About Jovinna

If I had been successful in controlling my life, I would not have experienced Divine grace.

Who Am I?

Like you, I am a sincere seeker who desires to know the truth of who I am and to experience spiritual union with the Divine. At the same time, I cherish every experience that makes me human. I am a devotee on the path of Self Realization, rooted in the matrix of personal spiritual practice, self-study, contemplation, and writing.

My Work

My work is awakening curiosity and intuition in practitioners, making spiritual teachings accessible and digestible for householders, contributing insights as a female practitioner, and modeling devotion to practice so as to empower others, especially women, to do the same.

My Approach

“Give a woman a fish and you feed her for a day. Teach her how to fish and you feed her for a lifetime.”

This old proverb sums up how I approach teaching. I am interested in the process (the how) rather than the destination (the what). As a guide, I draw on these values to support the process:

Self observation with compassion
Curiosity
Creativity
Questions and more questions
A sense of humor

Ways To Work With Me

As a mentor, I offer private coaching for lifestyle changes to create space and energy for sadhana (spiritual practice). I also lead yoga teacher trainings and other programs based in yoga, conscious dance, meditation, poems, philosophy, and mystic wisdom.

I offer yoga and conscious dance classes to strengthen the body, rejuvenate the nervous system, and weaken the grip of depression and anxiety. All of my programs create learning conditions that melt away inhibitions and draw out the wildness in my students.

When I teach, I’m on the journey with my students, all of us engaged in contemplative and creative thinking.

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Was I Born A Yogini?

Not really, but there was a thread I followed that led me to become the yogini I am today. I was born and raised in a village in Singapore, where ancient surrounding temples and forests gave me a first taste of reverence and awe. I fell in love with the magic of movement by way of television, mesmerized by contortionists at a very young age, then later, inspired by Kung-fu shows to save the world from evil-spirited people as a kick-ass martial artist.

When the TV series Solid Gold came to Singapore, I was a young teenager. I wanted to be a dancer! Around the same time, I was inspired to begin a yoga practice by a library book I encountered full of supple bodies in different postures. Years later, this long thread of love for movement led me to a decade in New York City’s theater and dance schools, yoga and karate studios, and in 2007, to Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.

There, as a resident of a “modern-day ashram” immersed in the yogic lifestyle and selfless service, I studied with Kripalu’s senior teachers and other international yoga and spiritual teachers visiting Kripalu. In addition to eight years of intensive training in yoga, I got certified in Soul Motion and Let Your Yoga Dance, and served as assistant dean for the Kripalu School of Yoga’s 200- and 500-hour teacher trainings.

I am the co-founder of Pranotthan School of Yoga and the co-director of the year-long Acharya Intensive program for spiritual practitioners who wish to use the wisdom from their life experiences for the benefit of all beings.