Jessica Smith was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Arizona to attend ASU after completing high school. She graduated with a BA degree in elementary education and taught for a while before choosing to stay home with her young children. During her time at home Jessica earned a 600 hour Certified Yoga Teacher Credential from Southwest Institute of the Healing Arts. Her specialties are in AMRIT yoga nidra, prenatal yoga, energy anatomy and breath work. (pranayama)

 

When Jessica began teaching yoga, she noticed the need to make it more accessible to many communities so she and her sister co-created Rooted Community Yoga Project. RCYP is an organization that brings yoga and yogic teachings to the people by making it affordable and accessible to all. The organization gives back by hosting charity yoga classes that benefit local nonprofit organizations. To this date RCYP has served over 30 different charities and even taught a series of classes to suffering veterans at Standdown and to the inmates in Perryville Women’s Prison.

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Currently, Jessica is honored to be able to combine all of her education and training to work as a mindfulness instructor for Mindfulness First. Mindfulness First is one of the 501-3C non-profits that she met while hosting a charity event with RCYP. As one of their instructors, Jessica has the privilege to teach mindfulness concepts to students and teachers in many of the public and charter schools here in the valley. She is deeply passionate about their mission as she feels that the practices of mindfulness, yoga and other self-regulating skills have helped her to navigate through many difficult times in her personal life. She also loves to incorporate her mindfulness training and brain science into her yoga classes!

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In her free time Jessica likes to be outdoors in nature and to enjoy time with her husband and four children. She loves to travel, eat at great restaurants, learn about astrology, read, ride her bike and thrift store/garage sale shop!!