Founder/Director
Jen teaches Breathing Space Baby Yoga & Play classes, Tot, Toddler and Little Families Yoga, afterschool yoga, Baby Signing Time, and directs day-off and summer camps . . . in addition to lactation consulting and doing bunch of behind the scenes stuff to keep it all running.
Jen brings a sense of joy and playfulness to her classes – both the adult and kids classes – and hopes to offer her students freedom she finds in yoga. She founded Breathing Space to create hub for family yoga on Capitol Hill and share her enthusiasm for age- and developmentally-appropriate poses, games, and songs with yogis of all ages.
Why Breathing Space?
Like so many, Jen first came to the yoga mat because of an injury, seeking nothing more than to feel better and balance her body for running. She comes back to the mat because yoga invites her to embrace her body and mind with all its imperfections and then to look beyond them to the greater Self.
When she became a mother, her yoga practice became even more important: for building strength and flexibility, as relief for the discomforts of pregnancy and then the stresses of parenthood, as a reminder of the miracle of the human body and of her own resources and capabilities, and a regular connection to her breath and true Self during a time of significant identity changes. Her weekly baby yoga class during maternity leave encouraged her to embrace her daughter in the same loving, non-judgemental way that her own practice did for herself.
After thoroughly enjoying baby yoga classes with her daughter during maternity leave and being unable to find an Itsy Bitsy class that fit her schedule after going back to work, Jen stumbled on a listing for Itsy Bitsy Yoga facilitators training . . . and signed up. That turned out to be the first step on new path.
She has since trained with Budding Yogis, ChildLight Yoga, Yoga 4 Classrooms, and YoKid to offer classes to families and children of all ages. Jen’s work with children inspired her to complete adult yoga teacher training at Willow Street Yoga in 2010 and trained in Prenatal Yoga with Janice Clarfield and Jennifer More of Dolphin Method Prenatal Yoga.
Jen is a Yoga Alliance® Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RTY 200) and Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCTY). She is also a Certified Educator of Infant Massage (CEIM) through Infant Massage USA and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
Beyond Breathing Space
You might also run into Jen over at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington DC, either as a consultant or in the twice-monthly Baby Care Basics class.
Other Experience
Before turning her attention to yoga full time, Jen spent more than a decade working with non- profit organizations in everything from daily operations, event and volunteer management, and finance to national policy advocacy and media relations. Jen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Master in Public Management degree from the University of Maryland. Her experience in social change movements and managing charitable organizations has been extremely helpful when working with schools and community organizations to implement yoga and mindfulness programs for children