Waking up as a kid to see his dad meditate and do his yoga 'stretches' in Wisconsin was 12-year-old Jeremy's first encounter with yoga. Growing up in California with his mum, Jeremy's parents were separated and he could only see his dad for a fortnight every year. And so yoga left an indelible impression on him. But it wasn't until 2004 when he had returned home from Iraq after serving as a Marine for eight years that Jeremy truly started to develop a yoga practice. From being at war, he needed to be at peace. Every yoga class was traumatic. But there was always savasana at the end. With yoga, he found peace. It reined in his demons from war. It helped him become authentic and human again.

Jeremy regards Bikram Choudhury as his teacher. Bikram taught him to be responsible – that he was responsible for the way he acted, that to be happy also meant the people around him would be happy. The ultimate act of empowerment is to meet the world with your authentic self. Compassionate, albeit with a high degree of judgement: this is the seemingly conflicting mix of qualities that Jeremy believes one must have in order to create the necessary mental space to succeed. From there, success is almost inevitable.

A strong believer of the statement, ‘You are your own best teacher', endurance is the key focus of Jeremy’s classes. His philosophy? Just do it. Just go to yoga. Make it happen. Be responsible for yourself. Man up. Don't make excuses. His biggest wish is for his students to feel reborn, be strong, and be proud of themselves. But he remains humble – he is simply a teacher who leads classes. One can only find the path of their own accord.

QUALIFICATIONS & CERTIFICATIONS

• Yoga for Trauma and Mental Health Teacher Training, Wisdom Yoga Institute, 2021
• The Art of Flow Yoga with Hee Boon (50-hour CET), 2019
• Copper Crow 21-day Hot Yoga Challenge, Hom Yoga, 2019 
• Bikram Yoga Teacher Recertification, Gold Coast, Australia, 2012
• Bikram Yoga Teacher Training, Acapulco, Mexico, 2008