Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacqueline Ey
Hi Jacqueline, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My first intro to taking a yoga class was when I was 17 at the local gym, where I felt so incredibly out of my element wearing a loose tee and baggy shorts and trying to hang out inverted in downward facing dog while keeping my shirt down. It probably would have been a comical sight. From there, I found a VHS of Rodney Yee doing yoga on a beach, and I would practice without embarrassment in the safety of my bedroom. At first, I could only spend 15-20 minutes at a time practicing and didn’t make it to the end of the series, but I could tell something was changing for me. At the age of 19, I had a very distinct idea pop into my head that I wanted to be like him and become a yoga teacher. I joked that it was because he was doing yoga on a beach, but it became so much more than that. At the time, I was incredibly inflexible, having spent the majority of my teen years and into my early 20s playing high-level golf on a junior level, then collegiately at Texas Tech University. I was so stiff and tight, and my head space wasn’t at the level I wanted or needed it to be, so I took yoga because I heard it improved all those.
Fast forward, I spent the first few years out of college trying to figure out what I enjoyed doing, as sitting behind a desk was not it. I went back to where I found joy, and it was being active, so I pursued becoming a personal trainer. After a few years, that evolved back into the desire I still felt to become a yoga teacher, and in 2011, I began my journey. I was told that when you’re ready, the teacher appears, and it all happened exactly when I needed it to. I was going on a very personal journey, divorcing and becoming a single mom to my daughter Lyla, but more importantly, discovering who I truly was. I realized I could not continue living a life without listening to the voice within me saying I had to try or live with regrets, and living with regrets was behind me.
I found this beautiful Light in teaching yoga. I found joy in infusing life lessons that I experienced weaving them into the flow of movement and sound. I felt my life becoming a symphony of love that I created as the Maestro of my own intentions and reflections. With the love of my life, Sam, we created a beautiful boy, Ronin, and from there, my goal was just to do what I love, and that is to work with people and connect their minds, bodies, and spirits through yoga, inner work, and understanding. My practice and my teaching have evolved over the years; what used to be joy in physical challenge became finding a way to move deeper inward. What I offer to everyone who walks through the doors of wherever I meet them is to find a way to connect with themselves, to let go of self-judgment and expectations, and instead create their own symphony within.
My joy has been over the years to create community of people who come together to love their authentic self and find the want to express themselves with light and grace. Recently, besides teaching my public classes, I offer private sessions that come in the form of fusing together corrective and functional movement, yoga, Thai yoga, myofascial release, meditation, personal guidance, somatic healing, and energy work. I’ve worked teaching corporate yoga, corporate meditation, national conferences, stand-up paddle (SUP) classes/workshops, residential yoga, small private groups, and retreats.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road less traveled is always a rocky road and I think life is full of challenges to be embraced rather than fighting back at. I’ve learned, looking back at my life, that the situations, the “complications,” and the challenges are always there to help us learn rather than to hold us down. Retrospectively, when we are this close to that truth, it’s hard to see the situation for what it is, but given some time and reflection, the challenges we face are exactly what we need to learn and grow. There’s a sentiment that we are all diamonds in the rough but unrealized until we are dropped over and over, which can hurt. It can be difficult and hard but once we are dropped enough, we discover the beautiful facets of who we are and uncover a beautiful diamond full of light that’s unique within each of us.
My most challenging struggle that had been a life-long, ongoing theme was believing in myself. That’s something I know many people can relate to. There’s this idea sometimes that we are not good enough, that we may not be deserving of great things, that we are conditioned to think we have to be the same as everyone else for fear of being different or that we are not meeting the expectations of others. It’s something that led me down a path of following other people’s conditioned ideas of what I was supposed to do or be rather than following my own ideas or trying to discover what those ideas were. Until even most recently, I was okay doing what I was doing and just teaching because it brought me joy. What I discovered through a lot of self-reflection just this year is that I am more than just a teacher; I am a friend, I am a sister, I am a mother, I am a daughter, I am a lover, and I may be someone’s muse or a reflection of something they don’t wish to see. But there is nobody else here to be me other than me. I have to learn to love myself and let go of self-doubt and limiting beliefs.
What I recently discovered is not only do I love teaching, but I love creating a community of people who want to connect from the heart. I want to help people uncover the joy of being themselves and to hold space for them–to help them discover the diamond within themselves or whether they’re a ruby, an emerald, a sapphire, or a pearl. My purpose is to hold space for them and meet them wherever I am able to meet them.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
At the public studios where I currently teach, under my name, Jackie Ey, When working privately, I work under the business name Anahata Yoga Sanctuary. At the moment, I am working on finding a space to actually have people come together. My specialty is creating a community to nurture people who want to practice living authentically from the heart, to practice yoga, to meditate, to learn, to grow, and to heal themselves.
I don’t always take myself too seriously, as I believe life should be lived with joy. I include fun and laughter in my classes and sessions, especially laughing at myself. I try to be as light-hearted as possible when it comes to teaching, but I also think that loving oneself is incredibly important. I think that’s what I am best known for–laughter, fun, good music, and singing a variation of Gayatri Mantra at the end of each class.
My dream, once I establish a place, is to hold public and private yoga classes, conduct Thai yoga sessions, have an infrared sauna, a cold plunge, a place to meditate, heal, hold sound baths, ecstatic dance, and educate the community in various aspects. I want people to walk in through the doors and feel the love of the heart, which is Anahata (the heart chakra), and to feel like they are safe walking into a sanctuary they can ultimately call home.
On a side note, I also have a business where I create crystal and stone jewelry that are meant to carry healing energies. I’ve been in this business for a decade now, specializing in curating custom pieces for people based on what chakras are feeling out of balance, where they may need some assistance in their life, and ensure they have one-of-a-kind jewelry made to their size. This ranges from beautiful mala (108 beaded prayer necklaces), to simple necklaces, bracelets, to earrings and anklets.
What does success mean to you?
Success is believing in yourself. Success is living a life that is authentic to you. Success is being a beautiful light that would shine regardless of who is looking.
Pricing:
- Private Yoga sessions start $90
- Private Thai Yoga sessions start $110
- Classes prices to come upon landing a location
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoginey?igsh=NjQ3NncxeDJta21r&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yogineyofaustin?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: @yoginey4835
- Soundcloud: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-ey-743b455
Image Credits
Sam Held
@Heldproductions
Tim Dunnahoo
@atxstrengthandfitness
