Jane Patterson

Instructor

Your yoga mat is a truly amazing thing. You step on it, sweat all over it, and then roll it up and forget about it until the next time you need it. Yet each time you roll it out, it is there to support you. To protect you. To help you find balance, build strength, and take rest. It doesn’t turn you away if you’re tired, angry or unhappy. And all it asks in return is that when you lay it down, you commit to 3 simple things: to your breath, to listening to your body, and to doing your best. I want to be clear here that your best does not mean my best, or his best, or their best. It means YOUR best, and nobody knows what that looks like but you. That’s the deal. You breathe, you listen, and you give your full effort and awareness to what your body and mind need that day. In return, the mat becomes 2 x 6 feet of space dedicated to YOU.

I rolled a yoga mat out for the first time, right here in Charlotte, 6 years ago. Only visiting the city at that point, I returned home to Los Angeles and began taking classes at Bryan Kest’s studio. My regular practice really took root there. After graduating from UCLA in 2005, I returned to Charlotte to deepen my yoga practice, studying vinyasa flow with Grace Morales and completing her Hot 26 certification. The following year, Andrey Lappa came to Charlotte, and I was able to study with him here, completing his Level 1 Teacher Training. Deeply inspired by his Universal Yoga teachings, I continued on to the next level of his program, and am honored to be one of the few of teachers in the US to have passed his Level 2 Teacher’s Certification. In 2007 I traveled with Andrey as his assistant to the Ukraine, Israel and Nepal. In Nepal, I went into a two-month personal retreat, led by Andrey, which included yoga, fasting, meditation, and self-study.

These days, I continue my studies with Universal Yoga, as well as drawing inspiration and understading from Peter Sterios, Shiva Rea, Grace Morales, Bryan Kest, Govindas and Radha, Desiree Rumbaugh, Denise Duffy, and the amazing force of energy that is Tanner.

My classes are designed to bring a sense of vitality and balance to body and mind, uniting dynamic movement with steady breath. So come to class ready to breathe, sweat, laugh, play, challenge yourself, and ultimately, let it all go.