Jennifer Charland
JOY is ancient wisdom.
We enter under the premise of said yoga class name but the intention behind the offering goes much deeper. In fact, the yoga sutras remind us to lose our fascination with our bodies. This does not mean letting go of working on being healthy. It means that it is time to reveal our JOY through our practice.
The history of JOY
In 2013, Jennifer Charland began creating a business outline for a yoga studio and wellness center. When it came to name it she started with A Journey Om Yoga School. While going through business training she was encouraged to find an acronym within her business name if possible. It was in that moment that JOY stood out to her. She felt an overwhelming sense of JOY and tears filled her eyes. Alone in her house she jumped up and down and celebrated the birth of JOY.
This had been a dream since 2000 when she was in college for Interior Design, designing her senior thesis, a wellness center. The name of it back then was Concept of Light...a pretty good premonition for what JOY represents. Design school nourished and piggy backed on her younger years and her connection with the notion 'God is love' starting at a very young age she wondered what that meant.
In 2008, when Jennifer embarked on 200 hour yoga teacher training, she had already spent the previous 6 years studying and practicing yoga, buddhism, and meditation and held a masters degree in Holistic Wellness and a Phd just short of her dissertation (because the school closed) in Traditional Naturopathy. She has also been a Reiki Master since 2003.
When the first YTT weekend came up, her 2nd child was a month old! Living in North Carolina and training in Virginia, the perfect plan because her ex-husband would be stationed in Virginia shortly after he returned from deployment and during YTT. That weekend, together they packed up the 2 kids and headed up so she could nurse between sessions.
Jennifer's yoga teacher, Vimala Ren Fields, was a master of teaching! At that time she had 40 years of teaching experience under some very prominent teachers such as Sri Swami Satchidananda. The training was in Integral Yoga and Muscular skeletal structure. Integral yoga (what Jennifer integrates into her classes) is:
Hatha Yoga; Postures, breathing, yoga nidra, mudras (energy seals), bandhas (energy locks), and kiryas.
Raja Yoga; The path of concentration and meditation
Bhakti Yoga: The path of love and devotion
Karma Yoga: The path of selfless service
Jnana Yoga: The path of wisdom
Japa Yoga: The practice of mantra repetition
During the duration of that training, she knew she needed to create a yoga teacher training that was about personal and spiritual development and growth that was accessible to as many people as possible. Hence the creation of the JOY 200 hour online yoga teacher training. The first of its kind!
Upon graduation in 2009 she was given the name Bhavani - Compassion - oversee the living...and from that day on she began teaching and hasn't stopped
In 2011, Jennifer began 850 hours of Massage and Body Work therapy school. This training solidified all that she was learning about yoga, energy, and healing. Upon graduation she passed a rigorous National Bodywork Certification and began incorporating massage, reiki, and yoga into her work. This work led her to run the yoga program at Arizona Western College and eventually to teach at George Mason University.
All the things that led to the creation of JOY - Journey Om Yoga
Other accomplishments include:
Care Giver Training and Volunteer work at The Enso House; home for the dying Whidbey Island WA 2005
Transformation Meditation Teacher certification 2006
Personal Mastery Intensive and True Self Leadership with Pathways Institute 2017-2017
Business training with Marie Forleo and Tony Robbins Business Mastery Program 2013 / 2019
Kirtan and Yoga Retreat 2019
300 Hour Vajra Yoga Teacher Training with Tenzin Robert Thurman and Michele Loew 2022-2023
Immersion in Ram Dass, Krishna Das Retreats and Maharaji path, Kirtan, Buddhism, Bhakti via Hawaii, Yatra to India, Boone NC, 2018 / 2019 / 2022
Caroline Myss: Wounds into Wisdom 2023
Daily Sadhana incorporating the practices through and with family life and business
Jennifer has a beautiful family with 3 children ages 19, 15, 2, and a loving partner in everything Joshua. Joshua is a champion of JOY and is a behind the scenes guy as well as a philosophy teacher at JOY. They embarked on the 300 hour Vajra Yoga teacher training together and enjoy studying, creating, reading, and discussing the many facets of yoga and Buddhism...living yogis and buddhas!
They met in 2019 on match.com of all places only to find out that they owned businesses across the street from each other! He owns East Coast Tattoo and Body Piercing and also Moody Clothes t-shirt company. You're encouraged to read the bio's of the people that work at East Coast to get some insight into Josh's humor!