WELLNESS CONSULTANT, WRITER AND TEACHER
Creator of Shiwido™ • The Healing Circle • Paragliding and Yoga Tours Chairs of Peace •
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Honored to be part of the lives of so many people—from children to seniors, from athletes to non-athletes, from devotees to non-believers—in both English and Spanish. Yoga is a common language and a powerful medicine for all.
I invite my students to live a true yogic life and to realize that yoga goes beyond the mat, the chair, the physical body, the ego, and expectations.
I encourage the participants to align their thoughts, words, intentions, and actions with the higher self, the inner light.
The path of yoga leads to inner peace, true love, and happiness. It requires discipline and courage.
Our “inner tour” through this journey called life leads toward awareness, joy, health, enlightenment, and liberation.
Thanks to yoga, I found a profound passion. From the first class I took in 1997, I felt called to teach and share its benefits with others.
I traveled throughout Colombia researching the impact of illegal harvesting and human displacement on local communities, especially Indigenous children. I earned my degree in Communication Science and Journalism. After editing numerous books, writing reports for the Colombian government, and interviewing people from many walks of life, I took a break and traveled to Australia with my glider and a few dreams in a backpack.
I later returned to Colombia and worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as a consultant for the Colombian Children’s Peace Movement.
I have always carried many questions, but three have guided me the most: What is peace? What is love? What is happiness?
In 2002, I traveled to the United States and settled in Boston. With the support of a group of producers and artists, I developed an interactive workshop called Shiwido, The Magic Land of the Rainbow. I visited schools, libraries, and museums, teaching children and adults about the Amazon Rainforest. I would dress as the “Blue Fairy,” and Shiwido™ became my “magic wand.”
After three winters in Boston, I traveled to the West Coast. The Los Angeles Unified School District hired me to teach Shiwido™ in elementary schools through their after-school program. I called this experience “The Amazon Week.” Children and teachers learned while moving, exploring, and having fun for an entire week, two hours a day. Now I was an Amazon explorer, and Shiwido™ became my set of “wings.”
In Los Angeles, I found a small room in a Zen Buddhist temple, where I lived for nine months, learning the Soto Zen tradition, karma yoga, silence, fasting and meditation. I was honored with an initiation and the Abbot gave me the name Koshin-ni, meaning "good heart".
One day, in the temple library, I discovered The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnu-devananda, which led me to the Sivananda lineage. I visited their ashram in Grass Valley, known as the Yoga Farm, where I found deeply committed teachers and practitioners. In 2008, I completed the Teacher Training Course (TTC), and in 2010 I returned for the Advanced Teacher Training Course (ATTC). I continued visiting the ashram over the years, participating in the Kids Yoga Camp, studying Vedanta philosophy, and integrating silence and meditation into my daily life.
I received a spiritual name, Jyoti, derived from the Sanskrit word jyotis, meaning “light.”
I have dedicated my days to teaching, writing articles on yoga, fitness, and healthy living, translating and copywriting books for a wide range of authors, and teaching Spanish.
In 2007, I trademarked Shiwido™, which became “the toy with exercise in mind.” In 2012, I moved to San Diego, where I met my partner, Paul, and studied at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness to become a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. I now teach for California State University San Marcos, The Sanctuary of Yoga in Colombia, and the nonprofit organization OG Yoga.
Currently (2026) I collaborate with La Jolla Community Center, Fallbrook Health District, Prison Yoga Project and guide The Healing Circle In Tierrasanta.
I continue paragliding, jogging, swimming, rollerblading, hiking, and enjoying every breath. Along with friends, I created paragliding and yoga tours, bringing pilots to Colombia to experience the Magic Land of the Rainbow from the sky.
I invite my students to live a true yogic life and to realize that yoga goes beyond the mat, the chair, the physical body, the ego, and expectations.
I encourage the participants to align their thoughts, words, intentions, and actions with the higher self, the inner light.
The path of yoga leads to inner peace, true love, and happiness. It requires discipline and courage.
Our “inner tour” through this journey called life leads toward awareness, joy, health, enlightenment, and liberation.
Thanks to yoga, I found a profound passion. From the first class I took in 1997, I felt called to teach and share its benefits with others.
I traveled throughout Colombia researching the impact of illegal harvesting and human displacement on local communities, especially Indigenous children. I earned my degree in Communication Science and Journalism. After editing numerous books, writing reports for the Colombian government, and interviewing people from many walks of life, I took a break and traveled to Australia with my glider and a few dreams in a backpack.
I later returned to Colombia and worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as a consultant for the Colombian Children’s Peace Movement.
I have always carried many questions, but three have guided me the most: What is peace? What is love? What is happiness?
In 2002, I traveled to the United States and settled in Boston. With the support of a group of producers and artists, I developed an interactive workshop called Shiwido, The Magic Land of the Rainbow. I visited schools, libraries, and museums, teaching children and adults about the Amazon Rainforest. I would dress as the “Blue Fairy,” and Shiwido™ became my “magic wand.”
After three winters in Boston, I traveled to the West Coast. The Los Angeles Unified School District hired me to teach Shiwido™ in elementary schools through their after-school program. I called this experience “The Amazon Week.” Children and teachers learned while moving, exploring, and having fun for an entire week, two hours a day. Now I was an Amazon explorer, and Shiwido™ became my set of “wings.”
In Los Angeles, I found a small room in a Zen Buddhist temple, where I lived for nine months, learning the Soto Zen tradition, karma yoga, silence, fasting and meditation. I was honored with an initiation and the Abbot gave me the name Koshin-ni, meaning "good heart".
One day, in the temple library, I discovered The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnu-devananda, which led me to the Sivananda lineage. I visited their ashram in Grass Valley, known as the Yoga Farm, where I found deeply committed teachers and practitioners. In 2008, I completed the Teacher Training Course (TTC), and in 2010 I returned for the Advanced Teacher Training Course (ATTC). I continued visiting the ashram over the years, participating in the Kids Yoga Camp, studying Vedanta philosophy, and integrating silence and meditation into my daily life.
I received a spiritual name, Jyoti, derived from the Sanskrit word jyotis, meaning “light.”
I have dedicated my days to teaching, writing articles on yoga, fitness, and healthy living, translating and copywriting books for a wide range of authors, and teaching Spanish.
In 2007, I trademarked Shiwido™, which became “the toy with exercise in mind.” In 2012, I moved to San Diego, where I met my partner, Paul, and studied at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness to become a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. I now teach for California State University San Marcos, The Sanctuary of Yoga in Colombia, and the nonprofit organization OG Yoga.
Currently (2026) I collaborate with La Jolla Community Center, Fallbrook Health District, Prison Yoga Project and guide The Healing Circle In Tierrasanta.
I continue paragliding, jogging, swimming, rollerblading, hiking, and enjoying every breath. Along with friends, I created paragliding and yoga tours, bringing pilots to Colombia to experience the Magic Land of the Rainbow from the sky.
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"Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness.
Yoga shows the way" Swami Sivananda |
"La salud es riqueza. La paz mental es felicidad. Yoga nos muestra el camino"
Swami Sivananda |
TRAININGS
B.A. Communication Science and Journalism Universidad de la Sabana, Chía, Colombia 1997.
Resident-Student Kanzeonji Buddhist Temple 2006-2007
Teacher of Yoga The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. Yoga Farm, Grass Valley CA 2008
Master of Yoga The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, Yoga Farm, Grass Valley CA 2010
Yoga Instructor Yoga Fit 2008 and 2009
PiYo Instructor Powder Blue Productions 2012
SilverSneakers Instructor 2010-2014
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 8 weeks. UCSD San Diego, CA 2015
Shallow Water Life Guard Red Cross (up to 5 ft) 2016 and 2018
First Aid/CPR/AED, 2014 and 2018
Healing with Chakras with Nischala Joy Devi, Encinitas, CA 2018
Navigating Life's challenge 5 day intensive inspired by MBSR & MBSR teacher training practicum. UC San Diego, Center for Mindfulness. Joshua Tree and San Diego, January 2019.
MBSR UC San Diego, Center for Mindfulness. San Diego, July-September 2019
Cultivating Forgiveness with Margaret Cullen. UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, February 22, 2020
Curso de REBAP en línea UC San Diego, Reducción de Estrés basado en Atención Plena Abril-Mayo 2020
30 hour Trauma Sensitive-Yoga Online Teacher Training. OG Yoga. February 2021
Radical Compassion: Actively Loving Ourselves and Our World. One day retreat online with Tara Brach, Spirit Rock. February 28, 2021
MBSR online UCSD San Diego, Center for Mindfulness. San Diego, March-May 2021
MBSR Advance Teacher Training online UCSD, Center for Mindfulness. San Diego, November 2021
Qualified MBSR Instructor UCSD, Center for Mindfulness and Professional Institute. San Diego, CA December 2021
Zen Circle with Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi, Roshi Joan Halifax, Ruth Ozeki, Steven Heine, Henry Shukman, Roshi Norman Fischer and Sensei Sokaku Kathie Fischer at Upaya Zen Center. Santa Fé New Mexico. July 20-30, 2023
Winter Insight Silent Retreat (308R24) Spirit Rock, California. Lila Kate Wheeler, Howard Cohn, Leslie Booker and Teresa Todoroff. January 4-9. 2024.
Zen and The Art of Saving The Planet, 6 weeks online training with Plum Village, France. April-May 2024
Deepening Inquiry, Practice and Community in the Greater Mindfulness Universe. An experimental international retreat within the non-dual embrace of noble silence and dialogue. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York. May 26- June 2, 2024
Retreat: Advanced Hatha Yoga with Krishna Darshan. Sivananda Center, Los Angeles, CA. June 30-July 3, 2024
10 days Vedanta and Silent course with Swami Sitaramananda, Yoga Farm, Grass Valley CA. September 3-13 2024
Rohatsu Fresh in person with Roshi Joan Halifax, Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi, Kodo Roen, Kozan Palevsky, Genzan Quennell, Monshin Overley, Shinzan Palma, and Wendy Dainin Lau. Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fé New Mexico. December 1-8, 2024
PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTIONS
Columna El Tercer Ojo, published Ojo Volador Magazine, Spain. 2016-current
Cross Country Magazine, UK. 2016
Column Flying Yoga published USHPA Magazine, Colorado Springs, CO. 2015-current
La Opinión Newspaper, Los Angeles, CA 2007 - 2009 and 2014
Vida Nueva Magazine, Los Angeles, CA 2007 - 2012
Glendale Focus Magazine, Glendale, CA 2008 - 2010
DVD Yoga en Silla con Sofia Puerta - DVD “Chair Yoga with Sofía Puerta” (English Subtitles). 2012
Charlas gratuitas con Mentor U Latino Colombia, March, April 2020
Círculo de Meditación con el Mundo en Español, Marzo 2020-Marzo 2021
The Legend of Shiwido™ April 2020-present. American Vedanta Magazine Issues #76 and #77
United States Hang gliding and Paragliding Association USHPA Magazine - collaborator 2024-current
Valeria y La Leyenda del Amazonas. Kindle publishing. Mayo 2025
Valeria and The Legend of The Amazon. Kindle publishing. January 2026
SPECIAL AWARDS
Instructor of the year-24 hourfitness. August 6th, 2013
AFFILIATIONS
Member of Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI)
Member of The United States Hang gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA)
Member of San Diego Hang gliding and Paragliding Association (SDHPA)
Member of The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Broadway, NY (SSDC)
B.A. Communication Science and Journalism Universidad de la Sabana, Chía, Colombia 1997.
Resident-Student Kanzeonji Buddhist Temple 2006-2007
Teacher of Yoga The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. Yoga Farm, Grass Valley CA 2008
Master of Yoga The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, Yoga Farm, Grass Valley CA 2010
Yoga Instructor Yoga Fit 2008 and 2009
PiYo Instructor Powder Blue Productions 2012
SilverSneakers Instructor 2010-2014
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 8 weeks. UCSD San Diego, CA 2015
Shallow Water Life Guard Red Cross (up to 5 ft) 2016 and 2018
First Aid/CPR/AED, 2014 and 2018
Healing with Chakras with Nischala Joy Devi, Encinitas, CA 2018
Navigating Life's challenge 5 day intensive inspired by MBSR & MBSR teacher training practicum. UC San Diego, Center for Mindfulness. Joshua Tree and San Diego, January 2019.
MBSR UC San Diego, Center for Mindfulness. San Diego, July-September 2019
Cultivating Forgiveness with Margaret Cullen. UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, February 22, 2020
Curso de REBAP en línea UC San Diego, Reducción de Estrés basado en Atención Plena Abril-Mayo 2020
30 hour Trauma Sensitive-Yoga Online Teacher Training. OG Yoga. February 2021
Radical Compassion: Actively Loving Ourselves and Our World. One day retreat online with Tara Brach, Spirit Rock. February 28, 2021
MBSR online UCSD San Diego, Center for Mindfulness. San Diego, March-May 2021
MBSR Advance Teacher Training online UCSD, Center for Mindfulness. San Diego, November 2021
Qualified MBSR Instructor UCSD, Center for Mindfulness and Professional Institute. San Diego, CA December 2021
Zen Circle with Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi, Roshi Joan Halifax, Ruth Ozeki, Steven Heine, Henry Shukman, Roshi Norman Fischer and Sensei Sokaku Kathie Fischer at Upaya Zen Center. Santa Fé New Mexico. July 20-30, 2023
Winter Insight Silent Retreat (308R24) Spirit Rock, California. Lila Kate Wheeler, Howard Cohn, Leslie Booker and Teresa Todoroff. January 4-9. 2024.
Zen and The Art of Saving The Planet, 6 weeks online training with Plum Village, France. April-May 2024
Deepening Inquiry, Practice and Community in the Greater Mindfulness Universe. An experimental international retreat within the non-dual embrace of noble silence and dialogue. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York. May 26- June 2, 2024
Retreat: Advanced Hatha Yoga with Krishna Darshan. Sivananda Center, Los Angeles, CA. June 30-July 3, 2024
10 days Vedanta and Silent course with Swami Sitaramananda, Yoga Farm, Grass Valley CA. September 3-13 2024
Rohatsu Fresh in person with Roshi Joan Halifax, Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi, Kodo Roen, Kozan Palevsky, Genzan Quennell, Monshin Overley, Shinzan Palma, and Wendy Dainin Lau. Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fé New Mexico. December 1-8, 2024
PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTIONS
Columna El Tercer Ojo, published Ojo Volador Magazine, Spain. 2016-current
Cross Country Magazine, UK. 2016
Column Flying Yoga published USHPA Magazine, Colorado Springs, CO. 2015-current
La Opinión Newspaper, Los Angeles, CA 2007 - 2009 and 2014
Vida Nueva Magazine, Los Angeles, CA 2007 - 2012
Glendale Focus Magazine, Glendale, CA 2008 - 2010
DVD Yoga en Silla con Sofia Puerta - DVD “Chair Yoga with Sofía Puerta” (English Subtitles). 2012
Charlas gratuitas con Mentor U Latino Colombia, March, April 2020
Círculo de Meditación con el Mundo en Español, Marzo 2020-Marzo 2021
The Legend of Shiwido™ April 2020-present. American Vedanta Magazine Issues #76 and #77
United States Hang gliding and Paragliding Association USHPA Magazine - collaborator 2024-current
Valeria y La Leyenda del Amazonas. Kindle publishing. Mayo 2025
Valeria and The Legend of The Amazon. Kindle publishing. January 2026
SPECIAL AWARDS
Instructor of the year-24 hourfitness. August 6th, 2013
AFFILIATIONS
Member of Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI)
Member of The United States Hang gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA)
Member of San Diego Hang gliding and Paragliding Association (SDHPA)
Member of The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Broadway, NY (SSDC)