Earth Temple

Sacred space for sacred bodies

"Remember all of you together are a temple of God and God's spirit dwells in you." -1 Corinthians 3:16

Jessica Zdenek, Creative Healer
MAT, RYT

Why  yoga?

I grew up afraid to live fully in my body.  As a child I heard messages at church that my body was sinful, that a woman's moon cycle made her dirty, that somehow women were not as holy as men.   I was afraid of my body and all of the feelings it had that I was supposed to repress in order to fit with the cultural programs.  

Just as I was coming of age, my body was sexually abused and I was frightened to feel all of the pain and shame that inhabited me.  I spent many years trying to escape my body by moving more into my head through college and post graduate school studies at which I learned to excel.  

I found yoga when I was in seminary and started practicing at home with Rodney Yee on a VHS tape.  Even after one practice, I felt my body relax and move deeper into ease.  It was so unfamiliar and also just like coming home.  I wanted to stay there.  I was sold.  I kept up the 20 minute practice with Rodney for several years until I gathered the courage to walk into a yoga studio--I feared my body would feel so vulnerable there and on display.  But I was welcomed with grace and I found teachers who helped me find the right expressions of the poses for my own body.  I am growing more and more comfortable living in my body and amazed at all the unknown potential it contains!  Teachers taught me how to do things I never imagined that I could with my body and this clumsy queen learned how to balance on her arms and head!  

When I became pregnant with my first baby I knew that my relationship with my body needed to be upgraded so that I could learn how to labor in harmony with my body rather than fighting with it like I had for most of my  life.  So much healing happened through my yoga practice and my three births.  I never knew such feelings of joy and ecstasy were possible in my body--right there in the places I was taught to fear the most.  More recently a painful divorce challenged me to take my practices to a whole new level where I am learning how to extend more compassion to myself and remember that everything is just practice, just play.   

I realized I could ditch the anti-depressants and juggle the challenges of motherhood if I practiced yoga at least five times a week.  In 2014 I completed my 230 hour yoga teaching certification--something I never imagined I would do. 

The name TARALOMA literally means "earth hill"or body temple.  This name reminds me that our bodies are sanctuaries, designed to shine the light of creation.  I work to hold sacred space for all my clients as we open up the energy channels of the body to receive healing.  

I offer group and private yoga, creative healing therapy sessions, guided relaxation, meditation instruction, workshops on a variety of spiritual topics and I like to sing.  I am also available to speak and preach, fluent in orthodox and free spirited :)  

Her first book of poetry, Paper Cranes is now available on Amazon.