jess’s yoga journey began when she was a teenager. she was living in a chronically traumatized body at the time, although she certainly didn’t have those words for it yet. a friend once jokingly pointed out, “you always walk with your head down!” she laughed, because they weren’t wrong.
when “yoga” unexpectedly appeared on her high school schedule, her first reaction was, hmph, no thanks. she actually tried to switch the class for culinary cooking. (would she have become a chef? the world will never know.)
thankfully, she gave it a chance. her high school yoga teacher, leeann trigler (and melissa costello!), introduced her to the practice. she quickly fell in love with the movement and breath and eventually began taking hot yoga classes at whitman wellness center, where lee-ann owned the studio with cara cappelini.
the feeling she experienced after class was unlike anything she had known before, and she kept returning to the mat. nearly 13 years later, yoga has become almost her entire life.
and now, in 2026, jess is holding space for the yoga studio at whitman wellness center—the very studio where she continued practicing after first discovering yoga with lee-ann. what started as a high school class she tried to get out of has somehow come full circle.
jess is forever indebted to lee-ann and cara for every gift they have given her.
jess completed her first 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2017 and has since taught thousands of classes, workshops, private sessions, events, and retreats in all kinds of settings. she completed her 300-hour advanced teacher training and became a certified breath coach in 2020.
over the years, she has taught many styles of yoga and worked with a wide range of communities, from beginners and families to athletes, corporate teams, schools, people in addiction recovery, and the lgbtq+ community.
she has taught in studios, schools, offices, backyards, parks, farms, and just about anywhere else there’s room for a yoga mat. since 2024, she has also led retreats both domestically and internationally.
my teaching style allows students to unfold limitations in both their body and mind while providing a space for them to feel a sense of peace within. I weave the philosophy of yoga throughout my classes, applying ancient wisdom to our western world in a useful and understandable way. my classes focus on creating an environment where people feel safe to show up however they are that day, to breathe, and to explore what their body and mind need.
jess has offered donation-based classes supporting mental health advocacy and social justice.
her work outside of yoga includes serving as a council member with the council against institutional and psychiatric abuse (caipa). rooted in personal experience, her involvement reflects her commitment to ethical and non-coercive care.
jess has been vegan since 2018 and loves hot weather, traveling, and finding hidden vegan gems throughout massachusetts and rhode island. thailand is one of her favorite places she’s visited, and she will almost certainly plan part of a trip around where she’s going to eat.
at home, she has leo, her 11-year-old velcro cat, who would prefer to be attached to her at all times. she’s also deeply grateful for her close friends, including some she’s known since she was eleven.
her meditation practice began at seventeen after an unexpected “a-ha” moment sparked by a youtube video. it has remained an essential part of her life ever since.
she has lyrics from “vienna” by billy joel and “you’ll be in my heart” by phil collins tattooed on her.
jess is an aries, if that tells you anything.
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jess@letsjessbehere.com