The lovely Jen Klinkigt is a 34 year old yoga teacher from East Croydon. Jen specialises in Vinyasa Flow, and pre-and post-natal styles of yoga. She currently balances teaching classes in Brighton with being a full time Project Manager in London. Here she talks about how yoga has helped her deal with grief and how she wants to use it as a tool to help other people deal with challenging times in their lives.
I started practicing yoga just after my dad was diagnosed with cancer. I needed something to help me deal with the difficult emotions that I was feeling. I began by practicing at home to different videos on YouTube. It was not until a year later, after he passed away, that I started going to public classes and really fell in love with yoga.
Through those one hour classes, yoga helped me to deal with my grief, and look after my mind and body. The more I practiced the more benefits I felt, so I practiced more and more until I practiced almost every day.
I wanted to develop my practice even further so I could share the benefits with others. I decided to sign up to do my 200 hour Vinyasa Flow Yoga Teaching Training with Yoga London.
As soon as I graduated, I started my Pre and Post-natal Yoga Teacher Training with Apple Yoga. I want to help other people deal with their emotions, especially woman, during and after pregnancy. I now get to help lots of women through my one hour classes.
Yoga has helped me to deal with my emotions and appreciate that it is ok to show my feelings, as well as understand how to let things go. I am more connected to my ‘true self’ and my heart than I have ever been before. All thanks to yoga!
Wellbeing for me is looking after my mind and body. I do not restrict myself from anything, I take the approach that I can have anything I like, but in moderation. I do lots of things that feed my soul, such as being in nature or just taking an afternoon for myself, watching the TV and doing nothing else apart from being in the moment.
I try to keep up a daily yoga practice, but often I only mange to get onto a mat two or three times a week.
I do have a daily meditation practice. I am currently taking part in the 108 Day Meditation Challenge – where we meditate for 11 minutes twice a day.
My daily meditation practice helps me to focus my mind, clear my head and create new healthier thoughts. It helps me to deal with stress and the emotions that I hold inside.
After meditation, I write down lots of notes and ideas. I am a much more open person since I started my daily practice.
My mission is to provide tools for healing and dealing with difficult emotions. I want to reach anyone that needs support. I offer a rejuvenating one hour practices to help people reset, re-energise and look after themselves.
I feel that some people can be put off trying yoga because they think they are not fit or flexible enough. There are people that think they are too stiff or too old.
For me, I think these are all great reasons to TRY yoga. It helps you to become fitter and more flexible. It helps you to take care of the body and the mind.
You can find out more from Jen and sign up to one of her classes here:
