Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Sandhu

Hi Jessica, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I guess it depends on which part of the story we’re speaking about!! If we go from the VERY beginning, my mother likes to remind me that I left the hospital with no clothes (she was becoming a single mother having me with no money or a home at the time of my birth) and that I’ve come a long way to where I am now. She’s loud and proud of where I’ve landed because she knows how little I came into the world with.

But the story of how I make a living and create in the world is another (and a small part of the overall story). I won’t lie, it was a struggle to get “here” – if we can seriously say that one has arrived at “here”. I feel as though I’m continually arriving at a point when another point appears ahead. And after going through that cycle often, you have to be ok with a high level of striving and then also find ways to be content and grounded in yourself during it. Knowing deep down that it’s an illusion to need to arrive anywhere because you are always where you are. BUT if I play the game of hustling in this capitalistic society, it’s about finding a balance in this system…

The throughline to my journey is paying attention to my intuition and reading a lot of books. I’d read, get ideas about the world beyond what I could see, about how people lived, near and far, and then use that to help strengthen possibilities for my life. That dance would also help me listen to the call of my heart – my intuition. Which is sort of the way I’ve continued to operate to this day.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

During periods in my childhood, my family was on the Canadian welfare system. That set up and being Native in a society that really doesn’t value either of those, felt really hard to live with sometimes. I’ve learned to value myself with a lot of work and self-care, becoming a very proud Native!

Maybe because I didn’t have that much to lose, it was easier to decide to move to Europe after high school? My family couldn’t afford to put me through college, there was no generational wealth to pass on to me, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada had nothing to offer me.

In England, I read even more, met interesting people, worked hard, traveled a lot and realized that whatever I wanted in life, I could make most of it happen. And it sort of has happened.
I moved to the US in 1999, put myself through college, worked in non-profits and then eventually decided to leave my job to teach yoga and become a health coach in 2012.

By leaving Winnipeg in 1997, when I was 20-years-old, a neural pathway was created in my brain. This pathway allowed me to continue to take action that was perhaps more brave than the average Jane.

It isn’t easy to move at any time or to go to school later in life or to leave a job that pays for your health insurance – in a society where health insurance and health care costs are through the roof and playing it safe generally wins. It was hard and painful to leave things that felt comfortable, but I was willing to take a risk because I had taken a big one before. I’m not saying that people need to experience being poor or go through racism to have perseverance, but I do believe that hard times create circumstances for growth. I also don’t wish those experiences on anyone.

Am I a millionaire? No, and that’s not the point. But, I have been very fortunate enough to get to this place “here” with integrity, grace, a lot of elbow grease plus support from sources I never imagined would be so. People who saw my struggle and wanted to help.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I’m a yoga and Pilates teacher, somatic life coach and speaker based in Washington, DC, the ancestral lands of the Nacotchtank and the Piscataway People. My work is a response to my own healing and self-discovery journey. In working with clients, one-on-one or in a group setting and on retreats, I help them come home to themselves more empowered, authentic and grounded with somatic practices. These tools help them connect to their own internal power to access their agency and strengthen their intuition.

Any big plans?

I have some big plans! But I am not able to share them just yet as they are in an incubation period right now. I am, however, able to share that I have been pivoting more towards Indigenous healing for myself and in how I work with clients. And I have many projects that will be slow released through the rest of the year, including more retreats around the world, Indigenous events, healing medicine ceremonies and much more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jessicasandhu.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicapsandhu/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.paulette.1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5L8aAZW6zSZitc5LQwIRIQ

Image Credits
I have rights and permission.