From the Students

"I have to first start by saying I met Jo about ten years ago, I was going through some very difficult times both physically and mentally, and through Jo's workings and believing that I could and would heal, which by the way she helped instill in me, I got through it and have been healthier since.  So thanks a million Jo!!!!!!!!!!!!  On that same note, when I think about Jo's voice, it is like having her enlighten me all over again.  I really start thinking of how special her knowledge really is.  Jo, you are a blessed person and you are the chosen one to do the GOOD work out in the world.  How you teach physical movements through Yoga, I personally think that it is more then just physical and it actually had a spiritual impact in my life.  Thanks for sharing your knowledge with the world and more importantly, caring.  Keep in touch.

Dino Andino
Professional Surfer, Surf Academy and Billabong

The first moment I laid eyes on Jo Zukovich, I had an "aha" moment.  I had flown to a yoga conference to work specifically with her and her student, Matthew Sanford.  Haven continued a yoga practice after losing my left leg to a traumatic bus accident four years prior, left me hungry to learn as much as possible about adaptations I could make to my personal practice.  What I received from that weekend far surpassed my expectations.  Not only did I gain insight to how I could modify traditional asanas, but for the first time since beginning my practice I encountered the presence of a person who challenged me to step out of the norm and begin to "feel" the pose as if I were contorting my body into a fine piece of art.  Embodiment is a concept I think about every time I have the privilege to work with Jo.  When she is teaching, her love of yoga emanates from her very soul; stressing the importance of breath and personal inquiry as one practices.  Jo never fails to help as many of her students as she can; digging around the prop room (while continuing to teach!) to see if there is a belt, block, sand bag, or tinciest piece of cloth that will help the individual's experience.  Jo's classes are challenging.  Uplifting.  And, most importantly fun.  Never failing to suggest we smile while we hold our fiftieth down ward facing dog!  More then anything.  It's been a blessing to share the very space with her.

Margaret Westley
 

"When I first started doing yoga, I went to classes to escape what I realize now was a low level depression. After meeting Jo, and becoming her student, I learned to appreciate all aspects of my life and the world -- even the difficult parts -- as I learned also to appreciate how my body works, and how my mind, thoughts and body interact. Thanks to Jo’s diligent guidance, infectious love of life, and unwavering devotion to yoga, I found the courage to live fully with my eyes open."

Janet Langley
Certified Iyengar Instructor, owner of Rose Yoga Center, Medford, Oregon
www.roseyogacenter.com/yoga_intro.htm

"After a few false starts at taking up Yoga, I was introduced to Jo Zukovich and her flavor of Iyengar Yoga.  Having visited several studios I'd been introduced to a variety of styles and teachers.  Jo was by far the best. Why? you may ask ...  It was her unique ability to put into words what others couldn't.  Jo not only demonstrated impeccable form, she was able to communicate the intangible and seemingly esoteric aspects of the art that made it click for me.  That and her positive vibe and wealth of knowledge of the practice just make it a joy to go to Yoga.

Thanks Jo!"

Jeff Pastore
Broker

"A casual student of Yoga for many years—off and on—I came to the SD Yoga Studio in 1976. I was converted immediately to being a regular student.   Jo and her wonderful instructors, including hubby Mike, were the most skillful, empathetic, and eclectic group I had ever encountered.  By eclectic I mean all wonderfully skilled in the Iyengar method and poses, extremely committed, good teachers, and each unique in his or her own style and method. It made for a constantly challenging regime of classes. Classes with Jo herself, however, were always the most challenging.  Later, Jo did a series of lunch-time seminars for my company’s corporate clients and she was a huge hit.  She is especially skilled at taking people just where they are — no matter how chubby, out of shape, stiff, etc. — and making them feel like that is a perfect place to start yoga.  Not an easy feat in a corporate setting over the lunch hour!

In all these years she has not changed.  She is incredibly skillful as both a practitioner and teacher, passionate and committed to her own practice of yoga,and a wonderfully compassionate human, being and doing.  My last comment to her was that she should put more pictures of herself on her website as she is beautiful to watch as well as to learn from.  I hope that anyone reading this will jump at the opportunity to experience Jo Zukovich in class, through her website or as a friend.  Those of us who are lucky enough to have her in our lives are truly among the most fortunate, and the most blessed."

Regards,
Dr. Ann D. Clark
CEO and Chairwoman of the Board
ACI Specialty Benefits
www.acispecialtybenefits.com

After studying with Jo Zukovich for the past 8 years I can say she is an extraordinary teacher. Her dedication to the practice of Yoga, to her own teacher B.K.S. Iyengar, and her students is the motivating force in her teaching. Her classes are instructive, enlightening, powerful, intense and fun. What makes Jo such an authoritative and influential teacher is the way she communicates to her students what she has personally learned through her 30 years of doing yoga. Jo brings this active and ongoing knowledge to every pose she breaks open for her students. Her deep love of yoga shines through as Jo examines each pose with both joy and enthusiasm. Jo continually searches out the best way for her students to personally realize their own poses.

As a teacher Jo pulls together all the classical modes of learning in a meaningful way. Jo combines the actions of seeing, hearing and doing so her students can come to understand the pose on the deepest level. In addition she often recounts stories of the Hindu gods who have inspired certain poses to give her students yet another level of understanding of the pose itself. Jo constantly encourages and inspires her students using multiple forms of engagement. As she demonstrates a pose Jo will discuss the finer points of alignment as well as the essential mode of the pose; heavy, light, large, small, masculine, feminine, etc. and in this way her students begin to understand the asanas as both physical and mental.

Her extraordinary ability to inspire her students to be the best they can is matched by the subtleness of her individual instruction. Sometimes towards the end of a class she has given her students information on so many different and insightful levels that a light touch of her finger will cause her student to realize a profound shift of the muscle here, the skin there. Jo is truly an amazing person and teacher.

Vickie O'Riordan
Images Curator
Head, Technical & Digital Services
Arts Library, University of California, San Diego
Vice President, Visual Resources Association

There are so many aspects of Jo's workshop in Portugal to recommend --- the camaraderie, the wonderful classes, the great food and beautiful setting to name just a few. But I think I had two experiences as a result of the workshop that I want to share. The first was during the week itself. By about Wednesday, I noticed a difference in my savasana. For the first time, in over eight years of practice, I think I really experienced the pose. Being away from work, the internet, the television and radio and having the chance to practice with Jo twice a day allowed my brain and body to really experience the relaxation that the pose offers. It was a pretty cool moment of discovery. The other aspect was what I discovered once I returned home to San Diego and my regular life. You know how so often we come back to work from a vacation, and within a couple days we find ourselves right back at the same level of stress? Well, not this time. The sense of peace and well being I had during the workshop has stayed with me, and I find myself, five months later, still enjoying the benefits of that week at Casa Mimosa. I can't recommend the workshop enough.

Sarah Eberst

I had the good fortune of meeting and studying with Jo Zukovich during the summer of 2008. After having been inspired by Matt Sanford, and realizing a new vision for my work as a physical therapist and yoga teacher, I knew I had to learn and study Iyengar yoga. Matt suggested I study Iyengar yoga with someone "kind and loving". A few weeks later, I flew to Minnesota to meet Jo, when I took my first weekend Iyengar workshop with her at MindBody Solutions.

Even though I have taught hatha yoga for 5 years, Iyengar was new to me, and the thought of this new experience was frightening. Jo immediately put me at ease! In an instant, I felt at home with her and her teaching. She created a safe place for me to explore and grow. I felt so comfortable with her, I wanted to study with her more intensively. So, during the summer of 2008, I flew from West Virginia to San Diego to study with her on two different occasions. I combined all levels of Iyengar classes at SDYS with private lessons with Jo, so that I could understand better and experience the principles of Iyengar yoga and alignment, knowing that this would translate into my work with those with disabilities.

I learned so much! Because of my time with her, my personal practice has changed, my teaching has changed, and I feel more confident in my ability to teach yoga to all bodies.
Jo's wisdom, kindness, and open heart have inspired me. I am lucky, not only to consider her one of my honored teachers, but also a friend.

Lori Magana
Physical therapist, certified yoga therapist
Charleston, WV
www.radiantlotusyoga.com  

ParaQuad News this issue looks at health and sport. And in doing that, we examine some interesting perspectives on the relationship between that physical capacity – the body; and mental capacity – the mind.

This relationship between body and mind is a critical one, according to American yoga teacher and founder of the non-profit organization, Mind Body Solutions, Matthew Sanford. Now aged 41, Matthew became a T4-6 paraplegic at the age of 13 in a devastating car accident, which also caused the death of his father and older sister.

A keen sportsman before his accident, playing basketball as a young seventh grader in a team made up of older ninth graders, after the car crash he feels separated from his paralyzed body. He has a sense of "anger and disgust", with a body which he describes as feeling "foreign and full of pain". In Waking, his book published last year, Matthew writes of a slow waking over many years – to the ability to relate to his body, with the help of people such as Carole. "She shows me – through my body – how to relate to the physical and mental trauma that I hold", he writes. "Of course, the trained philosopher in me* is skeptical, but over time, he too must sit back and observe the awareness that begins to unfold through my body." (*After beginning a law degree, following in his father’s footsteps, Matthew switched to philosophy, undertaking postgraduate studies.)

This gradual waking led him, in 1991, with considerable trepidation, to attend his first yoga class. "I had no idea what to expect, no idea if yoga was even possible for a paralyzed person." Together Matthew and intuitive teacher Jo explored Iyengar yoga, adapting poses, and finding out what Matthew describes as the ‘possibilities of yoga and paralysis’. In the west, the word yoga is often used to refer to Hatha yoga, of which Iyengar is one school. Iyengar yoga emphasizes posture, and the development of balance and alignment. It also makes use of props: blocks, pillows and balls. "Props are fabulous for anyone with a disability," Matthew says. "Iyengar is great because it does individual poses: breaks them down more, and maximizes the level of mind-body integration. There are a lot of poses in other styles of yoga I can’t do – the flowing style, for example." (This style of yoga is called Ashtanga, and links a series of poses into a single flow.)

There’s also a school in the United States which teaches ‘chair yoga’ for people with disabilities, but Matthew says, while not dismissing that approach entirely, recognizing it is suitable for some people, says, "there’s only so much yoga you can do in a chair. Freedom for me was getting out of it – you need to go beyond the chair."

On a practical level, Matthew argues the benefits of yoga practice, for all people, but especially those with a disability, are "increased balance and strength, and a greater sense of well being". Over time, he explains, you develop "ways for the mind to move through the body which are not related to muscle movement. It’s not going to make you walk, but you will have a new experience if you ‘listen’ – the level of sensation is much more subtle."

Matthew teaches yoga in his home state of Minnesota, but only about a quarter of his students are people with SCI. "There’s a real push for people with SCI to become involved in athletics," he says, "using the ‘will’ to overcome disabilities. I tend to stay away from words like ‘overcome’ because it’s still tied to the concept of a ‘damaged’ body."

"That’s all great stuff, (athletics), but it’s much more important for your quality of life to learn how to listen to your body: the ‘silences’. My goal is to empower people with disabilities to have some sort of mind-body practice."

"Current rehabilitation practice treats SCI as a physical injury alone," without considering the balance of body and mind, so as well as teaching, Matthew is a frequent traveler around the United States, giving lectures to health professionals on integrative health. "He argues passionately that "minds and bodies work better together: you don’t want to have a mind which is at odds with your body. Mind and body – it’s an incredibly powerful combination," he concludes...."

Article is courtesy of Para Quad News, www.paraquad.org.au,
click here for a copy of the article Para Quad News Health & Sports