Teacher Spotlight: Jessica Montagna
Practice with Jessica
Jessica teaches Community Yoga every other week on Mondays 5:30–6:30 pm, in studio and online. You can also catch her as a sub for our regular classes!
Do you remember your first yoga class? What was it like? Why did you enroll?
My first class was quite simply a friend invited me to come along with them to a class. I don't recall specifics about the class, but I continued with yoga because I enjoyed the community, the practice, and how I felt afterwards. Nearly 20 years later, I have been practicing regularly since that first class (with a few years hiatus after my child was born).
Are there any preconceived notions you had about yoga that changed over time?
When I first began to practice, I treated toga as a physical exercise, often competing with myself and others around me to get into what I believed was the "best" and “most complicated" pose or variation. It took me many years to shed this competitive drive and to understand that yoga is a mental, spiritual, and physical practice.
What have you gained from your yoga practice?
I have gained so much from my yoga practice this list could go on! Many of these benefits I am still uncovering, which is the beauty of the ever evolving nature of a yoga practice. If I had to name one, it would be that my breath is a tool that is always with me and I can use it at any time and anywhere.
Why did you want to become a teacher?
I have a background in education and have taught in some capacity since I was a young adult. Becoming a yoga teacher felt like a natural progression in my yoga journey and it is so nourishing to help others build their relationship with yoga.
How would you describe your teaching style?
My teaching style is empowering, insightful, and fun. It's rooted in the idea that we are life-long learners - of our practice, of our spirit, and our bodies. And all of these things change as we age and as we grow. I encourage students to meet themselves where they're at today and in the moment. No one pose or variation is any better than another and the best thing we can do for ourselves is to find ways to become intune with ourselves.
How do you want a student to feel after your class?
Relaxed and happy that they made the time to practice.
How does yoga inform your activism?
I spent many years studying social justice (I have an M.Ed in Social Justice Education), so a lot of my work around activism has been centered around teaching others about oppression —more so an intellectual and group-processing experience. Yoga has helped me, especially these past two years of isolation, to explore social justice personally—I have spent a lot of time becoming in tune with my actions and experiences that help interrupt or perpetuate oppression. Like yoga, learning about privilege and oppression is a life-long practice.