We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jas Bhandal. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jas below.

Jas, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

Yoga and meditation have been a big part of my upbringing, only it wasn’t labelled in that way. Up until 2011, I had never set foot in a commercialized yoga studio, let alone thought about teaching it. I attended my first session in 2011, and very quickly learned that I enjoyed the practice and that I would eventually love to guide others as well.

There was an advertisement on the corkboard at the studio for an upcoming yoga teacher training in South America, and I had inquired about what it would entail. At the time, the financial cost was not something I could justify, but I was curious about who could attend the training, what we would learn, and what the requirements would be. To my surprise, the owner of the studio discouraged me from pursuing it. She stated that the Ottawa market was saturated with yoga teachers already, and that even if I did complete the training, the studio wouldn’t hire me as a teacher. I was a bit deflated, but put the thought of teaching on the back burner for a while.

Fast forward to 5 years later, I came across an ad for yoga teacher training a little closer to home, and it was in my budget. It was a small class – there were only 4 of us in total, and I absolutely LOVED it. As we completed our training, I was told the route that most teachers go is the studio route. I initially didn’t want to be associated with a particular studio, but figured the experience would be a good idea. So, I applied at one of the popular studios. I was rejected, and flat out told that I did not fit the aesthetic the studio was trying to cultivate.

It stung a bit to be rejected like that. I made up my mind that day that I would never teach studio classes where I didn’t control the practice I taught. I decided to prove the studio owners who had discouraged me and rejected me, wrong. I started my own yoga school in 2016, and haven’t looked back since!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to teach! Whether I’m teaching yoga, meditation, business management, or how to make samosas, I love seeing my students learn something new and have a great time doing it.

I learned and practiced techniques that help keep me grounded, and those are what I pass on to others. The practice of yoga allows us to translate our inner dialogue and helps us to settle the chaos that may get swept in. In my time teaching, I’ve learned that what we crave more than anything is connection and community. We all simply want to be seen and understood.

I offer live, online weekly yoga classes, as well as yoga and meditation workshops, retreats, and yoga teacher trainings. My teacher trainings are kept to small groups (usually no more that 6 people) to ensure that everyone is given the attention and support they deserve. The classes are always tailored to students’ goals and experience, and there are open lines of communication and support the whole way through.

I’m proud of the community I get to help build and empower. Graduates of my programs have gone on to further their impact on the communities they wish to serve, and knowing the connection is rooted in compassion and acceptance is a whole other level of appreciation.

I’m proud of how I’ve taken on an alternative approach to teaching and growth – I teach my students how to slow down to level. We are about intentional growth, meaningful connections, and the enjoyment of life. We are slowly unsubscribing from the hustle culture that’s so prevalent in western society today.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think this is something that most business owners had to do in the last couple of years, as the way people were able to interact was deeply impacted. My weekly classes used to be taught in person, but had to switch to an online platform. What this allowed me to do, however, was to widen my scope of impact in a way I hadn’t thought about. With having to to take most of the business and classes online, it was a challenge navigating the back-end of the tech that I was using, and it forced me to learn some of the basics in coding.

I run in-person samosa workshops (after all, what is a gathering without food?), and it’s one of the ways I love building community. Being able to take the session online and still being able to teach others a new skill was one way I was able to break the geographic barrier that had been present before. Due to the growth in the online space, now that we’ve resumed in-person sessions, the success continues to grow.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my reputation has been built on honesty, experience, and outside-the-box thinking. A lot of the students I’ve had the pleasure of teaching had a strict idea in their mind about what yoga teachers do, what a successful business looks like, and that practicing yoga is expensive.

I’ve been able to show and teach people how to build a practice and a space where we step out of hustle culture and into our authenticity.

Contact Info:

• Website: yogawithjas.com
• Instagram: @yogawithjas
• Facebook: facebook.com/yogawithjas
• Linkedin: Jas Bhandal
• Twitter: yogawithjas

Image Credits
Annemarie Grunden Julie Butler