The OM Festival – Jo Kirsch
The OM Festival – Jo Kirsch been practicing yoga for 32 years and teaching for 22. She is certified to teach yoga at the 500 Hour level through Yoga Teacher Alliance and the Hard & the Soft Yoga Institute.
Jo’s initial yoga teacher training was in Astanga yoga with Beryl Bender Birch. Since that time, Jo has been certified to teach Adaptive Yoga by Matthew Sanford, Trauma Sensitive Yoga by David Emerson, Yoga Nidra by Jennifer Reis, Yoga of 12 Step Recovery with Nikki Myers and Yin Yoga with Biff Mithoefer. Jo has a deepening love and appreciation for Bhakti Yoga and finds her heart cracking wide open as she studies and practices with Manoj Chalam, Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band, and Gaura Vani. Her studies also include Iyengar and Anusara yoga, with many amazing, inspiring, loving teachers. Jo just graduated, Fall 2021, from Soul School, a 200 Hour online Yoga interdisciplinary teacher training program presented by Sean Johnson and Mitchel Bleier.
Jo’s personal experience with Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD) inspired her to work with individuals with PTS, to help them manage their stress and heal. Jo’s practice informs her teaching. She’s found that everyone benefits from learning and practicing coping skills to help manage personal stress. She greatly values and teaches stress reduction techniques including posture practice, meditation, focused breathing, and yoga nidra in her yoga classes.
Jo is also a certified professional ski instructor who loves to ski and share her passion for the sport with others. A lifelong learner who subscribes to experiential education, Jo finds that a balanced combination of physical activity, being in nature, practicing the different limbs of yoga, and eating well, leads to a spiritual, mental and physical life of health and happiness. She loves to share these practices with friends, family, and individuals who are in search of healing and happiness.