Root Down with Jessica Patterson

Jessica Patterson has been practicing and discovering yoga for more than 25 years, during which time she has had the great privilege of exploring many methods, approaches and teachers, including her most formative teachers, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Mark Whitwell, Manorama, and Nischala Joy Devi. She is a 500-hour Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance and a Certified Yoga Therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists. As a graduate of both The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (NYC) and the Nutrition Therapy Institute (Denver, CO), Jessica weaves together her diverse passions as a teacher, writer, nutrition therapist, and integrative consultant to emphasize integration and wholeness in all she does. She is the founder and director of the 7-month, 200+ hour RootEd Apprenticeship & Teacher Training Program (in its 10th year). In RootEd, Jessica leads small, intimate groups of students deeply into the embodied experience of Yoga as they discover the teacher within. In 2014, Jessica opened Root: Center for Yoga and Sacred Studies, a Colorado Springs-based sanctuary that serves as a home for her public classes, workshops, Sadhaka Sessions (intensive learning modules for those who seek deeper study outside of “teacher” trainings), 1:1 sessions, and more. Jessica offers various retreats throughout the year (Colorado, Mexico, Hawaii, Iceland in 2019!), and loves to work with individuals one-on-one through Yoga Therapy, Nutrition Therapy, Mentoring, and Off the Mat sessions. Whether teaching public classes or intensive offerings, Jessica is committed to sharing Yoga as an empowering technology relevant to our modern lives. Making it “real” is what it’s all about. Jessica has served as a faculty member/guest teacher for various teacher-training programs over the years, including Lahiri School of Yoga (North Carolina), Yoga Durango, Cambio Yoga, Spirit of the Lake Yoga in MN, Corepower Yoga, Hot On Yoga, and The Frejya Project in Denver. As full faculty for Inner Peace Yoga Therapy, she has delighted in supporting budding Yoga Therapists who are pursuing the specialized training the school offers. Jessica has taught nationally and internationally, and is currently designing immersion projects that emphasize inner pilgrimage. With an M.A. in English, her forthcoming writing projects offer grounded and personal explorations of how yogic teachings can help ordinary, everyday people navigate life’s ups and downs (from divorces and deaths to financial uncertainty and health diagnoses). Her book and other essays come directly from her own experience as a student (and teacher) of yoga for 25 years. Jessica believes that the ultimate purpose of yoga is to remember and embody who and what we really are and to recognize that as whole and holy. Missing nothing. The goal of her teaching is to help students free themselves from limiting thoughts and ideas. Jessica’s dedication to and respect for all these practices have enabled her to infuse her teaching with deeply spiritual, physically rigorous, and truly uplifting classes that seek to liberate and bring joy to each student.