“Everything that happens in life has a lesson. Sometimes you have to look harder to find it, but it is there,” affirms Jenny Sirwet.
Jenny is a graduate of the 800-Hour Yoga Teacher Training program, has studied Polarity, Life Coaching and Aromatherapy, and serves future SWIHA community members in the Admissions department with her warm and welcoming presence. Though Jenny is now what we lovingly call a ‘SWIHA-Lifer’, she admits that she didn’t quite jump in to her journey feet-first: “I was allergic to the word ‘trauma’ when I first started as a student at SWIHA,” discloses Jenny, “That word was a trigger for me. It was a reminder of the ‘victim mentality’, which I try to avoid.”
Five years ago, Jenny suffered a serious back injury which launched her into a journey of healing and a mindset of growth. After a year and a half of physical therapy, she had lumbar spine surgery in August of 2016 followed by six more months of remedial exercises.
“My physical therapist incorporated yoga as one of my healing modalities once I was cleared to twist and bend. It was then that I truly found my love for it,” she tells us, “I attended a Yoga Teacher Training Class at Spirit of Yoga on a guest pass, and two months later I started Yoga Teacher Training!”
It was then she began diving deeper into yogic philosophy and the concept of Svadhyaya (self-study). Jenny experienced a major shift in mindset during her Yoga Nidra training with Kamini Desai: “I made peace with the ‘T-word’ and came to realize that perhaps it was my own resistance to heal my own trauma that was causing this,” Jenny explains, “I learned to show up more authentically in this world and not to be afraid to let people in. As social and outgoing as I am, I had some deep-seated fear about truly being seen for me and not what I wanted the world to see me as.”
Yoga Nidra was the most impactful class for Jenny, along with Life Coaching. She emphasizes that if it weren’t for her Yoga Teacher Training, she wouldn’t have “cracked the can of healing worms open.”
“I truly found a tribe and did things that I had been wanting to do for over twenty-four years!” says Jenny, “I am so grateful to have found my love for yoga and discovered SWIHA. I’ve gained life-long friendships, grown in my faith and formed a relationship with my body instead of just having the body awareness of a former athlete. I love being able to guide others along their healing journey and strive to continue to make lasting connections and build positive community.”
Her healing journey culminated with her business, Pineapple Shores Wellness, where she serves the wellness of her clients through Yoga, Life Coaching and Energy modalities.
“I use an intuitive heart-centered approach to create a unique experience for my clients. I combine my modalities to create the exact experience my client’s body, mind and spirit are calling for,” she tells us, “Yoga Nidra was the modality that unlocked so much healing and shift for me, so I am passionate about sharing the I AM (Integrative Amrit Method) Yoga Nidra experience with everyone I can!”
Her business’s motto, Live Aloha, is inspired by her love for Hawai’i and the experience of peace and connection she feels when thinking of the clear blue water, warm sun and soft sand.
“The Aloha spirit is a way of life,” explains Jenny, “A way to live with love, compassion and peace. Life is not all sunshine and rainbows and you must learn to face the sunshine and your shadows and integrate your ‘shadow self’ into your ‘true self’.”
To those being called to begin their own journey at SWIHA, Jenny passes on this wisdom: “Buckle up, journal, make true community and show up for yourself and your classmates, even when you feel like you don’t want to. Push past the fear and resistance and do it anyways! The weekends or evenings when I had the most resistance showing up and I pushed past it were my most profound experiences.”
“Be authentically and unapologetically YOU!,” she encourages, “There is only one of you and you CAN make an impact!”
You can connect with Jenny and Pineapple Shores Wellness through her website, subscribe to her Youtube Channel, or say ‘Aloha!’ on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.