WELCOME, I’m Jillian pransky
Author. Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher.
Through the practice of Deep Listening, restorative yoga and mindfulness, I help people to nurture their heart center and flow through life with more authentic, rooted intention and connection to mind-body-spirit.
“Jillian’s teaching style and deep respect for each student has literally changed my life. She is the only teacher I know who is completely lacking in judgment or ego when she teaches. I get a huge dose of love, just being in her class. I would follow her wherever she goes.”
Here’s a little bit about me and what I do.
I’m an international wellness presenter and the author of Deep Listening: A Healing Practice to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Open Your Heart. I’m also a Certified Yoga Therapist recognized by the International Association of Yoga Therapy, and lead retreats, yoga teacher trainings, and restorative workshops in person, and on Zoom for students all over the world. I infuse my yoga classes with mindfulness practices, compassion, and ease, to attune the body, mind, and spirit to nature and inspire an integrative, holistic healing experience.
In partnership with Yoga Journal, I created Restorative Yoga 101 and Everyday Restoratives. I’m also a guest teacher at many renowned holistic learning centers including Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Omega Institute, 1440 Multiversity, Mohonk Mountain House, and Blue Spirit Retreat Center. My Calm Body, Clear Mind DVD and RelaxMore CD have been spotlighted and highly recommended by Dr. Mehmet Oz, Yoga Journal, and several others. I loved offering a TEDx Talk on Metta Meditation, and contribute as a featured Yoga Expert to Prevention, Mindful, Yoga Journal, Yoga International, and more.
Here’s the backstory of how I found yoga—and developed my practice and teachings.
I started practicing yoga and meditation when I was nine years old. My mother had my brothers and me learn Transcendental Meditation and took us to yoga classes at the gym (her idea of ‘family counseling’). But it wasn’t until the early 90’s that I began a passionate, personal study of yoga.
I first became certified to teach yoga in 1994, and was then initiated into the ISHTA yoga lineage by Yogi Raj Alan Finger and his father Mani Finger. ISHTA's integration of yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda is a foundation of my approach to yoga as a healing art.
Since then, I’ve been graced with the opportunity to study with some the greatest yoga and meditation virtuosos of our time, all of whom I have deep gratitude for. I am particularly thankful to the teachings of Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jack Kornfield, Ram Dass, Tara Brach, and Sharon Salzberg. I also draw from intensive trainings with T.K.V. Desikachar, John Friend, Gary Kraftsow, Angela Farmer, Stephen Cope and somatic movement therapist Dr. Ruella Frank.
In 1997, I began working with my most primary yoga influence, the luminous Erich Schiffmann k. In short, Erich taught me how to hold space for myself — and others — in order to listen deeply with love, bravery, and compassion.
My practice of Deep Listening profoundly evolved when I began to integrate the work of Pema Chödrön. In 1998, Omega Institute invited me to lead the yoga program during Pema’s first retreat there. The opportunity to receive her teachings, and immediately incorporate them into my yoga classes, elevated my absorption of her work. After that weekend with Pema, I knew I had found my Teacher. For the next 20 years, I was blessed to lead the yoga classes during her annual programs. Pema’s teachings are at the heart of my offerings and practices.
As a certified yoga therapist and teacher trainer, I study the work of world-renowned healers, doctors, and neurologists to inspire my teachings with cutting-edge research in mind-body medicine. I am particularly thankful for the work of doctors Herbert Benson, Daniel Siegel, Richard Davidson, Sara Lazar, and Rick Hanson.
In 2000, after a decade in the corporate world, I discovered that my marketing career (and therefore lifestyle, by default) often did not support my health. I spent a lot of time doing and very little time being. So, I left my director position at St. Martin's Press to transform part-time yoga teaching into my full-time vocation.
What wellness, connection and Deep Listening mean to me.
What is most important to me — in my personal practice and my teaching — is the practice of Deep Listening: to cultivate the ability to pause, grow grounded, present, and open. To compassionately care for ourselves with whatever is going on inside or outside. When we practice in this way we are developing a relationship with ourselves that provides exactly the type of strength and security we need most to navigate life from a place of mindfulness, wisdom, compassion, and authenticity.
To me, slowing down, turning inward, and deeply listening to our body and heart is perhaps the most meaningful form of self-care work we can do. When we are more compassionate and connected with ourselves, we are able to be more compassionate and connected with others and the world around us. In this way, our practice not only benefits us, it benefits everyone we are in relationship with, and everyone we come into contact with. This is truly why I practice, and why I offer the yoga teacher trainings, workshops, classes, retreats, and somatic healing experiences I do.
what people are saying about…
CLASsES, Retreats & Workshops
“I think the most profound quality to her teaching that I have experienced thus far is how she continually shares her growth process with her students. It manifests in her words and in her touch Jillian’s light, love and dedication to life and all it’s beauty shows up in her teachings in every moment. It emanates out from her soul, which creates such a powerful relationship with her students. She is Yoga. She is completely present with each and every one of her students. When I take class with Jillian, I feel like I am in a private lesson. I feel her presence and love and support so strongly. I feel free to be with me and to listen to me. She is remarkable. ”
“Only the real master-teacher is blessed with that rare combination of gifts that enable students to blossom physically, mentally, and spiritually. Jillian Pransky embodies these gifts. Her teaching exists in that exciting liminal space between kinesthetic awareness and physical transcendence. Jillian’s ability to share her profound knowledge with humor, intelligence, compassion and boundless creativity is unparalleled. As a former professional dancer with over thirty years of experience in body/mind practices, I can truly say that she is among the finest teachers I have ever encountered. It is a privilege and a joy to study yoga with her.”
“As my teacher, Jillian has provided me with the opportunity to grow into my own yogic experience. Jillian has been a light that illuminated my soul, my love, and my inner wisdom. Her teaching has given me a key to the source of love and possibility. I am grateful for Jillian’s courage, as she regularly shares her inner truth, love, and light with all of her students.”
“Jillian’s retreat was a gift! She weaves the yoga with deeper lessons for life—all connected to nature. She helped me slow down and take it all in deeply. I now sense a new level of connection to nature’s sights, sounds, and vibrations. The work we did helped me to take steps to make positive changes…. Inspiring me to make life better.”
“What a great retreat. Jillian’s classes are amazing. She has something very special, a unique ability to communicate extremely subtle, complex concepts in a way that different types of people all seem to understand on a level that is not just the normal conscious level.”
teacher trainings
“Jillian Pransky’s Restorative Therapeutic Teacher Training was highly recommended by a friend who took it few years ago, so I came into it with high expectations—and Jillian exceeded them! I learned a lot about propping and it was far more than just getting the how to’s of restorative yoga poses and sequencing. She taught us how to think for ourselves and be creative. Best of all, Jillian taught us the koshas in a tangible way. The experience was definitely informative but more importantly heartfelt and transformational.”
“I was delighted by Jillian’s light-hearted approach in which I laughed and enjoyed myself while learning so much. I left confident and passionate to share the practice with others. Just days after training, I was able to bring deeper states of ease and relaxation to a man suffering from cancer (and his wife) as well as a mother of 4 with a new born. I am excited to bring this level of rest and healing to many others.”
“Run, don’t walk, to study with Jillian Pransky. She is truly inspired and gifts, not to mention generous with her energy and teachings. Her trainings and manual are the most clear of any instruction I have ever experienced. It was a blessing to study with her….In Jillian’s restorative yoga teacher training you receive comprehensive, extremely organized and yet loving, kind, and entertaining instruction. You cover principles of placing/guiding the body, breath and mind. You learn propping, alignment, anatomy, energetic physiology, sequencing, and so much more. Her breadth of knowledge and years of experience provide such insight into what deep relaxation can express or trigger on an emotional and psychological level in the client and she includes guidance and tips on how to provide safe, professional space.”
“Jillian is so inspiring and passionate about her work and conveys so much information in a short amount of time. I got so much out of it and I am not even a yoga instructor. I have been struggling with anxiety and panic attacks for almost 5 years and I understand now how some peaceful moments on the yoga mat can compliment the rest of my healing process, finding that moment of stillness where healing can happen.”
“Jillian is a gifted teacher. She artfully translates for students the wisdom of her own deep yoga practice and her years of helping individuals and groups heal from stress and related injuries. What is most striking is her generosity of spirit - her willingness to share all that she knows, in order to make sure more people in this world experience the restoration and connectedness of yoga practice”
“My week with Jillian was healing, restful, inspiring, and fun. It opened my eyes to the kind of healing work we can do at all levels. As the only non-yoga teacher in the class, I was nervous about having the skills that I would need to do the work but Jillian made all the concepts so accessible. I learned an enormous number of new tools and skills that I can use for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing for my patients and for myself. ”
