buddha machine for mental zen

it's amazing how much a little background ambient music can calm your mind, deepen your meditation and/or get you in the yoga zone, helping to tune out of everything around you and tune into you. sure, fancy speakers and a large music collection can help you create this mood, but you can create this same mood on a budget. enter, the buddha machine, the mini magical device that plays nonstop music with decent output for being such a little guy.

the yogadeal: for under $30 get your own buddha-approved soundtrack.

jenn pesce

the coming together of all things jenn: yoga instructor :: blogger :: whole foodie :: student of life

who am i (jenn pesce)?

by day, i have a full-time position as the brand director at an indie beauty company. since i am a gemini (and real life twin), my other ‘side’ is a yogini, so i like to think of myself as a business yogini. i have been practicing yoga since 2003 and took my first teacher training with sadie nardini in 2005. each year i try to continue my yoga studies beyond just attending classes and my home practice with trainings and intensives. for example, i have also completed an 8-month yoga anatomy course with jason ray brown, an intro course in sanskrit at the ashtanga yoga shala studio, exploratory courses with tara stiles at strala yoga, a 200 hour course with alison west, and 72 hours of prenatal yoga studies.

as for my teaching experience i have worked with a non-profit organization called bent-on-learning and thoroughly enjoyed my time teaching children in public schools. i have also taught weekly classes at private gyms in manhattan and have several private clients and semi-private groups.

in terms of a healthy lifestyle, i don’t smoke, drink moderately and eat like my mom taught me – colorfully. i am a big advocate of whole foods (as in the actual food, but the store is a-okay in my book too), my juicer, food processor and beloved vitamix. i love learning new information about what foods are good, why and how to get others to eat them. i think pescetarian (yes, just like my name, it means fish) best describes my diet, mostly veggies with some fish and shellfish, oh and cheese, but in general i don’t eat things with beaks or boobs (in other words, no poultry, no mammals). i am also known for encouraging my friends and family to eat ‘green things’ – at least once a day for starters.

and lastly, i enjoy laughing, smiling and helping others do the same.

why do i teach the yoga?

simply put, i teach to help find balance and the space between, that moment of freedom and levity, for myself and others. by learning how to be ok on my mat, i have found i can figure out how to be ok regardless of whatever gets thrown my way once i step off of it . it's practice afterall for the big game known as life. through yoga, i firmly believe you can learn to laugh and find lightness in the everyday, because life should be bright and full of energy, on the regular.