Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Schirmer.
Hi Jessica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I first discovered yoga in high school in the Pacific Northwest. I was on the swim team, and our coach led us through yoga every Friday. I fell in love with it, especially the “naps” at the end. Years later, I reconnected with yoga during my first pregnancy in 2013, and in 2015, I completed my teacher training.
Soon after, we moved to Texas. With my son just over a year old, I began teaching kids and family yoga while volunteering for a program that helped families build healthy lifestyles through movement and food. That experience shaped so much of what came next.
In 2017, I attended the Ecosa Institute’s intensive eco-design program, which deeply influenced my teaching. I began weaving nature into every class I taught. When we returned to Provo in 2018, I really started expanding on this nature-inspired approach—especially through teaching at The Yoga Underground. I also began offering classes in a variety of community spaces and realized that if I wanted to bring the benefits of yoga to more children, I needed to empower others to do what I was doing.
In 2019, I led my first teaching intensive—training yoga teachers, educators, parents, grandparents, and even therapists. Many of them have gone on to use yoga in beautiful, creative ways with the youth they work with. During this time, the idea for my book started to take shape—a way to gather everything I’d created and learned into one place.
Over the years of teaching both kids and aspiring teachers, I noticed the most magical moments happened during partner poses. There’s something truly special about the way they spark connection between children and their grownups. I often found myself wishing for a better way to demonstrate these poses—and when I couldn’t find the resource I needed, I decided to create it myself. In 2021, I successfully launched a Kickstarter for my nature-based partner yoga cards: a screen-free way for kids and grownups to connect with each other and the natural world.
In 2023, I published my first book, Nature-Based Yoga for Kids and Families—which I both wrote and illustrated. It’s a comprehensive guide to help anyone bring yoga into their home, classroom, or community.
These days, I continue to teach classes and focus on expanding my trainings, offering cohorts in both spring and fall. My mission is to help bring the magic of yoga to more children and families than I could reach alone. It truly takes a village—and when we work together, we can create meaningful, lasting change.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t always been easy! In the early days, I often brought my young son with me to classes. That experience taught me so much—about flexibility, patience, and how to truly embody the principles of yoga—but it also came with plenty of challenges.
When COVID hit, I took a long break from actively teaching. Like many people, I had to pause and reassess. But that slower season also gave me the time and space to create my partner yoga cards and finish my book—two of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on.
Another ongoing challenge has been learning how to teach in environments where students are particularly resistant or dysregulated. It takes a lot of creativity and compassion to hold space in those moments—but I’ve found those are often the places where yoga is needed the most.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At the heart of my work is a deep belief that we can make the world a better place when people learn to love themselves, love each other, and love and care for the earth. In my offerings, I keep this thread woven throughout all of it. I specialize in yoga for kids and families that is centered around learning about and experiencing nature. I offer resources, classes, and teacher trainings that make this practice both accessible and meaningful.
I’m probably best known for my playful, nature-inspired approach to yoga and for the tools I’ve created that help others share it too—like my illustrated inclusive and nature based partner pose cards and my book, Nature-Based Yoga for Kids and Families. I’ve trained yoga teachers, classroom educators, parents, and therapists across Utah and other states, helping them bring yoga into their work in creative, developmentally supportive ways.
One thing that sets my work apart is my merging of illustration with yoga, and my work’s integration with the teachings of nature. My classes and trainings are rooted in seasonal cycles, ecology, and imaginative play.
I’m most proud of the impact this work has had in helping people create moments of playfulness, connection, and love—whether it’s a parent and child giggling in a partner pose, a classroom teacher using yoga to start the school day, or a trainee launching their own kids yoga program. Watching those ripples grow is so rewarding.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along this journey is that the children of the world have just as much to teach us as we have to teach them. They open their hearts to connection with such ease, are effortlessly in love with nature, and embody playfulness in a way that feels both awe inspiring and contagious.
When their grown-ups are willing to explore alongside them, something powerful happens—I often witness a kind of healing, as their own inner child is nurtured through moments of joy, movement, and connection.
This work has helped me reconnect with parts of myself I had lost touch with—especially the part that creates art and knows how to truly play. It has also helped me form deeper connections with my own kiddos.
I’m endlessly grateful to the incredible children I’ve had the privilege to teach. They’ve taught me how to lead with curiosity, softness, and wonder.
Pricing:
- My Book: Nature-Based Yoga for Kids and Families on Amazon (soft cover $35, hard cover $55)
- Inclusive and Nature-Inspired Partner Pose Cards ($39)
- Weekend Intensive Training for Learning to teach Nature-Based Yoga for Kids and Families. ($333-$444)
- Attend a Yoga Class at The Yoga Underground Wednesdays at 4:15 ($15 drop in, $25 family pass for the whole family)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1088251533/inclusive-family-yoga-partner-pose-cards?ref=shop_home_active_1
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildlifeyoga
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildlifeyoga/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaevsLga6FX-I4tuy2-N52A
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Based-Yoga-Families-Jessica-Schirmer/dp/B0CMWDN247
