When I began practicing yoga more than thirty years ago, it changed my life. My body certainly improved, but more surprising was the rapid improvement in my emotional balance. However imperfectly, I have followed the path of yoga since then.

I have been teaching yoga in the Iyengar tradition for more than twenty-five years. I emphasize careful alignment of the joints to protect and improve mobility but also to restrain and absorb the mind. I use asana practice as a laboratory to experiment with ideas presented in Patanjali’s sutras in order to create a practice that fosters adventure, joy, and reverence. I enjoy working with all types of students–beginners to advanced, athletes to those with significant physical challenges.

I have taught Adaptive Yoga for people with multiple sclerosis and other chronic problems and have participated in research projects with Oregon Health Sciences University and Kaiser. I was a contributing author to studies published in Neurology and The International Journal of Yoga Therapy. I owned and managed First Street Yoga in Newberg, Oregon for many years before moving back to Portland.

Many thanks to my primary teacher, Julie Lawrence, and to Patricia Walden and John Schumacher, and the many other senior Iyengar teachers I’ve gotten to study with over the years. I’m grateful to Eric Small for his guidance with the MS classes. The art and science of yoga has been tended through the millennia by the work of individuals. Their writing, teaching, and stewardship carried the torch of knowledge from its origin in Southeast Asia all the way to me. I am still struck with wonder at my fortune. I gratefully acknowledge my debt to these people and to the peaceful cultures that have allowed practice to flourish. I will do my best to maintain and pass on those precious gifts.

When I’m not practicing yoga, I write fiction and poetry. My debut novel Sweet Constance was released August 2025. Cultivating Eden will be released in 2027–and it’s about yoga (sort of)! For more information about my writing, please see janecarlsen.com.

Up-Coming Classes with Jane

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