Backbending Yoga Workshop with Jessica Bellofatto

According to BKS Iyengar, backbends combat depression, energize our systems, and most importantly open our hearts, facilitating the movement from the illusion of separateness to the realization of Oneness. Jessica will guide all levels of students to safely bend backwards, a movement that has as much of an upward ascension as it does a “backward” direction. Learn how to use the power of the legs to liberate the spine, how to keep the groins and the belly soft and receptive and how to transition with less fear and greater ease through a wide variety of backbends. Chanting, pranayama and meditation will also be incorporated, making for a well-rounded practice designed not only to open up the body, but the mind and the heart as well. Also discussed will be the true aim of all Yoga practice: the wish for enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.

Jessica Bellofatto, owner of KamaDeva Yoga in East Hampton, NY has been a dedicated student of Hatha Yoga for the past 17 years. Her interest in Yoga was piqued at the age of 19, while she was majoring in Dance at New York University. She completed the intensive year-long Teacher Training Program at the Jivamukti Yoga Center with beloved teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life in 1996 and has been teaching ever since. First and foremost a student, Jessica has studied extensively with such notable teachers as Genevieve Kapuler, Richard Freeman, Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten, John Friend, James Murphy, and Lara Brunn. She has been featured in The New York Times, The NY Post, The Daily News, Hamptons Magazine, and more. She was just selected as one of Athleta's "featured athletes" for 2011, along with only nine other women nationwide. Jessica teaches a style of Yoga that is clearly her own, incorporating her extensive training in various styles of Yoga, as well as other body-related disciplines such as Thai Massage and Reiki. She is also the mother of two amazing children, and does triathlons, stand up paddleboarding, surfing, and any other sport she can get her hands on!

Past Workshops

Spring 2010: Greenwich Yoga, Greenwich, CT

January 2010: Reebok Sports Club, New York City