Shortly after moving to Asheville around 6 years ago, Jess Ward found her way to yoga and it quickly became a transformative part of her life. What began as a physical practice has grown into a journey of spiritual healing, helping her reconnect and become One in mind and body. As a new member of the front desk team, she hopes to welcome each person with the same compassion and patience that yoga has taught her. She’s looking forward to supporting others’ personal journeys, and to help make the studio a warm, welcoming, and grounded space for all.
She’s very excited to integrate further into the HYA community and looks forward to getting to know everyone!
She resides in West Asheville and spends much of her free time outdoors; hiking, birding, and bearing witness to the beauty of the natural world. She possess a deep love for live music and writing.
Read more about Jess’s journey:
HYA: How did you start practicing yoga?
Jess: It began officially with Rachel Parsons (an HYA student and graduate of HYA’s Hot Vinyasa Teacher Training in 2021). She came in to teach classes at a treatment center I used to work at, Asheville Recovery Center, and I would sneak in and do the classes with them. I ended up really liking it. Rachel would hold classes at her house, for her friends. We would do yoga in her garage together.
I had done yoga a few times in my past, but never practiced it on a real basis. It began as a physical practice for me. I kept coming back because of how good I felt physically and after awhile I began to realize the things it was also doing for my mind and my body and being able to connect the two. And there was one day when I had a really good session and I had somewhat of a spiritual experience, reaching parts of my mind during my yoga session that weren’t reachable when I’m too tapped into my logical self. And that was really transformative for me. That’s what kept me coming back. I wanted somewhere I could come more consistently and that’s what brought me here.
HYA: What drew you to become part of our front desk crew?
Jess: As far as the job goes, the stability was something I really valued. Also the community here, that’s the most invaluable thing to me. I want to integrate further into it. I also want to keep my practice a main focus in my life and it helps a lot for me to be here, among the community.
HYA: What is the most important element of your yoga practice?
Jess: I would say empowerment, physically and spiritually. Before I was an adult, I didn’t know that I had athletic capabilities. I was always the quiet art kid. I didn’t come from that kind of background, so to discover that in my adulthood was a super empowering experience. I found myself as an adult finding a lot of healthy outlets for not only negative emotions just intense emotions and my practice is definitely one of those. Empowerment is a big word for me. I can walk back into my life with more confidence and faith in myself.
HYA: How and when did you come to Asheville?
Jess: I’m from Simpsonville, S.C., and I came here about seven years ago for a myriad of things. I was in a gray area of bouncing around, trying to figure out where I wanted to be. I went to Los Angeles and didn’t like it. Ended up traveling around. I was in treatment for awhile for substance abuse. It’s been a long time now. That was a big factor in moving around. I was down in Port St. Lucie, Florida and smelling them lay blacktop down near me and thinking, I want to be up in the mountains where it’s cooler and I want to hike waterfalls. That just dawned on me. I’m like, the world is my oyster. I can just go up to Asheville if I want to. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. It ended being the only place that I’ve been able to call home in a long time.
HYA: When did you begin practicing at HYA?
Jess: In late 2022. I’m still a newborn when it comes to my yoga practice. I’m still discovering lots, and what it’s going to do end up doing for me for the rest of my life. I’m excited to see where it takes me. I hope to be able to inspire others to have transformative experiences. It’s another reason I like being here is because I’m not out there trying to sell something I don’t believe in, working for a company I don’t respect or care for. I’m very grateful for this position, to be in a place that I care about with people that I care about.
