Jess is a graduate from Niroga Institute’s Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training and Integral Health Fellowship, a yoga teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center and Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program, a Disability Justice activist (a framework founded by disabled, queer People of Color), and founder of Access-Centered Movement.
She began practicing yoga and meditation 18 years ago in an attempt to manage the physical and emotional pain resulting from various disabilities and traumas. She found, however, that most classes were not accessible for her needs. Jess continued to practice on her own and studied various spiritual paths, psychological therapies, and physical tools for healing personal and sociological trauma.
Passionate about social justice and change, she pursued yoga teacher training so that she could offer affordable and Access-Centered classes to the bodyminds in her community. She is able to use her vast knowledge of physical therapy and holistic health, her lived experience as a person with disabilities, and her intuitive and empathetic abilities to offer relief for trauma and chronic pain. Jess is deeply grateful to the ancestors of the spiritual traditions she practices, the ancestors of the land she teaches on (stolen Ohlone and Miwok territories), and the founders of Disability Justice. Aware that the ancestors of the spiritual traditions she practices are not her own, she is committed to decolonizing her practice and works to organize anti-racist white yoga teachers to do the same.
Access–Centered Movement 