Our Amazing Instructors

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! 

My yoga journey began in 2004 when back surgery invited me to slow down and discover a more mindful, healing way to move. 

What started as recovery became a lifelong practice that continues to shape how I teach, lead, and live my yoga.

I am an EYT‑500, completing my 200‑hour training at At Om Yoga Studio in 2015 and my 300‑hour training at JOY Wellness in 2024. I am also Reiki II certified and bring this gentle, intuitive energy into my classes.

I teach without music so I can hear the breath of those on their mats — believing that breath is the true music of practice. 

My classes are grounding, accessible, and infused with presence, laughter, and a sense of ease. 

I offer hands‑on Reiki touch and gentle assists for students who welcome them, creating a space where people feel supported, safe, and deeply connected to themselves.

I lead meditation in groups and one‑on‑one settings and am part of the JOY Yoga Teacher Training faculty, guiding new teachers with compassion, clarity, and lived experience.

Outside JOY, I nourish my creativity through photography, gardening, cherish time with my family, and am an avid jigsaw puzzler who loves the quiet focus and simple joy of bringing pieces together.

I am a long time yogi who just so happened to have made my way to this community in 2016 as a yoga student and friend to Jennifer! From years of practicing yoga in gyms or at home, I finally nestled in at JOY-and never looked back. The sacred space that JOY provided not only taught me what it felt like to explore the science of yoga and meditation as such but invited me to open myself to the sacredness within. I often share this story with my class of how I came to switch from student to staff and it goes like this: 

One day, after a heart opening experience on my mat -under the yellow painted solar plexus chakra in the studio, I knew I wanted to be a part of the bigger picture with JOY. I actually said "I'm going to work here.” I wanted to teach others how to feel liberated and free just how I felt lying in that harmonious state during savasana.

Not long after in 2019, Jennifer presented me with an opportunity to work with people on the healing side of JOY as a practitioner!! She trained me in the sacred service of foot soaks, private meditation sessions, and relaxing sauna soaks. I relished in taking care of others and how it weaved into my yoga practice. With 15+ years in education as a pre-k teacher turned public school educator working with all kinds of students; this new chapter was paved by my previous undertakings.

In my first year in public school, I worked with middle school students who were faced with emotional and behavioral challenges which brought me to special needs students with autism and spectrum disorders. My last two years in public school were spent working with elementary students new to the country with limited communication.

I had students from Iran, Burma, and Africa. These experiences gave me a very deep understanding of the world, the many cultures and the need for connection. It fostered my nurturing side and still holds a presence in the way I view the world. In 2012, I chose to stay home with my own children and fully immersed myself in motherhood. (That’s whole chapter

In itself!!)

Fast forward to 2020-when the world was standing still on shaky grounds, I leaped into my first Yoga Teacher Training with JOY School of Yoga! At the height of some of the most challenging times, I dove into my practice head first! Completing my 200 hours, I taught my first class in June of 2020! Most recently, I completed my 300 hour YTT with JOY in May 2023 and found myself diving even deeper into yoga philosophy, Buddhism, energy work, and my own spiritual philosophy. I will be starting my reiki master program and sound healing certification this summer here with JOY and look forward to bringing that to my students! 

My greatest inspirations come from my 4 amazingly wild (or wildly amazing) children; Ricky 21 (USAF active), Brooke 14, Madelyn 10, and Willow 21 months! Their soul’s presence in my life has given me the fortitude to heal myself-and to live with an open heart! 

My long time partner/husband, Rick, who has supported me through all my endeavors is my best friend. He is usually my Guinea pig for trying new methods or practices. 

I am a lover of: music, being outdoors, my (smelly, old) rescue dog Pokey, and being with others. I delight in simple things-like a good cup of coffee and the birds. 

A couple of fun things about me; I am the baby of 9! (Yes, 9-bless my mother.) When I was little, you’d find me outside making “soups” in my buckets with rain water and things from my yard-and ironically, I love making soups in my kitchen and sharing with the ones I love! I am Leo, a lover of writing, and I live to make people laugh! I'm a true Mamarazzi with my iPhone. Oh, and I have 3 chickens and a fish! 

My passion for teaching yoga and meditation is rooted in healing, empowerment, and self reflection. It is the work of the heart that keeps me motivated and inspired always.  

I’ve always been interested in fitness and starting taking exercise classes in my early twenties. I got certified to teach group exercise classes and Spin . I tried a few yoga classes, but found them challenging . 

I tried my first hot yoga class somewhere around 2009 on the recommendation of a friend who absolutely loved it. Unfortunately I did not, ending up with a migraine and dehydrated. 

Fast forward to 2017 , when i took one of the first yoga classes a friend was teaching that was geared towards beginners and loved it!! I remember thinking I’d love to teach yoga one day. 

Since then, I started dabbling with yoga here and there, and eventually enrolled in an online teacher training class here at Joy during Covid. But with 3 kids home doing online schooling.

 I was preoccupied, and 2 years later had barely made it past the first section of the training. In 2022, Jenn opened up a hybrid class and I jumped back in. I was uncomfortable at first, but I began to practice regularly and fell in love with the feeling that yoga brings. 

Not just the physical aspect, but learning mindfulness has been a game changer for me on and off the mat! I have adopted the practice of always coming back to my breath during any situation, immediately feeling calm and relaxed.

I trained under the beautiful soul Jennifer Charland, here at Joy and received my 300 hour YTT with an amazing group of women that I now consider friends . I recently became certified in Reiki 1, and am also a NSCA certified personal trainer.

I love to teach gentle flows, connecting breath to movement , holding poses for several breaths, allowing the body to relax and create space. I believe that everybody is different, and every body is different, and want everybody to know that yoga is for every single body!!

Chance brought Andrea to yoga, but curiosity and desire to learn more about wellness kept her diving into the practice. Andrea fell in love with the practice of yoga as she discovered the therapeutic and meditative foundations of linking movement to breath in 2018.

The creative and physical expression on the mat served as a means to understand what she could not express emotionally. Yoga quickly became an important pillar in Andrea’s life. In 2021, Andrea completed her first yoga teacher training in the track of Hatha. A year later, Andrea became a 500 hour registered yoga teacher with her second training in Vinyasa.

Outside of the studio, you can find Andrea painting, traveling, finishing her degree, learning how to play the piano, and appreciating the arts in a myriad of forms. She is passionate about sharing the power of living in the present moment and finding a deeper connection through the mind and body connection. Andrea utilizes teaching as an opportunity to share with others a sacred practice that brought solace and immense personal growth into her life. In class, Andrea offers playful, imaginative, dynamic, and ultimately pragmatic classes taught at a pace that allows for intentional movement. 

Dawn’s personal yoga journey began more than 20 years ago at a small studio in Windham, NH. After a long pause, she found her way to JOY three years ago and immediately felt at home. Inspired by the community and mentorship of Jennifer Charland, she completed both her 200-hour and 300-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings through JOY.

For the past year, Dawn has enjoyed subbing classes and sharing the practices that helped her reconnect with herself through yoga. In her spare time, Dawn enjoys gardening, ballroom dancing, spending time with family, and continuing her own lifelong yoga journey.