A Unique Trio
Valerie, Jess, and Meg have not only been trained under the same yoga mentors and have the same meditation teacher, but at the end of their first co-lead retreat together, they realized that each of them are one of the three of Ayurvedic doshas. Jess is Pitta (fire/ water), Val is Vata (space/ air), and Meg is Kapha (earth/ water). The three of them make a synergistic trio of transformation, groundedness, and inspiration, and offer unique and balanced ways of teaching and supporting each other and participants on each retreat, as well.
What is Ayurveda?
According to Ayurveda, yoga's 5,000-year-old sister science, each of us were born with a particular dosha that was cemented at birth.
And each Ayurvedic dosha (or constitution) is related to the elements:
Vata: Air / Ether
Pitta: Fire / Little Water
Kapha: Earth / Water
Once we know our individual dosha (see Dosha Quiz link in bio ;), we know what foods, herbs, breath techniques, yoga postures, and lifestyle routines best support balance for our Mind-Body type, the season, and time of life. Ayurveda is vast in what it can offer in terms of self discovery!
Along with yoga and meditation practices, Val, Jess, and Meg weave in Ayurvedic tools into all retreats to make them each unique and rich in offerings, based on the season and group. Participants walk away with practical tips they can bring into their life to support a greater sense of purpose, health, and wellbeing with the tools of yoga and Ayurveda.
Meghan Leighton
Meghan has practiced meditation and yoga for the past 15 years and is a certified meditation coach and yoga instructor with Mindful Schools and Live, Love, Teach. She has been implementing mindfulness and yoga in schools and studios throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island and has led and mentored retreats in various schools, at Newburyport's Insight Meditation Center, Blue Spirit ~ Costa Rica, and with iBme (Inward Bound Mindfulness in Education) and Harvard University. Her experience has also led her to start Awake Minds, a business that was created to support people in living fulfilled, balanced, and meaningful lives through the tools of meditation and yoga. Awake Minds was highlighted in The Boston Globe in January, 2019.
Valerie Griffiths, Breathing Barn Yoga
Valerie is a Vinyasa yoga instructor at Newport Power Yoga and owner of The Breathing Barn yoga studio in Portsmouth, RI. A yoga enthusiast for twenty years, Valerie completed over five hundred training hours through Live Love Teach in 2014 and has been teaching ever since. She is certified to lead Intro to Gongs for meditation and healing and guides Yoga Nidra practices and meditation. She leads individuals and groups in matching their breath to movement and developing consciousness. Valerie is a believer in showing up for each session with no expectation, meeting and welcoming yourself exactly as you are in that moment. Her mantra is, “Each one of us is so much more than our thoughts,” a saying that guides her practice. She believes that in stillness and quiet, we find our true selves. We are here to learn the beauty and love within each of us and share it with the collective. Valerie is passionate about helping others to bridge the gap between the world of space and time, where we use our senses to navigate, to the world of higher consciousness which is seated in the depth of our soul.
Jess Gumkowski, YogiTriathlete
Jess is co-founder of YogiTriathlete, a performance coaching business on a mission to create a better world. She is a mindset coach, endurance athlete, vegan lifestyle coach, 500-hour Live, Love, Teach yoga instructor and podcast host of the YogiTriathlete and Awake Athlete podcasts. Jess is the author of the YogiTriathlete Cookbook: High Vibe Recipes for the Athlete Appetite and High Vibe Pie: Pizza Night Finally Done Right. She lives in Carlsbad, California, with the love of her life, BJ, and their golden retriever, Clark.