Jenny Feick of Nature Wise Yoga

I offer a unique style of Yoga imbued with nature appreciation. I believe that by caring for and about our own bodies, minds and spirits through the practice of yoga that we generate the resilience we need to care for and about our relationships, our communities and our natural environment.  This is in keeping with the concepts promoted by my teacher, Eoin Finn in the Blissology Project. 

During my 30+ year career in environmental management within federal and provincial government agencies, I experienced and also noticed that many of my colleagues suffered from stress, anxiety, depression and other illnesses. Ironically, trying to conserve a healthy natural environment often feels like a losing battle, with negative health consequences for the people working in this field. More and more, these jobs involve sitting in offices in front of computers, on conference calls, or at meetings. This type of work often results in frequent aches and pains and weight gain. Based on my personal experience and observations of others, I believe that Yoga, including an invigorating physical asana practice, the rejuvenating power of breathing and meditation, and the restorative influence of yogic philosophy, can help build resilience.  Healthy, resilient individuals communicating in a compassionate manner make the world a better place.

The word “Yoga” in Sanskrit means literally “to yoke”, often interpreted as “union”, usually considered as a union of body, mind and spirit. However, Yoga also inspires an awareness of union or connection with other people and other sentient beings, along with the practice of loving kindness or metta, and a feeling of harmony. This awareness of the connections among living things is also a central tenet of the science of ecology, the study of ecosystems.

I teach many of my classes outside. The feelings of well-being and bliss that result from practicing yoga outdoors in natural environments improve our physical, mental and spiritual health. Practicing yoga outdoors amid the sounds of birds, frogs and laughing children, can help us feel more connected to those ecosystems in the natural world, something that is becoming rare in our increasingly urbanized, technologically driven and stressful world. When teaching indoors, my playlists feature sounds from Nature that help soothe and inspire. Nature appreciation is Commitment #3 in Eoin Finn’s Blissology approach.

My life mission is to inspire others to care about and to care for Nature, the root source of health and wellbeing. By teaching yoga in a way that respects and appreciates Nature, I help people tap into the natural world’s life force in a way that sustains body, mind and spirit.

In my four decades of practicing yoga, I have had the good fortune to learn from many yoga teachers and to explore many yogic philosophical approaches, styles and techniques.What currently excites me and what is revolutionizing both my personal yoga practice and my teaching is the YogAlign Method for “pain free yoga from your inner core” developed by Michaelle Edwards of the Mana Yoga Centre in Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. In July 2014, I took a YogAlign Teacher Training course to become certified as a YogAlign affiliate teacher, the first (and currently only) one on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. From a life andyoga practice sustaining point of view, YogAlign may be the most important step along the way in my entire yoga journey.