Yoga Teacher Leaves Corporate Job, Follows Inner Voice

Local yoga teacher Jenny Smyth had always dreamed of leaving the four windowless walls of her office that had confined her for years to follow her heart.

Nine months ago, she took that leap, and hasn't looked back since.

Smyth had worked in a corporate business setting for 25 years before starting her own yoga studio, Jenny Smyth Yoga, which shares a space with Elite Dance Company on Alpine Lane.

During her time working at a "nine to five" working in human resources as a recruiter, yoga was her outlet, she said.

"It sucks the indiciduality out of you," she said with a laugh. Smyth now specializes in teaching yoga in an office setting. "I really think yoga can help them. You’re not able to explore your true calling (there) and I was lucky enough to leave corperate America and listen to my inner voice and do some soul searching and figure out what I want to do."

Smyth said somehow she'd always known she could teach yoga.

"I practiced yoga for all those 25 years, one day a week, and it was my salvation. It was my oasis. I looked forward to that," she said.

 Smyth also owned her own business in human resources for 10 years - so when it came time to start Jenny Smyth LLC, she was no stranger to the business world.

"I'm a perfectionist in product, that’s why when I look at my students, I want them to feel that they're getting what they’re looking for when they leave class, because I know what I needed and what I was looking for," she said.

When it came time for Smyth to start her yoga business, she was never afraid of a tough economy setting her back. Still, she experienced some self-doubt.

"But what I would do when those thoughts came in was release them and let them go and surround myself with positive thoughts," she said. "It's the yoga that allows me to do it. That's when I knew what I wanted to do. Through yoga, anything is possible. Every time I do yoga, I gain more confidence."

Now that Smyth's yoga studio is starting to take off, she sees she made the right decision at the right time in her life. Had she started the studio earlier, she said, she may not have been ready for it.

"Through yoga, everything will come in time, everything is a preparation for a path on your journey. I felt the stars were aligned with the kids are in good places and financially I had to work, so I needed to find something I was passionate about," she said. "Maybe I wouldn’t have been ready five or 10 years ago."

Now, Smyth teaches a variety of classes every week at the studio but she also works in office settings with corporate employees, like she used to be.

 "Through yoga I realize we’re all the same, so I see their energy. I see the person, I see what they need so I kind of relate to where they’re coming from. I've made it my quest to help them to feel really good," she said.

 Smyth said the past nine months of business have been fun, and yoga has brought her to meet new people and gather a new community.

"I’ve been touched by so many great people and I’d like to think I touched them in positive ways," she said.

 Smyth said in the beginning of her practice, she started out like many people do - just trying to settle down on the mat.

"I could not do it. When you have kids or you're young in your career, you cannot quiet your mind. It seemed funny and odd to try to do that," she said. "I just kept at it trying, reading about it. I always knew there was something about yoga that would draw me in."

And it did - Smyth said yoga has nurtured her and centered her when she needed it most.

"It comes to you when you really need it," she said. "When corperate America got stressful, I got a good yoga teacher and I made a mission to be in that class once a week and never ever miss it. In that enviroment, it brings your stress level down and teaches you coping mechanisms."

Smyth's gentle yoga approach comes with a positive message, she said.

"I strive to present each class so that my students will feel their personal power and feel refreshed and rejuvenated and able to handle what life throws at them" she said.

She also thinks her students don't feel intimidated by her.

"I'm not a pretzel stick, I’m real, I’m a mom, I’m a peer and I think that calls them to the class," she said. 

At the end of the day, Smyth hopes her students will take lessons from the mat into their every day lives, much like she did while she worked a regular day job.

"I talk a lot about finding the peace in stress, the calmness in stress, the balance in a wobbly posture," she said. " ...  At the end of the day, that’s what it's about. When you follow your passion and you’re true to yourself, the universe will supply what you need. It’s all yoga."