Today we’d like to introduce you to Jo Heckert.
Hi Jo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a yoga-loving gal inspired to share yoga, help people feel better, and create a community that cares for each other. I teach wall yoga, aerial yoga, SUP (stand-up paddleboard) yoga, and traditional mat-based alignment yoga. I’ve been practicing for 20 years and teaching for 6 years. The more I taught, the more I felt guided to teach yoga to seniors.
We all want functional mobility, strength, independence, and the best quality of life we can achieve as we age. I believe that is possible through a skillful yoga practice so I have built my business around teaching integrative yoga for healthy aging and functional mobility. Modifying yoga postures and using props may not seem like something that everyone needs but I have been amazed at the power and strength we can gain with a well-placed prop!
Thoughtful modification to address injury or illness empowers us to cater to the body we bring to the mat on any given day. Movement is life, and creating a movement practice that keeps us physically and mentally agile makes us feel better no matter what age we are.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As a Navy family, we move a fair amount so I knew it may be difficult to feel like I was starting over every time we moved. I realized I could cater to my clients both near and far by teaching a combination of online and in-person classes as a mobile yoga studio. I get the best of both worlds; I work with amazing clients who live far away and I also get to put down roots in my local community by teaching in-person classes.
This fusion has allowed me to find my niche as a yoga teacher focused on healthy aging, functional mobility, and community. As the saying goes: “A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.” Challenges are inevitable; relocating every few years, raising a family, building a business, and adding to your skill set, are all a part of the rewarding journey of being your own boss.
The challenges or speed bumps along the way encourage me to be a little more focused on what exactly I want to do and more importantly, why. There is a lot of work when you are a one-woman band. I can sometimes get overwhelmed by the work outside of simply showing up on my mat and teaching.
I record and edit all my classes, upload them to YouTube, build my digital library of classes on my website, organize my classes for clients to find them, plan new classes, write a newsletter, network, study, practice for myself, and raise our children with my husband. It can be a misconception that yoga teachers are zen all the time, we need yoga too! Having a regular practice myself keeps me grounded and present so the overwhelm never lasts too long.
I love teaching yoga and it fuels me to continue to push myself, keep learning, and look for new ways to share and connect with people through yoga. I am a firm believer that we do not grow in our comfort zone and I routinely push outside of that zone in order to force growth and learn new skills. My clients make me want to work hard. There are always struggles, if I am not struggling at least a little bit I am not growing.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I am an RYT500, e-RYT200, and YACEP living in Beaufort, SC. The yoga training designations mean that I have completed both a 300-hour training and a 200-hour training, I have taught over 1,000 hours, and I am qualified as a continuing education provider who can teach other yoga teachers. I also completed the Integrative Yoga for Seniors program at Duke Integrative Medicine.
Staying on top of my own study, training, and practice is how I can offer the most to the people who come to class with me. As a mobile yoga studio, I have the ability to meet people all over the local area and practice yoga in the beauty that Beaufort has to offer. I work privately with clients to support whatever yoga goals they may have. I offer sunrise or sunset private group classes whether you are in the area vacationing or for a special event like a wedding or family reunion.
Yoga can be a great team-building and ice breaker for a company looking for creative and playful ways to connect in this post-covid time. I also work with local schools, teachers, and athletic coaches to bring free yoga as a tool for students and athletes for flexibility and focus.
Lastly, if you’re looking for a fun and unusual way to connect I offer mala-making parties which take about 4 hours and are a creative and social way to hang out and make custom tassel gemstone necklaces. You can learn more about that on my website. Whether you are local and want to join an in-person class or offering or if you live further away and attend online classes or take pre-recorded classes there is room for you to join me for yoga! See you on the mat!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
The timing will never be perfect – just go for it! You will save yourself a lot of heartache and stress when you give yourself permission to keep learning as you go, it is ok that you don’t know everything right now. Be flexible, see the bumps and obstacles as opportunities for slight redirection or course correction to get clear on what you want to do and why. Most importantly, trust that people need what you have to offer and take a leap of faith.
Pricing:
- Monthly membership includes unlimited online classes via zoom, access to an ever-growing digital library or pre-recorded classes, and free class invite to gift to anyone. $67
- Digital Library membership includes unlimited monthly access to pre-recorded classes. $35
- Donation-based outdoor classes at local parks taught by myself and a variety of local teachers under the name of Rooted (@RootedBeaufort). $10
Contact Info:
- Website: www.goyogajo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GoYogaJo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoYogaJo/
- Other: linktr.ee/GoYogaJo
