showed me first-hand how versatile and valuable the practice can be.  We do not need to wait until conditions are different in order to start practicing.  Yoga is there for us no matter what.  In balancing opposites in the body and nervous system, we automatically start to balance other aspects of our lives that have stood in the way of developing our full potential.  

Yoga and The Voice

As a small child, I had a toy guitar and used to dress up as Puss-in-Boots and pretend I was Paul Simon in concert.  At age 8, I started to play the violin and lost touch with my inner attitude and human voice. 
 
I remember once my brilliant teacher asked me to sing a phrase in order to play it more expressively, but I froze.  Couldn’t we just focus on performing more perfectly and avoid feeling altogether?  Singing seemed way too revealing…  I just stood there and stared at him, terrified.  I continued to play with the American Youth Philharmonic and apprenticed with the National Symphony Orchestra, but eventually I had to admit that I felt like a bit of an imposter.  I was not bringing all of myself to the endeavor.
 
After college, I lost interest in music altogether and did not regain it until I started to practice yoga and chant Sanskrit mantras.  The ideals expressed by these sacred texts and a desire to connect with a higher power reminded me that after all, there is quite a lot I would like to express.  I began playing violin for kirtan (devotional sing-alongs) in a more heartfelt way than I ever had before.  I also began to sing and play the harmonium in my workshops and yoga classes. 
 
By now, I’ve realized that I’m neither Puss-in-Boots nor Paul Simon, but I have only just begun my formal investigation of how to tap into my own true singing voice!  I am thrilled to be in collaboration with Karen, exploring this topic further and sharing this inspiring journey with all of you.