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Jeremy Strickland – Jin Shin Jyutsu in Rishikesh

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Check out this discussion with Jeremy Strickland titled Jin Shin Jyutsu in Rishikesh. Jeremy practices and teaches Yin Yoga and Jin Shin Jyutsu bodywork in Rishikesh, India. Enjoy stories from the heartland of yoga as Jeremy speaks about the power and efficacy of Jin Shin Jyutsu therapy.

During this conversation Jeremy speaks about:

  • How he decided to live in Rishikesh?
  • Cranial sacral therapy and massage.
  • The convergence of traditional Chinese medicine and astrology.
  • Feeling the pulse of the heart.
  • Living in the yoga capital of the world.
  • The wildest thing he’s seen in India.

Jeremy’s bio:
Jeremy Strickland is a yoga instructor with a 500 hr RYT certificate from World Peace Yoga School, Rishikesh, India. He brings a light-hearted approach to asana practice, lifting spirits and making the complicated simple. His background is over 20 years as a Certified Massage Therapist in the USA, with a focus on Craniosacral Therapy and the esoteric art of Jin Shin Jyutsu physio-philosophy.

Visit Jeremy on his website: https://www.yinyoga1.com

Todd Mclaughlin

Well, welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. I’m so happy that you are here. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Jeremy Strickland. Jeremy is a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, which is a form of manual therapy utilizing contact points or points of awareness of the pulse in the body. And he is also a yin yoga instructor. He resides in Rishikesh, India, originally from USA, he has a website, check them out at yinyoga1.com. And you can also find him on the IG the Instagram with the handle @yinyoga_jinshinjyutsu. And of course, those links are in the description. Wherever you’re listening, just give a little click and I’ll take you right over. So happy to have this chance to introduce you to people that are experts in the field of yoga, and bodywork from all over the world. Remember that if you would like to practice with us here at native yoga center, in the description and links below, there’s a link for you to join to try two weeks of unlimited live stream yoga with us for free, you can join us for the classes that we offer to the public on a daily basis. And also every Thursday on YouTube Live, I do a free webinar where you can ask questions and so I have a different topic each week. And you can join in and ask questions via the chat box. So there’s a link there as well. You can click on that, check it out. And remember to go look for Jeremy on his website. yinyoga1.com. I hope you enjoy this discussion. Enjoy some cool stories from the other side of the world. Alright, let’s begin. I’m super excited to have the chance to speak with Jeremy Strickland. He’s a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, also a yin yoga instructor. And he’s joining me today from Rishikesh, India. Jeremy, how are you doing today?

Jeremy Strickland

I am fabulous. It’s really exciting to be here.

Todd Mclaughlin

Oh, thanks, man. I’m really excited to have a chance to talk with you. First of all, I’m really curious, how did you land in Rishikesh India and managed to not leave?

Jeremy Strickland

Well, all by happenstance, just before India, I was actually living in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City, and I had been there for eight months, I was my first time living outside of the US had had a big life change just before then. And was kind of not doing much of anything, just experiencing life in a new culture, studying language and what have you. And I thought I would get a yoga teacher certificate. I practiced vinyasa and bodywork for 20 years and I have dabbled in and out of yoga classes and had a pretty decent Ashtanga experience at one point. And as I was just out traveling, I thought I should get a yoga teacher certificate so I can see if I can make something happen, you know, and I was going out with a yoga instructor at the time in Vietnam. And she told me to go to Rishikesh. Yeah. And so I just did some research and it was cheaper to fly here and do a 500 hour program than it was to do anything in Vietnam or anything around there. So two weeks later, I’m in Rishikesh, first time in India. I had signed up to do a 500 hour program and ended up staying because I’m familiar with the meridian system that they’re using in yoga. And so the manager of the school that I was out when she found out that I knew the theory fairly well. She said you should stay and teach Meridian theory and the yoga teacher training which is very cool. And so I took off after my program for a couple of months and worked in Nepal and Thailand and traveled around a bit, and was about to start looking for something and she messaged me again. She was like, hey, what are you doing? She said, “You should come back here and do the 100 hour and yoga teacher training and start teaching meridian theory.” And I thought, it sounds like a good opportunity and came back and did exactly that at the beginning of 2019. I was teaching three, four or five classes a day couple of drop in classes, some Meridian theory in the 10 day teacher training program, up until COVID. And then when COVID happened, locked down was pretty intense here. But I didn’t want to go back to the US. And so I just ended up staying nice.

Todd Mclaughlin

How does it work in relation to your work visa? And then with COVID? I know a lot of folks that move to Indo and usually have to do a visa run after either a six month or one year period. Did that enable you to not have to do visa runs?

Jeremy Strickland

Yeah, well before I was just on one year tourist visas. And on the US you have to leave every six months. Yeah. And then we’re just do like a border run to Nepal. But when COVID happened, you they stopped making you leave the country and you did everything online for a while. Yeah. And then eventually, when they started kicking everything back in again. They gave everybody exit visa and told people to leave and so I left and got them. I was the first time and then I went back to the US for five months. That was the first time I’ve been back to the US and like four years. 

Todd Mclaughlin

Are you around visiting family and came back like eight months ago? Are you originally a San Franciscan?

Jeremy Strickland

No. Well, originally I was born in Ohio, just for a couple of years. And then I was pretty much raised in small town in Texas. Henrietta, Texas. 

Todd Mclaughlin

Yeah, very cool.

And you have a 20 year bodywork history?

Jeremy Strickland

Yeah, I stumbled into massage school when I was about 19 or 20 years old or something.

Todd Mclaughlin

That’s cool. And what is that story?

Jeremy Strickland

So I actually I had when I was a teenager, I was detailing automobiles. My dad was in the car business. My whole life was a child. And so I wound up at 19 years old, I was like detailing cars, grungy, dirty work, didn’t know what I was going to do with my life or anything. And my dad had started managing a bunch of PT schools at this time, and I came home one day and he had a female friend. And I was complaining about being dirty and sweaty and grungy and not liking my work. She said, almost verbatim. She said in six months from now, you could have a manicures license and be working in an air conditioned salon wearing nice clothes and holding hands with girls all day long. And sure enough, six months later, I’m in a salon polishing fingernails and giving manicures and pedicures. And at one point I see a reflexology chart by the pedicure stage. And that was the first time I’d ever seen that or that concept. Yeah. And so I thought, well, I should maybe learn how to do some reflexology, if I’m giving people foot massages for pedicures or whatever. So I called the local school and asked if there was a class. And I say, Well, we talked about it in our massage training program. But we don’t offer it as an individual class. And so soon thereafter, I’m signed up for the massage therapy program. And I went to that was in 1995.

You can listen to the full episode for free here: https://nativeyogacenter.buzzsprout.com

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Saskia Bolscher ~ Body Positive Yoga

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You can listen to the full episode for free here.

Watch the podcast episode on YouTube Here.

Todd McLaughlin

I’m so happy to bring Saskia Bolscher on to the podcast today. Please check Saskia out on her website, which is yogawithsaskia.co.uk. Also you can find her on Instagram @yogawithSaskia_ and also on TikTok, same handle @yogawithSaskia, no underscore. 

I found Saskia through Instagram and I am really inspired by her posts. I find her message to be really motivating. I’m just going to read her intro on the homepage of her website. She writes “I’m Saskia, a curvy yoga teacher who’s passionate about making yoga accessible to anyone, regardless of ability, size or background. As someone who has continually experienced being the largest person in yoga classes, and teacher training courses. I know how difficult it can be to step into a studio class. But believe me, yoga is not just for flexible and thin people. I strongly believe that yoga is for everyone. And so I will make you feel welcome in my classes. I encourage modifying poses and the use of props to make poses work for your body, not the other way around. Yoga is for you.” 

So on that note, let’s bring Saskia on the channel. 

I’m so happy to have Saskia here with me today and Saskia. You’re joining me from London in England. Is that correct? 

Saskia Bolscher

Yes, that’s correct. Thank you for having me. 

TM

Of course, I saw you on Instagram and I love your message. So I really am excited for or thankful for you to take some time out of your day to speak with me. When we were getting connected, I realized that I only put in my timezone and then when it was taking us a second to actually connect I thought, “Oh no, maybe I wasn’t clear about what time we were supposed to meet.” So I’m so glad that it worked out. What time is it over there?

SB 

Actually, it is 6:45pm in the evening.

TM

Oh, that’s not so bad. It’s 1:45pm here. Perfect. That’s pretty reasonable. All right, cool. Thank you so much. And I’m curious if you can just get us started in the direction of what you’re passionate about? In your your teaching?

SB

Yes. Thank you very much for asking Todd. I have been a yoga teacher for almost four years now. And I have practiced yoga for much, much longer than that. I’ve always been sort of in a bigger body, I’ve always been curvy. And so I’ve always found that I’ve had to adapt my practice a little bit to fit my body. And I’ve always been quite conscious that I’ve often been, you know, the biggest person in a yoga class in my yoga teacher training. And for a long time, I felt that as a yoga teacher, I wasn’t good enough. Because I thought you know, you have to be thin, right? Because you see all these other yoga teachers, they’re all thin and flexible. And I was like, oh, you know, if I’m really want to make it then that needs to be my goal. But along the way, I’ve sort of come to realize that it’s good to have representation of different ranges of bodies. So I’ve actually twisted that around and sort of made it my goal to show that anyone can do yoga. And if you’re in a bigger body, you can absolutely do yoga. You may have to adapt along the way and use props. But I’m all for it. And I show that in the classes that I teach, and I show that on Instagram on TikTok. I make videos to show people how they can make yoga work for their body rather than the other way around.

TM

That’s cool. What type of response are you receiving?

SB

Very positive. Yeah, actually, only almost only positive. Yeah. People are very grateful to see how they can adapt poses by using a block or a bolster, or strap or whatnot. And also, I’m getting lots of messages from people similar to me or, you know, yogi’s, in a similar size body, saying, Oh, it’s so nice to see someone else who’s also bigger, who’s practicing yoga, who is a teacher. I’ve had a student in the studio, where I teach locally come up to me and say, you know, I’m so amazed, and I’m inspired. And now I’m gonna take a teacher training, because I know now that I, you know, I can also do it. So yeah, it’s been really, really cool.

TM

That is cool. How did you first get involved in yoga?

SB

Oh, that’s a good question. I get this question a lot. And I don’t really have a good answer to it. I think in I started going to yoga classes at the gym, I think like a lot of people and I think it’s a long time ago, and I just I enjoyed it. I mean, I enjoy moving my body. I enjoy different types of exercise like dance and, and other things. I was never into sports really. So yoga worked very well. I’m fairly flexible. Not super, super flexible. But enough. So to that, yoga felt good. Yeah. I just kept kept going. And over time, I got more and more into it. I started practicing more, took it a bit more seriously, went on some retreats, etc, etc. 

TM

Cool. What style did you gravitate toward? You mentioned  the gym, but do you remember the teacher that you had at that time? Or maybe there was multiple teachers? But was there a specific style or arrangement of postures that stuck out in your mind? Or sticks out?

SB

It was hatha yoga at first. And I vividly remember practicing with ujjai breath, you know, in those first few classes, and I thought it was really cool. And it really added to the practice. And I hope as well that, you know, when I teach people in my classes that they are experiencing the same. But yeah, mostly Hatha Yoga. I  experimented with different styles, going to different teachers, different styles of classes. I’ve tried Kundalini. I’ve tried Bikram but wasn’t a fan. It’s a tough one for various reasons. We won’t go into that. Yeah, vinyasa, ashtanga. All different styles. And then further along the line, I discovered yin yoga and this is one of my one of my favorite styles now. It is really cool to practice and to teach.

TM

That’s how I found you. I thought, let me go into hashtag yin on Instagram and you popped up! 

SB

Oh, cool. 

TM

Yeah, I know, right? Sometimes when I do hashtags, I wonder like, “what the heck am I doing?” I mean, does this even do anything? It does, actually. It’s kind of fun to explore hashtags. It is such a great cataloguing system. You do a great job with your videos. I like the one that you did the most recent on Instagram that you we’re just kind of showing how to use a block to be able to get your spine straight. I’m curious, you’ve had a chance to practice in multiple styles and try different classes out and have gravitated toward yin. Is there a specific prop or modification that is your favorite? Something that you go to every single time that you like? 

SB

Yeah. So definitely when sitting in meditation, as you’ve seen in my latest IG Reel or TikTok video, I always set up either on blocks or on a bolster because it just allows you to sit, you know, up straight, and more comfortably. It doesn’t take any effort. And you can actually be in the pose with ease as we’re meant to be, right? Yeah. So yeah. Sthira Sukham Asanam. Yeah, stable and comfortable. But I think the main thing for me in making yoga work for my for my body and for other people who are in a bigger body is to make space for the body. So like in a child’s pose, taking the knees wide. Taking the feet a little bit wider, so that there’s space for the belly to go in between the legs. In twists, you know…. you can’t sometimes twist that far. So maybe like opening arms to help facilitate the twist. Things like that. That’s the main thing I would say. I always use props in all of my practices. If in a forward fold, if the floor feels far away, you know, put a block underneath. 

TM

Nice. 

SB

Things like that.

You can listen to the full episode for free here: https://nativeyogacenter.buzzsprout.com

Thanks for reading this blog post from this YouTube video. Check out: 👇
Native Yoga Teacher Training – In Studio and Livestream – for info delivered to your email click this link here: https://info.nativeyogacenter.com/native-yoga-teacher-training-2023/

https://info.nativeyogacenter.com/native-yoga-teacher-training-2023/

New Student Livestream Special ~ Try 2 Weeks of Free Unlimited Livestream Yoga Classes  at Native Yoga Center. Sign into the classes you would like to take and you will receive an email 30 minutes prior to join on Zoom. The class is recorded and uploaded to nativeyogaonline.com ~ Click Here to join.

New Student FREE 30 Minute Yoga Meet & Greet ~ Are you new to Native Yoga Center and have questions that you would like us to address? Whether you are coming to In Studio, Livestream or Online Recorded Classes we offer a one time complimentary 30 minute zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a time that is convenient for you. Click Here

Native Yoga website: nativeyogacenter.com
Online Yoga Class Library: nativeyogaonline.com
Thai Massage info: palmbeachthaimassage.com
Native Yoga Blog: toddasanayoga.com
Instagram: @nativeyoga
YouTube channel: Native Yoga Center

Listen to the podcast here on our Podcast website: Native Yoga Toddcast

Please email special requests and feedback to info@nativeyogacenter.com