My name is Julian (JJ) Garcia and I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. I was raised by my mother with an older brother and sister 10 and 12 years older than me. Our mom often worked several jobs, but she was always practicing and teaching yoga. At the age of 8, I was introduced to hot yoga; while staying with my mother during the Bikram’s Yoga College of India teacher training in 1994. Since then, our family has had a hot yoga studio in Boulder.

After a series of injuries to my ankles and knees in my teens, I turned to yoga to relieve the pain. Through my practice, I have been not only able to manage pain, but also live a better quality of life. Yoga has taught me that my body and mind are capable of so much more than I imagined. After more than 7 years of daily practice, I attended Bikram’s Yoga College of India teacher training in the fall of 2011. Since attending the training, I have been traveling, teaching, and studying yoga around the world.

In 2014, I started participating in the USA & IYSF yoga competitions. From 2016-20 I was the Colorado State Champion. I finished in the top 4 nationally 5 years in a row from 2015-19, and 4th internationally in 2016. Participating in these events allowed me to have a platform to push my asana practice to new depths. It also created ways to connect with more people and motivation to do more yoga!

In 2019, I completed the 500 hour e84 Teacher Training Diploma Program which takes a minimum of 2 years to complete. .

I am blessed to be able to practice and share yoga on a daily basis. I am truly thankful for the connections and opportunities to share, practice and be yoga with all of you.