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 English and in Spanish. Yoga is a common language and a great medicine for all.
I invite my students to live a true yogi life and realize that yoga goes beyond the mat, the chair, the physical body, the ego or the expectations.
I encourage my students to connect 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 requieres discipline and courage.
Our "inner tour" of this journey called life is towards awareness, joy, health, enlightenment and liberation. Thanks to yoga I found a wonderful passion. Since the first class that I took in 1997, I felt I had to teach and share with people the benefits of yoga.
I traveled around Colombia doing research about the impact of illegal harvest and human displacement in local communities, especially indigenous children. I obtained my degree in Communication Science and Journalism. After editing tons of books, writing long reports for the Colombian government and interviewing lots of different people, I took a break and I traveled to Australia with my glider and a few dreams in a backpack. I returned to Colombia and worked for The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, as a consultant for The Colombian Children's Peace Movement.
I always had many questions, but here are the three main: What is peace? What is love? What is happiness?
In 2002 I traveled to The United States and settled in Boston. With the help of a great 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 disguised myself as the "blue fairy" and Shiwido™ turned into my "magic wand".
After 3 winters in Boston, I traveled to the West coast. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) hired me to teach Shiwido™ at Elementary Schools in their After School Program. I called this interactive workshop "The Amazon Week". Children and teachers were learning while exercising and having fun for an entire week, two hours a day. Now I was an Amazon explorer and Shiwido™ was my "wings".
In Los Angeles I found a clean room in a Zen Buddhist Temple where I stayed for 9 months learning Zen tradition, karma yoga, silence and meditation.
One day I found at the temple's library "The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga" by Swami Vishnu-devananda, I became interested in The Sivananda lineage. They have ashrams and centers around the world so I visited their Ashram in Grass Valley, known as the yoga farm. Here I found committed teachers and practitioners. In 2008 I took Teacher Training program (TTC) and I went back in 2010 to take the Advance Teacher Training program (ATTC). Many more visits to the yoga farm followed and it allowed me take part in the Kid's Yoga Camp. I studied Vedanta philosophy and brought silence and meditation practice into my daily life. I received an spiritual name, Jyoti, derived from Sanskrit jyotis meaning "light".
I invested my days basically teaching, writing articles about yoga, fitness and healthy living for newspapers and magazines, translating and copywriting books for famous and not that famous people. I was also teaching Spanish.
In 2007 I trademarked Shiwido™ and it became "the toy with exercise in mind". In 2012 I moved to San Diego to join with a great spirit name Paul and I studied at UCSD Center for Mindfulness to become Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. I teach classes for California State University San Marcos, The Sanctuary of Yoga in Colombia and the non-profit Organization OG Yoga.
I continued paragliding, jogging, swimming, roller blading, hiking and enjoying every breath. With some friends I put together Paragliding and Yoga tours to take pilots to Colombia and share the Magic Land of The Rainbow from the sky.
I invite my students to live a true yogi life and realize that yoga goes beyond the mat, the chair, the physical body, the ego or the expectations.
I encourage my students to connect 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 requieres discipline and courage.
Our "inner tour" of this journey called life is towards awareness, joy, health, enlightenment and liberation. Thanks to yoga I found a wonderful passion. Since the first class that I took in 1997, I felt I had to teach and share with people the benefits of yoga.
I traveled around Colombia doing research about the impact of illegal harvest and human displacement in local communities, especially indigenous children. I obtained my degree in Communication Science and Journalism. After editing tons of books, writing long reports for the Colombian government and interviewing lots of different people, I took a break and I traveled to Australia with my glider and a few dreams in a backpack. I returned to Colombia and worked for The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, as a consultant for The Colombian Children's Peace Movement.
I always had many questions, but here are the three main: What is peace? What is love? What is happiness?
In 2002 I traveled to The United States and settled in Boston. With the help of a great 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 disguised myself as the "blue fairy" and Shiwido™ turned into my "magic wand".
After 3 winters in Boston, I traveled to the West coast. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) hired me to teach Shiwido™ at Elementary Schools in their After School Program. I called this interactive workshop "The Amazon Week". Children and teachers were learning while exercising and having fun for an entire week, two hours a day. Now I was an Amazon explorer and Shiwido™ was my "wings".
In Los Angeles I found a clean room in a Zen Buddhist Temple where I stayed for 9 months learning Zen tradition, karma yoga, silence and meditation.
One day I found at the temple's library "The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga" by Swami Vishnu-devananda, I became interested in The Sivananda lineage. They have ashrams and centers around the world so I visited their Ashram in Grass Valley, known as the yoga farm. Here I found committed teachers and practitioners. In 2008 I took Teacher Training program (TTC) and I went back in 2010 to take the Advance Teacher Training program (ATTC). Many more visits to the yoga farm followed and it allowed me take part in the Kid's Yoga Camp. I studied Vedanta philosophy and brought silence and meditation practice into my daily life. I received an spiritual name, Jyoti, derived from Sanskrit jyotis meaning "light".
I invested my days basically teaching, writing articles about yoga, fitness and healthy living for newspapers and magazines, translating and copywriting books for famous and not that famous people. I was also teaching Spanish.
In 2007 I trademarked Shiwido™ and it became "the toy with exercise in mind". In 2012 I moved to San Diego to join with a great spirit name Paul and I studied at UCSD Center for Mindfulness to become Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. I teach classes for California State University San Marcos, The Sanctuary of Yoga in Colombia and the non-profit Organization OG Yoga.
I continued paragliding, jogging, swimming, roller blading, hiking and enjoying every breath. With some friends I put together Paragliding and Yoga tours to take pilots to Colombia and share the Magic Land of The Rainbow from the sky.
"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), January 4 - 9, 2024. Spirit Rock, California. Lila Kate Wheeler, Howard Cohn, Leslie Booker and Teresa Todoroff.
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
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), January 4 - 9, 2024. Spirit Rock, California. Lila Kate Wheeler, Howard Cohn, Leslie Booker and Teresa Todoroff.
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
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)